A group of 10 American Olympians who serve in the U.S. military were honored at the Pentagon on April 17.War Secretary Pete Hegseth, while leading the efforts in the war on Iran, found time to meet with the athletes for a ceremony to honor their accomplishments in the Milan Cortina Winter Olympics. All 10 were members of the high-performance U.S. military-sponsored World Class Athlete Program (WCAP).”It’s not every day you get invited into Sec. War’s office,” U.S. bobsledder Frankie Del Duca told Fox News Digital. “We had a good conversation about the Army.”CLICK HERE FOR MORE SPORTS COVERAGE ON FOXNEWS.COMDel Duca was the Team USA Olympic flag bearer in Cortina back in February. As an American of Italian descent, it held a special cultural significance to him and his family that he had the honor in Italy.Del Duca is also a U.S. Army infantryman.”I’m infantry,” he said. “There’s different assignments I can take as I gain experience. I am grateful for the opportunity to serve. I’m very proud to serve our country, and I love our country and America.”Hegseth himself was an Army infantry officer who served in Iraq, Afghanistan and Guantanamo Bay.But so far, Del Duca has only ever done athlete work for the military, enlisting in 2019 and training as a bobsledder at Lake Placid, New York. But as a WCAP athlete, he will serve in a military-related role as well.”We’ve had members of WCAP that have been in the Army first… and then we have some that maybe do that after,” Del Duca said, adding that he falls into the “after” group.”Where I may be stationed next, and where I may, different assignments, where I might end up, I’m going to take those same lessons that I’ve learned and apply them to that next unit. So it’s something that I’m very grateful for and proud of. And I hope that spreads throughout our country. I hope it shows that we’re together and that we’re resilient, and that we’re fit, and we’re ready.”Del Duca is a young father of two sons who are each less than 4 years old.”It’s made me a better father,” Del Duca said of his experience in the Army. “I have two sons, [ages] 1 and 3. They keep me on my toes.”Other branches of the military are represented well in the WCAP, especially the Air Force.Team USA skeleton athlete Kelly Curtis, who was also honored at the ceremony, is preparing for deployment right back to Italy after competing at the Milan Cortina games.”I’m going back to the 31st communications squadron at Aviano Air Base,” Curtis told Fox News Digital. “I’m a knowledge operations technician… it’s basically like an information traffic cop.”Curtis says she has a lineage in her family, on her mother’s side, that includes service members in every American war dating back to the Revolutionary War.She thought her brother would take on the call of duty for her generation. And he did, but she soon learned she would be joining him.”I didn’t think I would be able to serve in the military,” Curtis said. “When this opportunity came around when I
Military Olympians honored at the Pentagon, against backdrop of Iran war
