Veterans Day screening of “High Ground”

In honor of Veterans Day, the SXU student veteran organization and the Office for Mission and Heritage invite SXU students, faculty, staff, and the community to a screening of the documentary film “High Ground.”

The screening, which is free and open to the public, is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. to 9 p.m. on Mon., Nov. 11 in McGuire Hall. A second screening is scheduled at 3 p.m. on Wed., Nov. 13 in McGuire Hall. Steve Baskis, one of the veterans featured in the film, will speak directly following the Nov. 11 screening.

“High Ground” tells the tale of 11 veterans returning from Iraq and Afghanistan who set off to climb Mount Lobuche, one of the tallest peaks in the Himalayan Mountains, to heal the physical and emotional wounds of war. The expedition is led by blind adventurer Erik Weihenmayer, the first blind man to summit Mount Everest, and a team of experienced Everest summiters who guide the wounded veterans on an astounding journey of body and mind.

Steve Baskis joined the Army in 2007. While riding in an armored vehicle on patrol in Iraq during 2008, a roadside bomb severely wounded Baskis and killed one of his friends. Baskis awakened at Walter Reed Medical Hospital a week later, where a doctor told him that the blast had most likely blinded him for the rest of his life.

During the next six weeks, Baskis had more than a dozen surgeries to remove shrapnel and repair the damage, which included fractures to his nose, eye orbits, and skull, as well as third-degree burns. Additionally, his right leg and left arm were disabled due to severed arteries and nerves.

Despite these terrible injuries, Baskis amazed doctors with the speed of his recovery and his attitude. For the next several months, he recovered and learned how to live without vision with the help of his wife Sarah at the Hines VA Blind Rehabilitation Center in Chicago. Baskis soon was able to begin participating in sports again, including competing as a cyclist in the State Games of America, completing a half Ironman, and climbing the third-highest volcano in Mexico.

For more information, please contact Veterans Coordinator Sheri Gross at (773) 298-3506 or gross@sxu.edu.