He lost his leg in afghanistan when his unit was attacked. It was like everything was like in slow motion, kind of like being in a movie. And then when they pulled me out of the truck, that was when the pain. That pain. After the pain came the questions. His plans for the future seemed shattered. You know, i was like, wow. My life is over. Whats going to happen to me . But Staff SergeantDe Los Santos didnt give up. He worked hard to regain his strength. And he learned about an Organization Called achilles international. In greek mythology, achilles was as close to being invincible as any warrior could be. But even the greatest warriors can be hurt. Achilles international encourages disabled athletes to compete in marathons and other public events. And they have a special chapter for members of our military. Its called the freedom team of wounded veterans. They meet the wounded vets, and then they give them the opportunity to participate in these events, and through these events, by doing this event, they can see their potential, they can see that they can be incorporated into society in a very positive way. It worked for Staff SergeantDe Los Santos. He was introduced to handcycling. And he signed up for a marathon 26. 2 miles of fierce determination. That was my first marathon, and let me tell you, it was hard. And i made it. It was the best feeliever. cause it made me realize, if i did a marathon, if i can do this, i can do anything. In fact, since that first marathon, the sergeant has completed many marathons and raced 3,000 miles across america. Achilles also runs programs for kids with disabilities. You can find out about training, as well as racing opportunities, by checking out the link on our website. Whether a soldier or a kid, the goal is the same. It doesnt matter if you run, walk, or roll towards the finish line. What matters is that youre able to show that youve got as much game as anyone. Its been called the spice of life. But adding too much to our food may be hazardous to our health. Ill have that story next. Its a Building Block of life itself, but too much of it can be very bad for your health. Now theres a nationwide effort to protect us from something we love to add to our food. Nicole has the story. Salt is everywhere. Its about 3 of the ocean. Our bodies need it to survive. And we love its taste. My favorite salty foods are probably chips. Potato chips. Onion rings and french fries. French fries are my favorite. I really like pretzels and chips. Oh, id have to say potato chips and french fries. My favorite salty foods . Probably salt and vinegar chips and also crunchy seaweed. The problem is, too much salt is unhealthy. Too much salt overwhelms your body. You eliminate salt with your kidneys. However, theres only so much your kidneys can do. All the extra salt stays in your blood stream, you end up retaining water, gaining more water weight, and your heart has to pump harder in order to circulate all this extra volume around. And that, over a course of a long period of time, leads to elevated Blood Pressure and strokes. Unfortunately the average american takes in twice as much salt as he or she should. And thats where new york citys Health Department comes into the picture. Its leading a campaign to help us all cut back on salt. The salt initiative is really a national initiative. Its led by new york city, but its really over 40 health organizations, other cities, and other states that are working together. We think it has the opportunity for tremendous impact and really can save lives. Of course, we can all make healthier food choices without the governments help. Its simple to choose a fruit instead of fries. But the salt initiative is taking aim at the salt we dont see. Almost 80 of the salt that we take in each day comes from packaged and restaurant food. So most consumers dont really have any control over the salt that they take in. Its already in the food when we buy it. Its not actually always the salt that you taste, so a muffin can have a lot of salt. When youre shopping for packaged food, check the label. Salt is listed as sodium. Its measured in milligrams. And you dont need more than 2,300 milligrams a day. They add up fast. Even a can of vegetable soup can be loaded with sodium. You can have as much salt as youre supposed to eat in a whole day in one chicken sandwich at a chain restaurant. So the government is working with restaurants and food manufacturers to cut back on the salt they put in their food. So weve gotten a great response so far, and the overall goal of the initiative is to reduce population sodium intake by 20 over the next five years. But dont wait for that. Make an effort now to start reducing the amount of salt you eat, and read those labels. Imagine sheep being able to send for help when a wolf is near. A high tech sheeps collar is being developed that does just that. It works by constantly monitoring the sheeps heart rate. When faced with danger, like a stalking wolf, the sheeps heart rate speeds up. That causes the collar to send a text to the shepherds cellphone to come quickly. Its technology thats good for the sheep and baad for the wolves. Green eggs and ham. Cat in the hat. One fish, two fish, red fish, blue fish. Bring back memories . Well find out when we return. Our state flags are more than just pieces of fabric. Theyre actually history books, if you know how to read them. Brandon tells us more. The design of this state flag is based on the beliefs of an earlrly native american tribe called the zia. Randy howe is the author of flags of the fifty states. Its as simple as can be. Two colors. You have the red and the gold that is a reference to Queen Isabella of spain, who sponsored much of the exploration of the new world. The symbol in the middle is a zia sun symbol, and it was found in an archaeological dig on a water jar. What was important to the zia was the number four. And youll see four lines facing in the four different directions. Now, four was not just important to them for the four directions. They believed in the power of the four seasons. They felt that there were four aspects of life that every person should pursue, like purity and being of sound mind and all those sorts of positive attributes. The flags bold simplicity helped it win first place in a competition of americas 50 state flags. With flag facts, im brandon. Theres an insect from asia that may be invading the u. S. Its called the kudzueating stinkbug. Kudzu is a fast growing weed that covers bushes and trees. In fact, kudzu can kill its host plant because it blocks the plants sunlight. So, youd think that stinkbugs that eat kudzu would be a good thing. Theyre not. Stinkbugs also eat soybeans, an important crop in our country. So this small bug could soon be causing big problems for farmers. Okay, everyone, its time to find out what teens think. Heres speak of the week. He was a part of everyones childhood. You probably still have his quirky rhymes stuck in your head. I know i do. We want to know, which dr. Seuss book was your favorite . Horton hears a who definitely my favorite. Just because of all the silly characters, and i like the point of the story. The cat in the hat, definitely. Because its fun, it rhymes, i love cats, too. So and the cat in the hat is just my favorite character ever. I love green eggs and ham just cause i love the concept of it, and i love rhymes, and i just love dr. Seuss. Green eggs and ham. Green eggs and ham, ill have to say, because, like, ever since i was a little kid, like, we always had the green eggs and ham at school, and so i just thought it was fun. My favorite dr. Seuss story is green eggs and ham. Green eggs and ham. Green eggs and ham. Green eggs and ham is my favorite, also. I remember when i was younger, i made my own green eggs. They didnt turn out so well. They sound better than they taste. With speak of the week, im drew. Ill tell you why billings, montana, is called the magic city. Just about any place you visit in this wonderful country of ours, youll no doubt be fascinated by the local history. This next report is case in point. Welcome to billings, montana. Its one of the great frontier towns of the old west. Its also my hometown. Howdy. To help tell some of the history of billings is kevin kooistramanning. Hes with the western heritage center. And joyce jensen wrote a book about the town. How did billings get its name . Billing got its name from frederick billings, former president of the Northern Pacific railroad, who they honored by naming the town after him. The railroad actually created the town, and it happened almost by accident. There was a nearby town by the name of coulson, which expected to be the next Great Railroad town. But instead, because they raised prices and made it kind of inconvenient for the railroad, the railroad decided to build their own town, the town of billings. And billings basically prospered. Coulson disappeared. About the only thing left of coulson is boot hill cemetery. This is the burying grounds of coulson. Most people buried here died violently. There were murders, suicides, and accidents. They died with their boots on, so we call it boot hill. Meanwhile, back at billings. When the railroad came in, billings grew so quickly, one writer said like mushrooms after a rain storm. It quickly took on the nickname the magic city. The towns history is dotted with a lot of colorful characters. For example, calamity jane. Calamity was quite a character. She did all kinds of things no woman would do no lady, anyway. She rode astride, she could smoke, drink, and cuss with the best of the men. She drove ox teams like men did. So she did mens work. But she was a really interesting person in that she was an awfully good nurse and a whole lot of people really liked calamity. In the 1920s air shows were going on all over the country. There were wing walkers. There were stunt fliers. And an air show came to town with a wing walker. Unfortunately for them, they went broke here and lost all their money, and that wing walker needed a job. He went to work as a mechanic. Later he became the most famous man in america when he flew solo across the atlantic. His name was charles lindbergh. Another famous flyer who visited billings was amelia earhart. Ernest hemingway actually got into a car accident and was hospitalized here with a broken arm. Fortunately, that didnt end his writing career. Billings, you know, was placed in the heart of crow country. The Crow Indian Reservation is across the yellowstone river. And the crow have always been a part of billings history. Early on, they came here ad traded in the stores that opened. Later on, the crow were a big part of our annual fair. And, of course, today a lot of people in billings travel to the annual crow fair and celebrate crow culture and traditions. Billings is also known for its striking natural beauty. Its hard to believe that this area was once covered by a great sea. There are large cliffs of sandstone around billings, great walls of rock. We call them the rim rocks or the rims. Thats all thats left of that great inland sea. From the top of the rims, you can see presentday billings. Well, billings has always been a major Transportation Center here in the northern great plains. It had irrigation, which allowed agriculture to prosper. We grow sugar beets here for refined white sugar. Were an oil and gas center. We have hospitals here, colleges. And because we have so much diversity, unlike other frontier towns, billings has continued to prosper and grow through all the years. Billings even has its own theme song. In the shadow of the rim rocks by the banks of the yellowstone theres a place i long to be in theres a place i call my home youre a booming human city and youre really rather pretty billings, my city, my home and visitors are always welcome to sample our western hospitality. Im carrie for teen kids news. Were the band six stories told, and we have a great contest to tell you about. So you dont want to miss it. Stay tuned. Teen kids news will be right back soon. Whoo later. Life is a record spinning round and round living it up up, up we get down this report is brought to you by big mountain entertainment. Turn the volume up blast your stereo blast your stereo we havent had enough six stories told is an upandcoming pop band that caught the ear of a new york Radio Station so much so that the station actually produced this music video for their song round and round. The video is quickly becoming a fanfavorite on youtube. Life is a record spinning round and round living it up up, up we get down joining me today are four of the five members of the band six stories told. Welcome. Hi, guys. Hey. Hey. All right, lets start with introductions. Give us your name and your role in the band. Hey. Im ben. I play the keyboards. Hi. Im tyler, and im the drummer. Hi, guys. Im joanna, and im the lead singer. Hey, everyone. Im jesse. I play guitar and sing. So, as we know, there are five of you in the band, but only four of you are here today. So whos missing . Um, our bassist couldnt make it today. They werent feeling the best, but, you know, theyre always here in spirit. Yeah. A big part of the six stories told family. No, exactly, just like all our fans always right next to us, always with us. Tyler, tell us how did you get started . Well, we actually got selected by random in the rock camp u. S. A. Program in the New York School of music in walden, new york. We solidified our lineup over the past few years, but now we are here, full band, six stories told. Joanna, where does the name of the band come from . So, we call ourselves six stories told. Theres five of us. Were all very different, very individual in our music tastes, our look, our styles everything. But we all come together somehow with our music, and thats where the sixth story lies. We call our fans our storytellers because we know personally that everyone has a story to tell, and we hope that we do that for them with our music. All right, well, since you guys are talking about storytelling, tell me the story behind your new single i just want to be me. Well, six stories told, as a band, is a very you know, as joanna said, were all very different people. You know, were all oddballs, and all of us fondly believe that, you know, even though we live in a world where, you know, following the status quo is how it should be done, you know, dont do it. Do what makes you happy. Do what makes your life good. And thats what just want to be me is about. Dare to be different. Yeah. Nice. All right. Well, while you dont have an official music video, you did put together a lyric video. Lets take a look at that. I was never the one to be a trend no could make a mess out of anything whoa i played the game without the rules i stayed away from norm and cool because i wasnt born to be routine no i was built for bigger things i dont want to be typical no i just want to be me see through invisible no i just want to be me i just want to be me wow, that was a really great song. So, joanna, this leads us to the contest youre having. Tell us about. Yeah, so, big mountain entertainment and piranha marketing came to us with the idea to have you guys, the fans, in our music video, and we couldnt be happier. So, the song i just want to be me is about being yourself. We want you to send in clips of you singing our song. Theres a lyric video that, on our youtube page youtube. Com sixstoriestold. Sing it, show us what makes you unique, and send us in the video, and we can put you in our music video. The fans mean the world to us, and we want to see what makes you you because thats what makes us us. So, the video for i just want to be me will be filmed shortly, so stay tuned because we want you guys in it with us. Sounds great. So, aside from the contest, whats next . What else have you been up to . Well, weve been recording our e. P. With threetime grammy awardwinning producer earl cohen. Earl earl. Yeah, were really stoked about that. And we just play shows whenever we can. We play on long island, new york city, new jersey, the tristate area, and weve even traveled and gone on tour. So were hoping to plan a tour soon. Stay tuned. Check out our facebook, instagram, and everything for details. And well also be playing at the apollo theaters amateur night on august 27th, so make sure you check us out. Terrific. Well, it was really great talking with you guys. Thank you for joining us. Thank you guys so much for having us. Thank you. And i hope we have some new storytellers after this. And you probably will. So, if youd like a chance at being in the music vide for i just want to be me, go to facebook. Com sixstoriestold and select music video contest from the more tab. Youve got until september 1st to enter. All of the submissions will be judged by the band. Good luck. Thats our show for this week. Thanks for watching teen kids news. Well see you next time. Heres a shoutout to pr newswire for including teen kids news on their big screen in times square, new york city. Announcer the following program is a paid advertisement by atlantis, paradise island, bahamas. Prepare yourself for an eyeopening journey of Epic Proportions to a destination like no other inspired by tales of a mythical civilization, glowing with soaring structures, bursting with richness and beauty, and overflowing with experiences that thrill, inspire, and create unforgettable memories. This is atlantis. The most amazing vacation destination in the world. Get ready for an extraordinary