19 posts tagged “army”
Project Valour-IT
In memory of SFC William V. Ziegenfuss
It was the first time I felt whole since I’d woken up wounded in Landstuhl.
–Major Charles "Chuck" Ziegenfuss, on using a voice-controlled laptop
You can make a donation to Valour-IT through Paypal here.
Soldiers' Angels has been designated a 501(c)(3) non-profit charity by the IRS. Donations are tax-deductible and may be eligible for matching funds from donors' employers (ask your employer).Please include your name, address, phone number and email address with donations by mail. Send your donation by mail to: Soldiers' Angels
Project Valour-IT Fund, 1792 E. Washington Blvd, Pasadena, CA 91104. Donors may choose to sponsor a wounded soldier currently on the laptop waiting list. All funds received go directly to our wounded troops; 100% of your donation to Project Valour-IT will be used to purchase laptops and other technology that will support recovery and provide independence and freedom to wounded Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen and Marines.
Project Valour-IT, in memory of SFC William V. Ziegenfuss, helps provide voice-controlled/adaptive laptop computers and other technology to support Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen and Marines recovering from hand wounds and other severe injuries. Technology supplied includes:
- Voice-controlled Laptops - Operated by speaking into a microphone or using other adaptive technologies, they allow the wounded to maintain connections with the rest of the world during recovery.
- Wii Video Game Systems - Whole-body game systems increase motivation and speed recovery when used under the guidance of physical therapists in therapy sessions (donated only to medical facilities).
- Personal GPS - Handheld GPS devices build self-confidence and independence by compensating for short-term memory loss and organizational challenges related to severe TBI and severe PTSD.
The experience of Major Chuck Ziegenfuss, a partner in the project who suffered serious hand wounds while serving in Iraq, illustrates how important these laptops and other technologies can be to a wounded service member's recovery.
Blackfive is once again leading the ARMY team in a friendly competition among the military branches/milbloggers to raise funds for Project Valour IT -http://www.blackfive.net/main/2009/10/valourit-fundraiser-on-the-way.html#comments
I have joined the Army team...
Team Leaders
Air Force - Mudville GazetteArmy - Blackfive
Marines - Villainous Company
Navy - USNI Blog
"...It is comforting to know there are people who care so much. After a year of surgeries, treatment and therapy, it can be discouraging. Although I am a trained attorney, due to TBI, it is unclear what my future will be. The computer will help with my therapy and my transition back to civilian work." – Captain V, U.S. Army Reserves
I work at the Men's and Women's Trauma Recovery Program at The Menlo Park VA. Our program's mission is to serve military men and women who are suffering from the symptoms of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. On behalf of our entire program, I want to personally thank you for donating the WII Fit. The Wii gaming system offers opportunities for our patients to actively interact with one another, which is different from other gaming systems. For example four people can actually play tennis or baseball, which helps them engage with one another, and reduce isolation. The Wii fit will allow our patients to actively exercise with others and gives them another avenue to engage in healthy habits. With your donation, you are working with us to help support each person's recovery and building the foundation for a better quality of life for our veterans and active duty service members. - Melissa Puckett, Recreation Therapist/Supervisor, January 2009
January 18th, 2006
Dear Mrs. Smith,
It was brought to my attention that your organization, Soldier's Angels, did something very special for the Marines of our Injured Support Battalion. I want to take this time and thank you so much for your contribution to make special memories for those who sacrifice so much.
Your contribution of laptops is quite above and beyond. I am grateful that you have taken time to honor our injured heroes.
[Partial funding for this project was provided by the Texas Resources for Iraq-Afghanistan Deployment (TRIAD) fund of the San Antonio Area Foundation. For more than 40 years, the San Antonio Area Foundation, a publicly supported philanthropic institution, has been administering donors’ funds and granting gifts from those funds to worthy charitable causes that significantly enhance the quality of life in the communities they serve.]
Project Valour-IT began when Captain Charles "Chuck" Ziegenfuss was wounded by an IED while serving as commander of a tank company in Iraq in June 2005.
During his deployment he kept a blog (an online personal diary, opinion forum, or news analysis site-called a milblog or military weblog when written by a servicemember or about military subjects). Captivating writing, insightful stories of his experiences, and his self-deprecating humor won him many loyal readers. After he was wounded, his wife continued his blog, keeping his readers informed of his condition.
As he began to recover, CPT Ziegenfuss wanted to return to writing his blog, but serious hand injuries hampered his typing. When a loyal and generous reader gave him a copy of the Dragon Naturally Speaking Preferred software, other readers began to realize how important such software could be to CPT Ziegenfuss' fellow wounded soldiers and started cast about for a way to get it to them.
A fellow blogger (blog author) who writes under the pseudonym FbL contacted Captain Ziegenfuss and the two realized they shared a vision of providing laptops with voice-controlled software to wounded soldiers whose injuries prevented them from operating a standard computer. FbL contacted Soldiers Angels, who offered to help develop the project, and Project Valour-IT was born.
In sharing their thoughts, CPT Ziegenfuss (now a Major) and FbL found that memories of their respective fathers were a motivating factor in their work with the project. Both continue their association with this project in memory of the great men in their lives whose fine examples taught them lasting lessons of courage and generosity.
In the years since its founding in 2005, the project has acted to meet emerging needs and its mission of supporting the the severely wounded has expanded. In addition to voice-controlled laptops, Valour-IT now helps provide active and whole-body video games such as Wii Sports, which is used to great effect in physical therapy, and personal GPS systems that help compensate for short-term memory loss and organizational/spacial challenges common in those with brain injuries.
Hello, my name is LCpl. Andrew. I am a Marine that was wounded in Iraq and got medevaced to Brooke Army Medical Center in Ft. Sam Houston, Texas. I recently received a laptop. I was informed that it was you, the Soldier's Angels that donated it. I can't tell you how thankful I am to have support from organizations such as yourself. It really lets me know that there are people out there that still care about the troops and what they are sacrificing for this country. I appreciate what you have done for me and having this laptop is actually good therapy for my hand. Once again thank you and I am proud to serve this country knowing there are people like you that I am protecting.
Sincerely,
Andrew
Currently there is such a large need for the laptops Project Valour-IT provides that many wounded heroes requesting laptops are put on a waiting list. But for $800 you can sponsor someone on the waiting list and pay for his or her voice-activated laptop, which will make these heroes' wait much shorter.
If you are unable to sponsor a wounded soldier and fund the full cost of a laptop but would still like to help, we welcome you to donate what you can here. Or, consider coordinating a group of people such as co-workers or a community organization to raise the funds to sponsor one or two soldiers.
Thank you for your generosity and support for those to whom we all owe so much...
If you have any questions regarding our Valour-IT or Adopt a Wounded Soldier program, please email us. Thank you.
Thank you to Viper Co for sticking it out in the suck at Firebase Vegas!
Soldier surprised Franklin class
Monday, February 23, 2009
FRANKLIN — Fourth-graders at Gerke Elementary School got a surprise this week from a soldier they wrote letters to earlier in the school year.
Rhonda Campbell's fourth grade class wrote thank-you letters to Nathan Synder, a soldier stationed at Korengal Valley at Firebase Vegas in Afghanistan. They mailed the letters, which helped them practice writing for the Ohio Achievement Test, along with a care package filled with candy, games and baby wipes.
The students wrote to Synder, Campbell said, not only because he is a United States soldier, but also because he has special ties to Gerke. He is the son-in-law of our former principal, Steve Liles.
Last week, while home on a short leave, Synder dressed in his uniform and paid a surprise visit to the students to personally thank them for all of their letters, goodies, and thoughtfulness, Campbell said.
"The students were ecstatic," she said. "They were so excited to meet him in person."
He shared pictures and stories with the students for them to better understand the life of a soldier, Campbell said.
"They were very impressed by Nathan. It was an awesome learning experience and a great honor to have Nathan visit us," she said.
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| Staff photo by Andrew Craft | ||
| Soldiers stand up for the Army song during the 3rd Special Forces Group’s valor awards ceremony. More than 100 awards were given out during the ceremony. | ||
Staff Sgt. Morgan Ford had never been in combat before Nov. 2, 2007, when he was manning a .50-caliber machine gun on a truck, and his unit came under attack in Afghanistan.
“That was the first time I had ever been shot at,” Ford said. “It was an experience. I wouldn’t say I was scared. I think I was ready for it.”
On Wednesday, Ford received a Bronze Star for valor for that incident and two Purple Hearts for his service in Afghanistan with the 3rd Special Forces Group from Fort Bragg.
Ford, a 22-year-old communications sergeant, received three of the 116 combat-related awards given to 3rd Group soldiers at a ceremony at John F. Kennedy Auditorium, adjacent to the JFK Special Warfare Center and School.
The 3rd Group operated throughout Afghanistan from October 2007 to May. One of its main missions was to work with Afghan commandos.
Fort Bragg’s 3rd and 7th groups have been swapping rotations to Afghanistan. A company of 3rd Group soldiers deploys regularly to Iraq.
Ford was wounded Nov. 2 when a shot ricocheted into his elbow. Five months later, on Easter Sunday, a rocket-propelled grenade hit his truck, showering him with shrapnel.
“The pieces are working out,” said Ford, who plans to stay in the Army.
Col. Gus Benton II, the group commander, presented 41 Bronze Stars for valor, 38 Purple Hearts for combat wounds and 37 Army Commendation Medals for valor. Command Sgt. Maj. Terry Peters assisted in the presentations.
“Each of these soldiers will tell you ... they were simply doing what had to be done in order to accomplish their mission,” Benton told the audience, which included soldiers and their parents, wives and children.
Accompanying Ford were his brother, Marine Cpl. Tyler Ford, 24, of Quantico. Va., and father, William Ford, 59, of Long Island, N.Y. Morgan Ford is the nephew of Dan Ford of Fayetteville, who did two combat tours with the Army in Vietnam.
Morgan Ford’s brother has not been deployed, but he expects to be.
“Being hard on him as an older brother, maybe that helped,” Morgan Ford said. “It’s impressive. I’m really proud of him.”
Their sister, Bridget Ford, 21, will leave in February for Navy basic training.
“She joined the Navy right after her brother got shot,” their father said. “That’s a true story. She was really angry about the whole thing.”
Morgan Ford was one of several soldiers who received multiple awards. Staff Sgts. Jeffrey Bochey and Kameron Loehner each received two Bronze Stars for valor. Loehner received a Purple Heart.
The 3rd Group on Friday will present 19 Silver Stars, the Army’s third-highest award for valor, to soldiers who served in Afghanistan.
Two New York City cops have gone from fighting crime in Brooklyn to training police officers in Afghanistan.
NYPD Emergency Services Unit officers Steve Hayden and William Hart are serving with the New York National Guard in southern Afghanistan. They are both on leave from the department, working as mentors to Afghanistan’s growing police force.
Capt. Hart, 39, of Westchester, said the recruits have a lot to learn in a short amount of time.
“The Afghan National Police have great expectations placed upon them and they only receive eight weeks of formal training,” he said. “Any police officer in American will tell you that it takes years to be proficient as a police officer.”
First. Sgt Hayden, 45, of Long Island, said many of the recruits are illiterate, which hampers their training.
“Their inability to take notes and refer back to written material, notes and outlines hamstrings their efforts to retain information,” Hayden said. “I am impressed with the Afghan officers’ willingness to engage the enemy and their desire to secure their homeland. If Afghanistan is to stand alone as a nation, on it’s own, it is imperative that the U.S. military provide training, support and guidance that will allow them to secure their own country and prosper as a people.”
Hart said bringing his street smarts to the rugged mountains of Afghanistan has given him a new appreciation for his work.
“The police in America do not have to worry about improvised explosive devices in the road or Taliban coming to their homes at night to kill them because they support the government,” he said.
“All the answers come down to security,” Hart said. “Because the people of Afghanistan feel that there is not enough security, the children do not go to school. If there was more security, the local population would feel more comfortable providing information to the police about criminal activity without fear of retribution.
“This fear is not only in Afghanistan but in New York as well. In certain neighborhoods, the people fear the criminals and do not provide police with information because they are afraid of what will happen when the police are not around.”
West Point's Department of Military Instruction (DMI) will be holding a tailgate/fundraiser for the Wounded Warrior Project during the Army/Navy Football game on December 6th in Philadelphia.
The fundraiser will be held in the M&N Lot at Lincoln Financial Field.
Cost for the event is; Beer, $15 all you can drink until it's gone!, (Provided by Yuengling, 6 kegs, 20 Cases)
Food $10 per person (Provided by Dietz and Watson) all you can eat until it's gone.
Additionally, 50/50 raffle tickets will be sold at the event for $5 per ticket. Put your cell # on the ticket and we will call the winner at the end of the event. Please come and join us at this event!!
GO ARMY!!!!!!!!!!!!!
HOOAH!Dunwoody Becomes First Woman Four-Star GeneralBy Fred W. Baker IIIAmerican Forces Press Service |
| WASHINGTON, Nov. 14, 2008 – For the first time in U.S. history, a woman military officer today pinned on the rank of four-star general.
Army Gen. Ann E. Dunwoody was promoted just hours before taking the helm of the Army Materiel Command, a Fortune 100-sized organization with nearly 130,000 servicemembers at 150 locations worldwide charged with equipping, outfitting and arming the service’s soldiers. The emotionally charged promotion ceremony was a veritable “Who’s Who” within the Defense Department, as the defense secretary, the Army secretary, the chairman and all of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, two former Army chiefs of staff and other senior military officials attended.The Pentagon auditorium was standing-room-only, leaving even a three-star general to fend for himself and stand in the back. “We invited everyone but the fire marshal,” Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates quipped as he took the podium. Speaking briefly, Gates heralded Dunwoody’s 33-year career, calling her one of the foremost military logisticians of her generation who’s known among senior officials as a proven, albeit humble, leader. “History will no doubt take note of her achievement in breaking through this final brass ceiling to pin on a fourth star,” Gates said. “But she would rather be known and remembered, first and foremost, as a U.S. Army soldier.” Dunwoody’s career as a soldier began, Gates pointed out, in the Women’s Army Corps and at a time when women were not allowed to attend the U.S. Military Academy at West Point. Her father and brother, both West Point graduates, sat in the front row of her promotion ceremony. The general’s father graduated from the academy in 1943, following in the steps of his father, who graduated in 1905. Dunwoody’s great-grandfather graduated from West Point in 1866. “Now you understand why people think I have olive-drab blood,” Dunwoody joked later. In fact, Dunwoody’s father is a combat veteran of three wars and received Purple Heart medals for wounds suffered in the Korean and Vietnam conflicts. He wears the Army’s Distinguished Service Cross for valor. In a speech that alternated from tears to laughter, Dunwoody credited her successes to her father’s teachings and the family’s strong military values. “I know most of my success is founded in what I learned from you, as a dad, as a patriot and as a soldier,” she told her father, choking back tears. “Talk about never quitting. Talk about never accepting defeat. That’s my dad, my hero.” Dunwoody said she has been fortunate to live a lifetime of firsts, and that the Army gave her those opportunities. The Army has mentored her, she said, and now she has been given the opportunity to return the favor. Army Chief of Staff Gen. George W. Casey Jr. pointed out that, as Dunwoody was receiving her commission, the Army was finishing a study on what those serving thought were appropriate jobs for women in the Army. The top job appropriate for women, according to officers and enlisted soldiers in 1975, was that of a cook. Dunwoody joined the Army’s quartermaster branch. “That's the Army that Ann Dunwoody entered -- an institution just figuring out how to deal with the full potential of an all-volunteer Army, and not yet ready to leverage the strengths of each individual soldier in its ranks,” Casey said. “And Ann's career has mirrored our progress.” In 1970, the Army promoted its first woman officer to brigadier general. Three years after Dunwoody was commissioned, the Army promoted its first woman to major general, and at the same time disbanded the Women’s Army Corps, which had its roots steeped in World War II. A year later, Dunwoody took command of a mixed-gender company, a relatively new concept in the Army. The first woman lieutenant general was promoted in 1997. The Army now has 21 female general officers, and just more than 100 serve within the Defense Department. Dunwoody first joined the Army intent on serving only two years, she said. Her success, she admitted, comes to her surprise. “There is no one more surprised than I, except of course my husband. You know what they say -- behind every successful woman, there’s an astonished man,” she joked. Her husband, Craig, who sat beside her on stage during the ceremony, is a retired Air Force colonel. They met while attending a military school together. Dunwoody’s jokes seemed to relieve her nervousness and underscored her humility in the moment. “It’s as overwhelming as it is humbling, especially for somebody who thought fifth grade was the best three years of her life,” she joked. The general said at first she didn’t appreciate the enormity of the event. She has previously refused all requests for media interviews. Pentagon officials said Dunwoody was uncomfortable with the attention garnered when she was nominated to be the first woman four-star general. Since then, Dunwoody said, she has received cards, letters, e-mails and encouragement from men and women serving in all branches of the military around the world -- many offering congratulations, others thanking her for her service. In a briefing at the Pentagon later, Dunwoody said she never grew up believing any limitations were set for her career. “I never grew up in an environment where I even heard of the words ‘glass ceiling,’" she said. “You could always be anything you wanted to be if you worked hard, and so I never felt constrained. I never felt like there were limitations on what I could do.” And, because much of her career has been forged on relatively new paths cut by a handful of women having gone before her, Dunwoody at first saw this latest accomplishment as simply more of the same, she said. “My whole career was kind of the first of my generation, because women had not been down those roads before,” she said. “And so you go, ‘Why is this first any different than the other first?’ But it is different, because it is a bigger first.” Still, Dunwoody was quick to deflect the attention her accomplishments were receiving. “While … I may be the first woman to achieve this honor, I know with certainty that I won’t be the last,” she said. Now, at age 55 and with this promotion, Dunwoody said, she has finally realized her purpose. “Even though I thought I was only coming in the Army for two years, I now know from the day I first donned my uniform, soldiering is all I ever wanted to do,” she said. That led to the fourth and final standing ovation for Dunwoody at the ceremony. |
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| Related Sites: Combined Security Transition Command Afghanistan | ||||
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Operation Holiday Cheer
Soldier of the Year
I knew from his tone that the news wasn’t good. How could it be? I was lying in a bed in Walter Reed Army Medical Center. I had memories of an explosion in Mosul, in northern Iraq—a car driving toward my armored combat vehicle, me waving it back, shouting. Then hot, white light and loud noise. Then nothing.
“We performed the final surgery last night,” the doctor told me. Since my injury two weeks before, military doctors in Iraq, Germany and the U.S. had operated on me several times, removing shrapnel from my head and eyes and cutting my skull open to relieve the swelling in my brain. For most of that time I had been in a medically induced coma.
“I’m sorry, Lieutenant Smiley,” the doctor continued. “There’s nothing more we can do for you. Your blindness is permanent.”
I opened my eyes as wide as they would go, staring hard toward his voice, as if somehow I could capture light by a sheer force of will. I knew my wife, Tiffany, was in the room. I sensed my mom out in the hall—she must have left to cry. I wasn’t going to cry, though.
“Scotty,” said Tiffany softly, laying a hand on my arm.
I jerked my arm away. “I’m fine,” I said gruffly. I tried rearranging the doctor’s words: Blindness. Nothing more we can do. Permanent. No, it wasn’t true.
Why would God have taken me so far—only for this to happen?
It had been just five years since I had entered West Point, and its beautiful campus high above the Hudson River. I felt on top of the world. I was certain, maybe even cocky, about my future. I majored in engineering management, planning to hone leadership skills during my five years of mandatory Army service, get an MBA at a top-ranked school and, to be frank, get rich.
Yes, there had been some changes to that plan. For one thing, I hadn’t met many teachers at West Point who thought getting rich was a laudable goal. They believed in service, to their country and their students, and it showed.
Then September 11 happened, and Afghanistan and Iraq, and I realized I’d probably be going into combat. I was nervous about that, but excited too. Joining the Army is like joining a big family. The 45 men I commanded in a Stryker armored combat platoon were loyal, brave and as close to each other as brothers. I had wanted that leadership experience, and here it was.
Lying in that hospital bed, though, all I could think was, What for? What was the point of leadership experience, my degree, my plans, if all of it was simply going to be washed away in darkness? Do you hear me, God? What was the point?
Tiffany again laid a hand on my arm, and again I brushed it away. I struggled to get out of bed and fell back in pain. My leg was injured too, and I was still hooked up to machines, a big bandage around my head. A feeling of vertigo came over me. Blindness!
There was Tiffany, beside me. Quick, remember, what does she look like? Big smile, cute nose, that delicate face I had loved since high school. We had dated all through college while she went to nursing school in Spokane, Washington, seeing each other on vacations. I had shipped out for Iraq less than a year after we married. I would never see her again! Would I forget what she looked like? What must she think of me, lying here so weak?
“Scotty,” she said with a tremble in her voice I had never heard before, “remember that verse you like so much, ‘I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.’ We’re going to get through this. It’s going to be okay.” I wanted to believe her. I had even had those words inscribed inside my class ring.
But at that moment, all I could do was slump farther into my pillows and close my eyes. Like it made any difference! I said nothing and thought nothing and eventually went to sleep.
I was at Walter Reed for one month. I had to learn to walk again. I had to learn everything else too. How to shower. How to eat. I wasn’t a very pleasant patient. Every day brought new frustrations, new awareness of my limitations. I tried to do things myself, refusing help. But the fact was, I wasn’t independent. And I hated that.
Men from my platoon called from Iraq, and Tiffany sat at my bedside every day, reading from the Bible, the newspaper, making small talk. I might have given up without the support. But I resented it too. It made me ashamed, magnified the question I least wanted to answer. What was I going to do with the rest of my life? Who was I, if I wasn’t the man who had entered West Point with such confidence?
The Army sent Tiffany and me to a blindness rehabilitation center in Palo Alto, California. I learned to walk with a stick and cross streets by listening to which way the traffic flowed, to distinguish coins by touch and to keep my money organized in my wallet so I could pay the right amount in stores. I learned new reflexes, putting my hand to my face anytime I entered a room, just in case something hazardous was suspended there.
Tiffany saw one positive side to my blindness: “You’ll never see my wrinkles!” I laughed at that, and I had to agree when she pointed out that every day I was mastering things I had once told myself I would never do again. Still, the terrible question of my future loomed before me.
Even before I had come out of the coma, Army officials had handed Tiffany a stack of forms—application papers for military disability. If I signed them, I would be discharged from the Army and guaranteed a lifetime disability payment. If I didn’t—well, I didn’t know what would end up happening.
I tried sending resumes out, mostly to defense contractors who might be able to use my military experience. But my heart wasn’t in it. That hadn’t been the dream. The dream, I was sure, was gone.
One day in our room, I heard Tiffany shuffle papers around on the desk and gather some up. I knew what papers they were. “We need to make a decision about this, Scotty,” she said.
“I know,” I said quietly. She made no reply, and I realized she was waiting for more. Finally, I spoke. “I don’t want to sign something that says I’m disabled. But I am disabled!”
“Are you? From doing what?” she asked.
The question was so strange, the answer so obvious, I didn’t know what to say to her.
Tiffany waited, then finally said, “Scotty, listen. You know the hospital people told me I could sign those papers for you before you woke up. And you know why I decided not to? I believed then, and I believe now, that God is watching over us. I know you can make this decision. You keep talking about this future you can’t have. But how do you know it’s the only future worth having?”
I sat back, and again I was speechless. The only future worth having. I did indeed know that Tiffany had refused to sign those papers. We had talked about them so many times, around and around, and just as often I’d thought of her there in that hospital, so scared, me practically unrecognizable in intensive care. And yet she’d had the presence of mind to be smart for me. She had believed in me. I’d been completely dependent on her.
Dependent. I almost laughed. Who hadn’t I been dependent on? Doctors. My family. God, of course. Why was I so stuck on independence anyway? On my dreams for my future? I felt something shift inside me, something unclench.
“Um,” I said, and I could almost feel Tiffany strain toward my voice. “Actually, I do know of a few officers I could talk to about Army jobs I might be able to do.” I paused. “Non-combat things. What do you think?”
Tiffany didn’t even have to give me an answer. Her arms practically flew around my neck and, for the first time, I knew without a doubt that everything really was going to be okay.
Soon after leaving the blindness rehabilitation center I was transferred to Fort Monroe, Virginia, which happened to be home to a unit providing classroom training to new recruits about to ship overseas. When an officer offered me a teaching position, I didn’t hesitate. And I didn’t regret it, either.
Almost immediately, I discovered that I loved teaching. Blindness heightened all of my other senses, and I found myself often knowing exactly what my young recruits were feeling, sometimes even before they spoke.
All of my old judgments about people—whether they looked sharp and ambitious like me—went out the window. My real blindness, I realized, had been before I had gone to Iraq, when sometimes all I could see was myself.
I did end up going for my MBA. That’s what I’m doing now at Duke University. I graduate in 2009. I won’t be going into business and striking it rich, though. I’ll be heading back to West Point to teach. I want to be one of those instructors like I’d had, an example of service to my students. Tiffany and Grady will be coming with me, of course—I mean our little boy, Grady, who turned one a few months ago. They’ll like living there.
Etched in my memory is an image of that beautiful campus on a bluff overlooking the Hudson River. I can still picture it glowing in the late afternoon sun. It’s a wonderful vision. Full of light. Full of life. Full of strength.
For information on recovery from traumatic head injuries, visit bobwoodrufffamilyfund.org.
Read about more resources for injured veterans.
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| July 17, 2008 | 12:04 PM To honor six U.S. soldiers from Brookhaven Town who have lost their lives in the war on terror, and to salute those still fighting, town officials are considering a permanent memorial for Town Hall. On July 8, the Town Board unanimously approved Councilwoman Kathy Walsh's (R-Centereach) resolution to create the Veterans Global War on Terrorism Memorial Committee, charged with exploring options for a war monument somewhere on Independence Hill in Farmingville. Mastic Beach resident Terry Wilwerth — who lost his son, U.S. Army Specialist Thomas J. Wilwerth, to the war — proposed the idea to Walsh three months ago. There are individual memorials dedicated to his son, Wilwerth said, but nothing that honors all of the Brookhaven soldiers who have made the ultimate sacrifice. The Veterans Global War on Terrorism Memorial Committee is comprised largely of retired soldiers — people, Walsh noted, who are most familiar with appropriate ways to honor fallen soldiers. Committee member and Vietnam veteran Daniel J. Murphy — whose son, Navy SEAL Lt. Michael P. Murphy, also died in the war on terror — said he was honored to be part of the project, and that a memorial is a great way for Brookhaven to acknowledge the war. Two committee meetings have already been held, but the memorial is still in the earliest planning stages. According to Walsh, Tom Ronayne, director of the Suffolk County Veterans Service Agency, is a committee liaison, but has so far only sent representatives to the planning meetings. Ronayne could not be reached for comment by press deadline. Among other things, the committee is trying to determine the best language for a memorial meant to honor both the dead and the living. Wilwerth said he would like to see individual plaques for each soldier, as well as space for new plaques in case any have to be added. Funding for the memorial may come from the town, which budgets money for Town Hall upkeep and efforts, but Walsh said fundraising won't be addressed until after the design is finalized. Last week, the Town Board voted 4-3 to adopt a Walsh-sponsored resolution ending the board's practice of divvying up $150,000 in "community enhancement" funds annually among the six board members, to be granted to community and charity projects. While no timetable for the memorial has been set, Walsh said she's hoping the project "doesn't get too tied up in red tape." The councilwoman said she envisions something solemn and feasible, and not a project that takes three or four years to complete. "It is going to be done with dignity and respect," said committee member Bob Smith, a Vietnam veteran and former director of the county VSA. The memorial would be the first in Brookhaven Town acknowledging the war on terror, joining several other town monuments to America's other wars. Wilwerth said he proposed Town Hall as the best location because the war on terror memorial wouldn't infringe on any other town monuments, and Smith agreed the Independence Hill location would provide a "daily reminder" of the sacrifices made overseas. Wilwerth said efforts like this always help him cope with his loss. "It is a terrific idea," Murphy noted. "It will remind people that the cost of our freedom is not free." | |||
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