Organization Honors Community Members for Troop Support

By Shannon Collins

DoD News Features, Defense Media Activity

FORT MEADE, Md., Nov. 3, 2014 – Three individuals and a couple in the national capital region received the 2014 Military Officer Association of America Community Heroes Awards recently for their efforts to support service members, military families and veterans.

“We are privileged to recognize some of the outstanding members of the Washington, D.C., metro area -- military and civilian communities who devote their time and energy to helping wounded service members,” said retired Navy Vice Adm. Norb Ryan, MOAA’s president.

This year’s winners are Leah Hernandez, Kristen Querriera, Brendan O’Toole and retired Navy Master Chief Petty Officer Ken Falke and his wife, Julia.

Leah Hernandez

Growing up with a dad who served in the Army for 20 years, Hernandez said, she saw her mom as a superwoman who held everybody and everything together. So when her husband came back from his third deployment to Afghanistan with post-traumatic stress disorder, her mother was her role model, and Hernandez was there not only for her husband, but for others as well.

“Many of the soldiers in the Warrior Transition Unit were no different than my husband, but they didn’t have the same support,” she said. “These soldiers only had each other while they battled through their PTSD and other problems. It’s only in my nature to help others. I enjoy making other people feel good. Who better to make smile and feel good then the ones who have involuntary disconnected from feeling any emotion due to their medical issues?”

Hernandez has devoted more than 2,500 hours caring for her husband and other soldiers who suffer from combat injuries and are assigned to the Warrior Transition Unit at Fort Belvoir, Virginia. In addition to being her husband’s main caretaker, she cares for other wounded warriors by reminding them of their medical appointments, providing transportation to appointments when needed, providing wake-up calls in the morning, cooking and delivering dinners, ensuring barracks rooms are clean and calling to make sure they are feeling well after a procedure or surgery.

She has taken several wounded warriors under her wing, providing them comfort, lending an ear, a shoulder to cry on, and checking in multiple times during bad days to see if they are in good spirits. She regularly organizes activities specific to soldiers suffering from PTSD, including fishing, going to the movies, going to restaurants and taking bike rides. She also assists them with integrating back into society.

She said she is honored with the award and for representing caregivers.

“These soldiers have given their all. Everybody needs somebody, even if they say they don’t. It doesn’t feel like I should be awarded for helping soldiers in need because I would only hope that if my husband was geographically separated from us, that someone would look out for him the say way,” Hernandez said.

Kristen Querriera

Querriera is the founder, CEO and chair of the board of Operation Troop Appreciation, a Pittsburgh-based all-volunteer organization whose mission is to build and sustain the morale of deployed troops, enabling them to complete their missions with the assurance the American public supports and appreciates their selfless service and daily sacrifices, she said.

For more than 10 years, OTA has solicited monetary and in-kind donations exceeding $1 million, with 98 cents of every dollar donated going directly to fund projects that support service members, such as ballistic eyeglasses, fire-retardant work gloves, sports equipment and musical instruments. The items were shipped to Iraq, Afghanistan and throughout the Middle East during operations Iraqi Freedom and Enduring Freedom.

At the beginning of 2014, OTA launched a “Welcome Home” program that helps at-risk veterans and their families with a fresh start in a new home. The organization provides them with beds, mattresses, bedding, kitchen supplies and other household items to get them started in a new home.

Querriera said she founded OTA to help those who serve.

“Wanting to do something to serve those who spend so much time and energy serving us is what drives me to continue our mission,” she said. “It’s important to have organizations supporting our military so our troops know they aren’t alone, that they know there are people back home remembering, supporting and loving them while they are so far away. They give so much of themselves, work so hard and so long, and just knowing and seeing that people are tangibly supporting them makes a huge difference in their morale.

“The response we receive from our deployed troops is overwhelming,” she continued. “Their emails and letters fill our eyes with happy tears, and the smiles in their pictures are the best paychecks we could ever get. No one at OTA receives compensation -- from the board members to the officers to the volunteers. No one receives a dime for their work. But knowing and seeing the difference we make in our troops’ lives is the best kind of compensation.”

She said she is humbled by the award and encourages others to volunteer.

“I am thrilled and honored to be named a 2014 MOAA Community Hero,” Querriera said. “It’s humbling to be in this lineup of amazing patriotic Americans.

“It’s so important for everyone to do some sort of volunteer or outreach activity, whether it’s for the military, a school, church or charity,” she added. “With a young family myself, I know how important it is to model that kind of behavior to our young children. And the smallest act can mean the world to someone on the receiving end. Whether it’s taking a meal to a disabled veteran, or writing letters to deployed troops, or simply saying ‘Thank you’ to a military member in uniform, it’s vitally important that as civilian Americans, we show our support, love and appreciation to our military.”

Brendan O’Toole

A 25-year-old former Marine Corps sergeant, O’Toole has dedicated himself to increasing public awareness of veterans’ struggles and their incredible strength. After a fellow Marine and friend committed suicide and while struggling with his own transition to civilian life, he said, he decided to make a difference.

With only $500 between him and his friends from T.C. Williams High School in Alexandria, Virginia, O’Toole created The Run for Veterans, a nonprofit organization whose mission is to honor the men and women who have served in Afghanistan and Iraq. He has run cross-country to raise awareness and money to support veterans and their families. To create awareness in local communities, he has spoken with community leaders and citizens across America about how they could make a difference for transitioning veterans.

His organization has raised more than $500,000, which has been donated to three nonprofit organizations that provide mental, physical and social well-being programs for veterans and their families.

Retired Navy Master Chief Petty Officer Ken Falke and Julia Falke

Falke served in explosive ordnance disposal for 21 years in the Navy. When he retired, he created his own company, and when he and his wife, Julia, began to visit combat-injured explosive ordnance disposal service members in the hospital, they were surprised by how few services were available to wounded veteran families. So the Falkes often would pay to fly family members to Washington to be with their service members. To ensure there was a sustainable organization to support and provide for these service members and their families, they began their nonprofit organization, EOD Warrior Foundation.

They also created the Boulder Crest Retreat for Military and Veteran Wellness, donating 37 acres of their 200-acre estate in Bluemont, Virginia, and giving $1 million of their own money to start the project. Boulder Crest Retreat’s mission is to provide a free, first-class rural wellness retreat dedicated to helping America’s military members and veterans and their families recover from visible and invisible wounds by providing rest and reconnection time, reintegration training and nontraditional and recreational therapies.

Falke said he and his wife donate both time and money to both foundations to ensure they will be around for the future. He also said they receive positive responses from those they help.

“The responses we get from those we help are amazing,” he added. “We also provide emergency financial relief and scholarships. All of this programming is so needed that it is simply is indescribable on the reactions and gratitude we receive from our guests.”

Though they are honored to receive the community hero award, Falke said, he and Julia don’t feel like heroes.

“We do what we do because we love those that we serve,” he added. “We have never wanted any awards or recognition for our work, but we are so appreciative.”

Falke said he encourages others to consider volunteering in their communities.

“Helping out in your community is the second most important thing you can do after firstly, taking care of your family,” he said. “We can solve so many problems at the community level. Get involved in efforts where you can really see that your efforts impact those in need.”

He also encourages volunteering to help veterans.

“I grew up in Alexandria, Virginia, during and after the Vietnam War,” he said. “I remember very clearly how poorly our Vietnam veterans were welcomed home. This has been the longest war in the history of the United States, and our volunteer military is the best in our history. We must take better care of our warfighters than we have in the past. It is our duty as citizens whether we wear the uniform or not.”