Face of Defense: ‘Man’s Best Friend’ Inspires Blood Drive

By Mike Peacock

Armed Services Blood Bank Center - Europe

LANDSTUHL, Germany  – Holly-Eva, a five-year-old boxer and her bad knees motivated more than 100 people to donate blood at a drive held last month at Wiesbaden Army Airfield, Germany.

The drive collected 109 units of whole blood for the Armed Services Blood Program, making it the largest held in Wiesbaden in more than five years, said Air Force Maj. Madelaine Sumera, chief of the Armed Services Blood Bank Center – Europe which is based here.

“I had made the decision … that one way or the other -- if Holly lived or died -- I would try to put on a blood drive in her honor,” said Holly-Eva’s best friend, Army 1st Sgt. Clark Kuhling, of Company B, 24th Military Intelligence Battalion.

In the summer of 2010, Holly-Eva blew out the anterior cruciate ligament in two of her knees. The first surgery for knee implants went perfectly, said Kuhling. A couple of months later she underwent the second.

One of her knees healed, but Holly-Eva experienced many problems with the other. Medications failed to fight infection and a decision was made to remove the implant in the bad knee.

Before the surgery, Holly-Eva’s body started to attack itself, said Kuhling, who has had the boxer since she was a puppy.  Then, her liver started to fail. A blood transfusion was performed but her condition only worsened. The vet told Kuhling the only hope was a transfusion of concentrated human plasma.

Kuhling set out to see if he could find this within the U.S. military and was directed to the blood bank at Landstuhl Regional Medical Center here.

“They really wanted to help, but because Holly-Eva was not a working dog, they were not able to, due to regulations,” Kuhling said. “As this was happening, I had a dozen or so friends and coworkers state that they would give blood right then and there, if needed.”

Then, Kuhling was told by the vet Holly-Eva was responding to the transfusion of canine blood, meaning the human plasma would not be needed. The boxer recovered and is in great health now, Kuhling said.

After returning from a deployment to Afghanistan in January, Kuhling enlisted help from throughout the Wiesbaden military community to advertise and promote the historic blood drive, attended by his pal Holly-Eva, complete with photos of the boxer for every blood donor.

Five Military Installations Receive Top Honors

By Cheryl Pellerin

American Forces Press Service

WASHINGTON, May 4, 2011 – Teams from five military installations around the world received top awards today for excelling at their mission despite the demands of war and recent natural disasters.

At a Pentagon ceremony, Ashton B. Carter, undersecretary of defense for acquisition, technology and logistics, lauded the recipients of the Commander in Chief's Annual Award for Installation Excellence.

“Across the board,” Carter said, “the installations that we recognize today have truly led -- led by example, led by setting the standard for excellence. Their respective accomplishments are the finest examples of military innovation and dedication.”

Receiving the awards were teams from the U.S. Army Garrison in Wiesbaden, Germany; the Marine Corps Air Ground Combat Center in Twentynine Palms, Calif.; Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam, Hawaii; Spangdahlem Air Base, Germany; and the Defense Logistics Agency-Land and Maritime in Columbus, Ohio.

“The very criteria that we use for the commander in chief’s award reflect a broad scope of installation responsibilities,” Carter said.

Criteria include supporting military missions, providing a high quality of life for service members and their families, ensuring the health and safety of service members and their families, interacting with surrounding communities, exercising sound business and communications practices and demonstrating responsible environmental stewardship.

In an April 29 note to the recipients, President Barack Obama congratulated the awardees on their achievement.

“Your installations are being honored for exceeding all standards, and I hope you take pride in the example set by your continued commitment to excellence,” he wrote. “As our nation rises to meet the challenges of the 21st century, I thank you for your stalwart dedication and encourage you to continue striving to be the best of the best.”

Army Garrison Wiesbaden executed the largest military construction program in Europe while supporting the integration of the 5th Signal Command, the deployment and redeployment of 1st Armored Division headquarters, and the upcoming U.S. Army Europe headquarters move.

The Marine Corps Air Ground Combat Center set the standard as the Marine Corps’ premier combat training installation, providing state-of–the-art instruction to more than 44,500 Marines and sailors as they prepared for deployments.

Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam provided superior support to mission and family readiness while enhancing service quality, business processes, facility management, resource conservation and quality of life as it transitioned to a joint base.

Spangdahlem Air Base created and sustained the largest flying hour program for U.S. Air Forces in Europe, with 18,350 flying hours, 8,343 sorties and 3,162 simulations.

Defense Logistics Agency-Land and Maritime provided unsurpassed supply-chain logistics management, awarding more 872,000 contracts, supporting more than 1,600 weapons systems, and processing more than 6 million orders in support of DOD customers.

“The installations we recognize today demonstrate leadership and a positive influence, creativity, commitment and decisive action,” Carter said. “They embody courage, integrity and initiative as they protect our citizens and strengthen our military.”