U.S. Commander Condemns Attacks on Kosovo Force

By Donna Miles
American Forces Press Service

WASHINGTON  – A senior U.S. military leader in Europe condemned recent violence against NATO troops in Kosovo just as a Wisconsin Army National Guard unit prepares to take command of the 15th rotation of peacekeeping forces there.

Navy Adm. Samuel J. Locklear III, commander of Allied Joint Force Command Naples, visited Pristina, Kosovo, today to assess the situation a day after attacks by Serb demonstrators wounded more than two dozen NATO Kosovo Force members. No U.S. troops were wounded in the clashes.

The attacks occurred after the KFOR troops removed blockades that had shut off a main road in northern Kosovo.

“The use of violence against KFOR troops is unacceptable,” Locklear said in a statement released today. “We urge all parties to exercise restraint and cooperate fully with all international actors on the ground to ensure freedom of movement without delay.”

Locklear reiterated NATO’s mandate in Kosovo under U.N. Security Council Resolution 1244: to help maintain a safe and secure environment. This, he said, includes ensuring freedom of movement.

KFOR entered Kosovo in June 1999 under the U.N. mandate in the face of mounting ethnic conflict between Federal Republic of Yugoslavia military forces and Kosovo Liberation Army members. At the height of the mission, 39 nations were contributing about 50,000 troops to the mission.

About 180 members of the Wisconsin National Guard’s 157th Maneuver Enhancement Brigade are now preparing to assume authority for the next KFOR rotation in December. They will serve as the brigade headquarters unit for Multinational Battle Group East, also known as Task Force Falcon. In that role, the 157th will oversee operations for the entire Multinational Battle Group East.

The group includes National Guard and Reserve soldiers from Wisconsin, Mississippi, Georgia, Nebraska, Vermont, North Dakota, New Jersey, Wyoming, Massachusetts and Puerto Rico. It also includes international forces from Armenia, Greece, Poland, Turkey, Romania and the Ukraine.

To prepare for the mission, the KFOR 15 troops trained in realistic scenarios at Camp Atterbury, Ind., and most recently, at U.S. Army Europe’s Joint Multinational Training Center in Hohenfels, Germany.

“It’s a three-pronged mission,” Army Col. Jeffrey Liethen, the KFOR 15 commander, said during training at the Camp Atterbury Joint Training Center in October. “We monitor the pulse of the populace, so to speak, keeping track of the feelings and opinions of the people. We also act as third responders to demonstrations and riots, and maintain freedom of movement for other KFOR forces.”

Observer-controllers at both training sites strived to make the training as realistic as possible, he said, based on tactics, techniques and procedures taking place on the ground.

“Early on in our training, the focus was on a relatively steady state and calm environment in Kosovo,” Liethen said earlier this month at Hohenfels.

“Things have drastically changed,” he said. “It’s very obvious that the training program here at Hohenfels has been modified to replicate what is actually going on in Kosovo right now so that will definitely be a help in us conducting our mission.”

Landstuhl Outpatient Facility Makes Good on Promise to Wounded

By Donna Miles
American Forces Press Service

Germany, Oct. 30, 2007 - Patients at a new medical transient detachment barracks that opened here earlier this month point to the facility as proof that the military is living up to its promises to ensure troops wounded in Iraq and Afghanistan get the best care possible.

When word broke in February of substandard conditions at Washington's Walter Reed Army Medical Center, outpatients at Landstuhl Regional Medical Center here were getting shuttled to their appointments from a barracks almost 20 miles away.

Their 10-person, open-bay rooms at Kaiserslautern's Kleber Kaserne were noisy and offered little privacy. But the biggest headache was the 30-minute bus ride back and forth to meet with doctors, case managers and liaisons.

Those days are gone. Two weeks ago, wounded and sick servicemembers from the combat theater undergoing outpatient treatment here transferred to the new facility, which offers a higher quality of life and easier access to care.

The four-story, two-building facility -- a former Air Force hotel transformed by a $2.5 million renovation -- sits directly on the Landstuhl hospital grounds. It boasts one- and two-person rooms equipped with computers with free Internet access, cable TV with DVD players, and telephones to stay in touch with loved ones.

Up to 230 residents can pop popcorn in their in-room microwaves and keep sodas cold in their own mini refrigerators. They can wander down the hall to play video games, use the full-service laundry, or follow the aroma that wafts through the facility to pour themselves a fresh cup of coffee.

Work on the new facility started in the spring, shortly after news of problems at Walter Reed came to light and officials promised quick fixes throughout the military medical system. The Air Force donated the buildings and most of the money for renovations, and construction moved along quickly until the recent ribbon-cutting ceremony.

"They went all out for the warriors, I have to say," said Army Capt. Katrina Gawlik, medical transient detachment commander.

Gawlik called the conditions optimal for soldiers, Marines, sailors and airmen who typically spend up to two weeks here getting care. "We tell our warriors who come here their only mission is to heal," she said.

About 60 percent of the patients who leave here will go on to other treatment facilities in the continental United States, including Walter Reed. The other 40 percent will return to duty -- most in Iraq and Afghanistan, but others in Djibouti or Kosovo.

Among those to return to their units is Army Capt. Paul Tarman, a 1st Cavalry Division soldier evacuated out of Iraq due to a shoulder injury. After 16 years in the military, Tarman has seen the full range of military medical care facilities, including some that needed improvement. When facilities aren't up to snuff, "you lose a little bit of hope," he said.

Tarman raved about the new Landstuhl facility and said it goes a long way in promoting healing. "You have everything you physically need," he said, adding that the amenities "put you in a different mindset," to focus on getting better.

He called the new outpatient treatment unit here a perfect example of the military living up to its promise to pull out all stops in caring for wounded and sick soldiers, sailors, airmen and Marines. "You want to believe that people care about what you've gone through," he said. "This is a perfect example" of that care.

Army Col. Kirk Lawrence, deputy chief of staff for U.S. Army Europe, pointed to the new facility as an example of the services working together to care for wounded warriors. "All we want is the best care for our soldiers, sailors, airmen and Marines," he said.

Group Gets Injured Troops Back in the Game

By Samantha L. Quigley
American Forces Press Service

Sept. 4, 2007 - A Maryland-based group is out to show severely wounded servicemembers they've still got game through the Wounded Warrior Disabled Sports Project. "The idea for the program is to ... get these guys active as soon as possible while they're there in the hospital, so they can realize they can still be active with their disability," said Kirk Bauer, Disabled Sports USA's executive director.

The Wounded Warrior Disabled Sports Project, created in 2003, is a partnership between Disabled Sports USA and the Wounded Warrior Project. It offers more than 14 sports -- both winter and summer -- and 70 events yearly.

Sports include snow skiing, biking, water skiing, hiking, rock climbing and mountain biking, and a group of veterans recently earned their underwater diving certification.

Disabled Sports USA and the Wounded Warrior Project are both supporters of America Supports You, a Defense Department program connecting citizens and corporations with military personnel and their families serving at home and abroad.

With just a staff of five to work with the Wounded Warrior Disabled Sports Project, Bauer relies on Disabled Sports USA's chapters around the country.

"When (wounded veterans) go skiing, they go skiing with Challenge Aspen or Sun Valley Adaptive Skiing (Idaho) or Breckinridge Outdoor Education Center in Breckinridge, Colo.," Bauer said, citing some examples.

Though Disabled Sports USA's programs are available for any individual with a physical disability, the Wounded Warrior Disabled Sports Project is only for veterans of operations Enduring Freedom and Iraqi Freedom, Bauer said.

"This particular program, because everything is paid for -- from their transportation to get them there, to hotels, the food, the adaptive equipment, everything -- we're limiting it those who were recently injured," he said. "These are folks that have lost limbs and basically had their life altered from their disability."

Servicemembers participating in the project usually are recovering at one of three major military hospitals: Walter Reed Army Medical Center here; Brooke Army Medical Center at Fort Sam Houston, Texas; and Naval Medical Center San Diego. Bauer said the National Naval Medical Center in Bethesda, Md., isn't included because sailors and Marines recovering there go to Walter Reed for rehabilitation.

The project also reaches out to those recovering from severe head trauma or spinal cord injuries who are being treated at one of several veterans hospitals specializing in care of those conditions, Bauer said.

"We try to find them were they are," he said. Some of those the group reaches out to are very easy to find. They're sitting at the recovering veterans' bedsides.

"We realize that when the ... warrior is severely injured, the entire family is impacted," Bauer said. "We provide all expenses paid for at least one family member to go with the wounded warrior and learn the sport and actually be a part of that person learning how to water ski, snow ski, whatever they're doing."

That helps eliminate the "deer-in-the-headlights" look he said he so often sees from family members as they try to figure out how to help their loved ones recover, he said.

More than 1,200 veterans and caretakers have benefited from the Wounded Warrior Disabled Sports Project. In a little over a month, that number will grow again. Another chapter in the Disabled Sports USA network, Team River Runner, is taking a group of veterans and their caretakers and heading for the blue waters of the Caribbean.

This is no vacation, though. With a schedule packed full of sea kayaking, camping, swimming and snorkeling there's very little chance these double leg amputees will be sipping drinks with little umbrellas.

"It's not going to be a resort," said Joe Mornini, Team River Runner's executive director. "It's going to be an adventure trip." And one that will help to build confidence and a support network, he added.

Wounded Vet Leads Walter Reed's Soldier, Family Support Center

By Rudi Williams
Special to American Forces Press Service

Aug. 23, 2007 - Permanently blinded and severely wounded by a booby trap in Vietnam in 1969, Stephen Maguire spent more than 17 months being treated at Walter Reed Army Medical Center here. Now Maguire has returned to Walter Reed to help wounded warriors and their families obtain assistance that wasn't available when he was hospitalized here.

He's now director of the Soldier and Family Support Center at Walter Reed, formerly known as the Medical Family Assistance Center. The support center staff is a team of active-duty officers, noncommissioned officers and enlisted soldiers appointed by the commanding general to coordinate resources and act as a point of contact for patients and their families.

When he was hospitalized at Walter Reed, no organization was available to help wounded veterans and their families with "little needs," he said.

The "little needs" include things like help with mortgage and rent payments, home insurance, car and car insurance payments, storage fees, airfare, car repairs, child care, utility bills and telephone bills.

"The Red Cross was the only one that I recall existed, but so often the answer to the question was, 'It's not available,'" the medically retired Army captain said. "You stopped asking the question after awhile.

"Red Cross volunteers brought books around to the rooms for the wounded," he said. "What other things the Red Cross did I have no idea. But I never heard of any other organization that gave anybody anything.

"The families got absolutely nothing," Maguire added. . "They were not authorized anything; ... they didn't get anything."

Today, the Walter Reed Society helps provide assistance to families with everyday needs that fall between the cracks. But wounded servicemembers and their families need a "smooth way to access things," Maguire said. That's where the Soldier and Family Support Center comes in: as a conduit to getting assistance from the Walter Reed Society and other organizations.

The Soldier and Family Support Center is staffed with about 20 people who help wounded warriors and their families with everyday needs that the military doesn't provide.

"If, for instance, they have a monetary need to pay some bills back home, they can apply through us to the society," Maguire noted. "Asking for help from the society is usually one of the last resorts after seeking help from Army Emergency Relief and other organizations. It could be a wife or parent who left their job to be with their wounded loved one at Walter Reed and have exhausted their funds."

The center helps soldiers and families "maneuver through the system," said Maguire, who holds a doctorate in psychology. "It's one thing to provide things, but you have to have a conduit to help people work through the system. Back in the days when I was a patient here, the Red Cross may have provided more than books, but I had no idea how to approach them for help."

(Retired Army Sgt. Maj. Rudi Williams is with the Walter Reed Society.)

Wounded Troops Get Help Rebuilding Lives

By Samantha L. Quigley
American Forces Press Service

Aug. 20, 2007 - A charitable group in Washington State has made it its goal to create warm, safe and accessible homes for injured veterans. The "Heroes at Home" program aims to help military families and veterans remain in the homes they own and the communities in which they live and contribute to, said Becky Carter, program manager of veterans housing for the Washington-based group "Rebuilding Together."

The program is a charitable partnership between Rebuilding Together, a national volunteer home-rehabilitation organization, and Sears Holdings Corporation, the parent company of Sears and Kmart stores.

Through the Heroes at Home program, Rebuilding Together and Sears Holdings are working to improve the lives of military families in need across America. Help comes in the form necessary repairs, improvements or modifications to these families' homes at no cost to them.

Army Spc. Ryan C. Major, 21, of Silver Spring, Md., was the first beneficiary of Heroes to Home, Carter said. "Ryan is currently recovering from severe wounds he received when a (roadside bomb) detonated while he was on patrol in Iraq," she said.

The blast, which occurred near Ramadi, cost Major both legs. It also caused a traumatic brain injury and damage to both arms, Carter said. With help from local volunteers, Heroes at Home was able to equip the young soldier's home with a wheelchair-accessible bedroom and bathroom and an elevator. The renovations were completed in mid-July.

While the improvements to veterans' homes cost the veterans nothing, there ultimately is a price tag attached for the program. Sears Holdings Corporation's efforts have helped defray those costs, however.

"Sears and Kmart customers and associates had the opportunity to support military families and veterans via an in-store and online campaign," Carter said.

Between Memorial Day and the Fourth of July this year, Sears Holdings raised $1.3 million for Heroes at Home. A similar effort is planned for later this year.

Rebuilding Together operates another similar program for injured veterans called "Serving Those Who Serve."

The group recently became supporters of America Supports You, a Defense Department program connecting citizens and corporations with military personnel and their families serving at home and abroad.

Carter said the group anticipates greater exposure because of its affiliation with America Supports You.

"We anticipate several things, (including) exposure for Homes to Heroes and the opportunity to generate support for the program and the people we serve," she said. "Networking opportunities ... also will allow us to build our network and assist more families and veterans, in addition to raising awareness for the program and generating additional monetary support."

For each dollar donated to the Heroes to Home program, Rebuilding Together can achieve $4 worth of work through volunteer labor and contractor-donated time, Carter added.

Pace Visits Wounded Warriors at Landstuhl

By Jim Garamone
American Forces Press Service

July 21, 2007 - The chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff stopped by a military hospital here today to see servicemembers wounded in Iraq and Afghanistan. Marine Gen. Peter Pace also awarded the Purple Heart to an Army specialist.

Pace awarded Army Spc. Colin Laird Pearcy the Purple Heart during a ceremony at his Landstuhl Regional Medical Center bedside. Pearcy, a member of the 82nd Airborne Division, had been patrolling in Baghdad's Sadr City neighborhood when he was wounded. His Humvee was in a blocking position when an improvised explosive device hit.

"I got hit in the left arm," he said. "My legs got peppered pretty good and my face – well you can see. We were fortunate. I was the only one hit."

Pearcy told the general that he was "good to go" when the general asked how he was feeling.

After he received the award, a reporter traveling with Pace asked the specialist if he felt like a hero. "I feel like I just did my job," was his reply. The 24-year-old soldier said that he'd like to "drink a cold beer" as his next step toward recovery.

Pace went to other parts of the hospital to see wounded servicemembers and the caregivers at Landstuhl. He donned a sterile gown over his Marine desert camouflage uniform to visit a number of servicemembers in the intensive care unit of the hospital.

Escorted by the medical center commander, Army Col. Brian Lein, Pace spoke with members of the staff. All services contribute medical personnel to the hospital, which also employs Defense Department civilians and local nationals.

Landstuhl is a Level 3 hospital, meaning it can treat the most serious cases. It is located near Ramstein Air Base, Germany, and medical evacuation planes arrive at the air base daily, a Landstuhl spokesman said. Other nations' wounded also benefit from the world-class care at the center. Service personnel from 40 nations have received care at Landstuhl.

Pace thanked the staff at the hospital for the work they do. "The treatment here is incredible, and the record of success of folks who make it to this hospital is phenomenal," he said.

Pace has visited the medical center many times and said he always leaves feeling humbled. "You feel a mixture of humility, because the troops invariably say to you that all they want to do is get back to their units," he said. "No matter how badly wounded they are, what they are thinking about is the guys and gals they left on the battlefield."

He said he also feels thankful for the medical professionals in the hospital and for the groups who donate time, money and materials for the wounded warriors and their families.

Severely Wounded Troops Find Meaningful Ways to Continue Serving

By Donna Miles
American Forces Press Service

July 13, 2007 – Army Sgt. John Keith likes to finish what he starts. So even after a rocket-propelled grenade tore into the door of his Humvee during his deployment to Iraq, leaving his leg dangling, he wasn't willing to give up his 15-year military career. Thanks to a new mentality within the military, and programs to back it up, Keith is among a growing legion of severely wounded troops who are opting to continue their military service. In his case, the former medic is now serving with the Army's Program Executive Office Soldier to help get state-of-the-art equipment to warfighters quickly as possible.

Sixty soldiers with 30 percent or higher disability ratings have applied to stay on active duty, and all have gotten the green light, said Col. Mary Carstensen, director of the Army's Wounded Warrior Program.

There's a growing recognition that these soldiers have leadership experience, specialized skills and, in many cases, combat experience - all qualities they can continue to contribute to the Army, she said.

The Marine Corps shares this recognition, and issued a Marine administrative message in May 2006 that details its program for combat-wounded Marines seeking to remain on active duty.

President Bush advanced this effort while visiting wounded troops at Walter Reed Army Medical Center here in December 2003. "Americans would be surprised to learn that a grievous injury, such as the loss of a limb, no longer means forced discharge," the president told the soldiers.

"In other words, the medical care is so good and the recovery process is so technologically advanced that people are no longer forced out of the military," Bush said. "When we're talking about forced discharge, we're talking about another age and another army. This is a new age, and this is a new army. Today, if wounded servicemembers want to remain in uniform and can do the job, the military tries to help them stay."

In that "other army" Bush referred to, troops with disabling injuries used to be automatically turned over to the Department of Veterans of Affairs. If they returned to the Defense Department at all, it was generally after being medically retired, then hired as civilian employees.

The concept of enabling wounded troops to stay on duty isn't unprecedented, and examples can be found from every conflict since the Revolutionary War.

Even as the wars were kicking off in Afghanistan, then Iraq, the Army's top officer was serving as living proof of the concept. Gen. Eric Shinseki stepped on a land mine that blew off the front of one of his feet during the Vietnam War. He continued his military service, ultimately serving as the Army's chief of staff from 1999 to 2003.

Troops serving in the global war on terror, even those with severe wounds, have continued Shinseki's example.

One of the better-known examples is Army Capt. David Rozelle. After losing his foot and part of his leg to an anti-tank mine in Iraq, Rozelle not only stayed on active duty; he became the first amputee to return to combat as commander of the 3rd Armored Cavalry Regiment's Headquarters and Headquarters Troop.

Other severely wounded soldiers who have stayed green have pursued a variety of different paths, according to Carstensen.

"They do a little bit of everything," Carstensen said. One is attending a military school; others are on the other side of the podium, teaching their fellow soldiers or ROTC cadets. A couple have returned to their units as first sergeants, and one was accepted into the Army's elite World Class Athlete Program. Still others are doing administrative jobs or serving as retention noncommissioned officers.

What's important, Carstensen said, is that troops who remain on active duty after being wounded continue pursuing military careers that are both professionally and personally fulfilling. "If the Army is still a viable option for them, we want to bring them into the fold and make that possible," she said.

Keith, who was wounded while deployed to Iraq with the 1st Cavalry Division in November 2004, is among the severely wounded troops seizing that opportunity. A medic at the time of the incident, Keith was responding to a patrol had come under attack when an RPG hit his vehicle.

The events of the day are a bit foggy; he remembers being transported to an emergency room in Baghdad's Green Zone before slipping into a coma. Seventeen days later, he woke up at Walter Reed Army Medical Center. The doctors there tried valiantly to save his leg, but so many nerves and tendons had been severed that they ended up having to amputate, just four days before Christmas. An Army board later certified him as 60-percent disabled.

If Keith was distraught about losing his leg, he was even more so about the possibility of losing the career he'd spent the past decade and a half building. "When I was first injured, I knew for sure that my military career was over," he said.

Keith wanted desperately to continue serving. Although emphatic that he didn't want to be a hindrance to anyone, he said he knew he still had something to contribute. "I may not be able to physically do my job, but I have the mind to do my job," he said. "I'm still useful."

The Army agreed and approved his request to remain on active duty.

Keith trained as a contracting specialist and has been working for the Army's PEO Soldier effort at Fort Belvoir, Va., since June 2006. The program was established to design, develop, procure and field state-of-the-art equipment to deployed troops as quickly as possible.

Keith said he gets a lot of gratification knowing that as he serves out his military career until he's eligible to retire, he's also continuing to helping his fellow troops who are at war. "This office is making a difference," he said. "And it's rewarding to be a part of it."

Foundation Lends Helping Hand to Wounded

By Samantha L. Quigley
American Forces Press Service

July 9, 2007 – In the month after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, Mike Talleda was searching for a way to help the country and motivate others to do the same. His answer was the "9-11 HelpAmerica Foundation."

"The 9-11 HelpAmerica Foundation's mission is to recognize and support the families of ... fallen and wounded warriors," Talleda, the foundation's president, said. "(It's) huge for families to know that people have not forgotten their sacrifice."

For the past six years, the foundation has focused on providing monthly financial support to wounded servicemembers and families of the fallen. That support comes in the form of $200 a month for an 18-month period, Talleda said.

Volunteers of the California-based 9-11 HelpAmerica Foundation also have become much more involved in the lives of the nine families his group supports, he said. Visits with the troops and their families are regular occurrences, as are outings that bring families together.

"Our formula is great," Talleda said. "We just need to have more funds to add more guys to the list."

The group holds golf and poker tournaments and similar events to raise funds, he said. Grants or donations would be a new and welcomed source of much-needed funding, Talleda said.

The 9-11 HelpAmerica Foundation is one of the newest members of America Supports You, a Defense Department program connecting citizens and corporations with military personnel and their families serving at home and abroad.

"We are hoping (joining) America Supports You may give us an opportunity to find people that like what we are doing and may be willing to help us," Talleda said.

"What we do is a lot of work, but it is also a labor of love," Talleda said.

Sled Hockey Scores Goal With Wounded Warriors

By Elaine Wilson
Special to American Forces Press Service

July 6, 2007 – Army Spc. Hollis Richardson glides across the rink, balancing his body on just a slab of metal and two thin blades. He digs two sticks into the ice, kicking up a light mist as he rushes to propel himself to the puck. Veering to the right, he evades an opponent and knocks the puck to a teammate just as he collides with another player, metal slashing metal. He quickly rights himself, gains balance and glides back into the game.

Like his time on the ice, life has been a balancing act for Richardson since he was injured just over a year ago. He was patrolling in Iraq when a rocket-propelled grenade struck his right leg and shrapnel riddled his left. The medics were racing to get him on a stretcher and out of danger when he was shot in the back. He suffered massive nerve damage to his right leg and some nerve damage to his left. He also fractured his pelvic bone.

Richardson has spent the last year recovering at Brooke Army Medical Center here, learning how to walk again and tinkering with car engines in his free time. He heard about a sled hockey team from his buddies at the hospital and decided to try it out, although he was a self-proclaimed non-athlete.

"I never played sports before except for some soccer as a kid," the 23-year-old said, a little out of breath after a two-hour practice at the Ice Center at Northwoods here. "It's been fun. I plan to keep it up; I have my own sled now and my name on my gear."

Richardson and his teammates, a mix of wounded warriors and local players, make up the San Antonio Rampage Sled Hockey Team. The sport is a modified version of ice hockey, altered to accommodate physical disabilities. Players propel themselves across the ice with sticks a third of regulation size while riding metal-frame sleds balanced on two skate blades. Aside from the equipment, the rules are about the same, as are the wrenching collisions and puck battles on the ice.

The team's coach, Lonnie Hannah, is well known in the sled hockey scene; he was part of the U.S. sled hockey team that won the gold medal at the 2002 Paralympic Games and bronze in 2006.

"The sport is great therapy, not just physically but mentally," said Hannah, also a former national champion speed skater. "It gets the guys out of the hospital and into society."

Hannah speaks from experience. He was injured in a work-related accident more than 20 years ago. But rather than being bound to a wheelchair, Hannah switched from speed skating to adaptive sports. He played wheelchair tennis and basketball before he discovered a passion for sled hockey.

"In the hospital, people are there to help, to do for you," Hannah said. "But at the rink, you're carrying and putting on your equipment, doing everything for yourself. It builds resilience."

Like the coach, referees also are volunteers. They officiate games and help facilitate weekly practices.

One of the referees stepped onto the rink near the end of a recent afternoon practice and sped across the ice with the ease of a lifelong skater. He moved the puck from the edges of the rink to keep the game going, as he joked with players to keep the mood light. The referee is a familiar face on and off the rink for the players, since he's also the commander of Fort Sam Houston.

"There's a great sense of camaraderie," said Maj. Gen. Russell Czerw, who tries to squeeze as much ice time as he can into his busy schedule. "Everyone is out here working together; the sport brings a sense of team and unity.

"It's also an exhausting sport. Not so much for these guys, but for the ones who play them and aren't used to the game," he added with a smile.

Since sled hockey is not a common sport in San Antonio, teammates play each other, or "stand-up" hockey players take a seat for a game. But the game is tough for players who are accustomed to a different version of the sport.

"They had no problem beating us," said Air Force Staff Sgt. Jason Hess, member of the San Antonio Men of War, a local ice hockey team that played the Rampage on June 16; Hess' team lost 3-1. "It's a lot more challenging than it looks. It takes a lot of strength and balance to play on a sled."

The teams' coordinator, Janis Roznowski, is working to beef up opposition for the team. The creator of the nonprofit group Operation Comfort, Roznowski was the driving force behind the sled hockey team. She decided to start a local team after taking a group of wounded warriors on a ski trip to Sun Valley, Idaho, in 2004, where they got their first glimpse of the sport.

"The guys' eyes lit up," Roznowski said. "I thought it would be great to start a team here."

What started out as a few players knocking around a puck has grown into an organized team with national aspirations. "The San Antonio Rampage (local professional ice hockey team) adopted us, donating equipment, and San Antonio Parks and Recreation has been a great help," said Roznowski, who continues to help the players from Brooke Army Medical Center with transportation and funding for rink time. "Our next step is to build the team up and start traveling to other cities for games so we can be competitive on a national level."

In the meantime, the sled hockey team welcomes new players and has an added enticement for aspiring sled hockey enthusiasts.

"You get to go out on the ice and take out your aggression," said retired Sgt. Chris Leverkuhn, an amputee who was injured in Iraq. "I love the sport. It's a great way to keep busy and experience something new."

(Elaine Wilson works at the Fort Sam Houston Public Information Office.)

Sentinels of Freedom Group Offers 'Life Scholarships'

By Samantha L. Quigley
American Forces Press Service

May 21, 2007 – Academic scholarships are plentiful for servicemembers wanting to further their education, but for wounded troops, simply re-integrating into civilian life can be emotionally and financially costly. The Sentinels of Freedom Scholarship Foundation is helping to ease the burden on wounded troops. The Danville, Calif.-based organization is offering four-year "Life Scholarships" to help smooth severely wounded servicemembers' transition to the rest of their lives.

"When it comes to returning severely injured (servicemembers), we just needed to do more," Mike Conklin, the foundation's founder, said. "I felt it was our responsibility, so I developed a plan and we started with one person."

Three years after the program began, six servicemembers have been awarded scholarships.

Conklin's three sons, all Army Rangers, served as his inspiration to create the program. One of his sons was injured while serving in Iraq in 2003.

"I was very impressed with the military medical system," Conklin said. "That kind of drove me to want to do more."

The program encourages community involvement and offers assistance based on a servicemember's particular needs. Services provided can include rent-free housing adapted for physical needs, new furniture and household supplies, and new adaptive vehicles.

"Sentinels," as the scholarship recipients are called, also receive career-placement assistance, educational opportunities, and financial and personal mentorship.

"The biggest part of this is mentoring," Conklin said. "We surround them with a team of 10 business people in that community who are professionals."

That group, which can include financial planners, doctors, lawyers and a former servicemember to help navigate military benefits, stays with an individual for the entire four-year period to help with specific areas of the transition, including career placement or housing, for example.

Servicemembers who have suffered a service-related injury that has left them a paraplegic, with amputated limbs, blind, deaf or severely burned qualify for the scholarship. While those are the main criteria, successful candidates must have something else, Conklin said.

"We look for (someone) ... that wants to move forward, that wants to move on from just being in the disabled ranks," he said. "We look for that young man or woman that has fire in their eye and wants to move forward."

Those interested in the program can fill out a questionnaire and release on the Sentinels of Freedom Web site. This allows Conklin to open a case file and review individual situations. He cautions that the program is not a handout, however. "This is an earn-while-you-learn scholarship," he said.

That means participants are expected to stay in school, maintain a job and moral standards, and take the community team's mentoring advice to heart.

Sentinels of Freedom is one of the newest members of America Supports You, a Defense Department program connecting citizens and corporations with military personnel and their families serving at home and abroad.

One of America Supports You's newest corporate supporters, RE/MAX, has been one of Sentinels of Freedom's largest supporters, Conklin said. The real estate company has enabled the organization to grow tremendously.

"It's a very unique company in the fact that it has 6,500 offices around the United States, 120,000 agents and brokers around the United States -- professional people who know everything about their community," Conklin said. "That's a tremendous network for us that has helped us move from local to national.

Others corporations working with Sentinels of Freedom include Chevron, AT&T, UPS, DHL, the Boeing Company, and many other defense-industry contractors, he said.

With the help of these corporations and others like them, Conklin hopes to award at least 500 scholarships with five years.

"We hope that this will be built into an enduring, sustaining scholarship program for this war and all future wars," he said.

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Wounded Troops, Supporters Ride Bicycles 110 Miles

By Linda D. Kozaryn
American Forces Press Service

April 30, 2007 – Nathan Potts was one of about 50 seriously wounded servicemembers who went for a two-day, 110-mile bike ride this weekend, just to show they could. "The ride proves that I can still do something. I'm not going to waste away to nothing," Potts, 33, said. "It gets you out here with other people that have similar problems. It gives you the idea: 'Well shoot, if they can do it, I can do it as well.'"

About 200 supporters also made the 2007 Face of America Bike Ride from Gettysburg, Pa., to the National Naval Medical Center, at Bethesda, Md. World T.E.A.M. Sports, a nonprofit organization, sponsored the two-day event. The acronym stands for The Exceptional Athlete Matters.

Marine Gen. Bob Magnum, assistant commandant of the Marine Corps, and his wife, Rose, were among those who came out to show their support for the riders.

"These young men and women saw a challenge and took it on just as if they were completely fit and whole," Magnum said. "They proved that they can do what able-bodied men and women won't even attempt, and they did it with a smile."

World T.E.A.M. Sports teams up people with and without disabilities. The group has created teams and events all over the world, including a bike ride the length of Vietnam with veterans from both sides of the Vietnam War and a 2002 bike ride from Ground Zero in New York to the Pentagon.

"Two years ago, we decided we wanted to do something for the guys who were severely injured in Iraq and Afghanistan," said Chris Carrigg, the group's executive director. "Everyone we talked to said what we were doing was crazy. They said the guys could never make it. It was bad for their self-esteem if they couldn't make it."

Last year's ride was a success for the 11 wounded troops and 125 supporters who took part, Carrigg said. "They finished the whole 110 miles, a very tough ride," he said. "There were a lot of hills through Maryland and Pennsylvania. They had a tremendous experience."

This year, World T.E.A.M. Sports flew in riders from all over the country, Carrigg said. Brooke Army Medical Center, in San Antonio, sent a team, as did the Marine Corps. Servicemembers who've been discharged in the past few years also signed up.

"The support system is incredible inside Walter Reed or National Naval," Carrigg said, "but when they go off on their own, the support system is not as great. What we do is a nice bridge from that nice, safe, supportive cocoon, to the outside world and assimilating back into society successfully."

All servicemembers, with and without disability, participate in the ride free of charge, he said. Civilians paid $50 and raised $500 from sponsors. American Airlines donated free trips. One of the group's board members, Erik Weihenmayer, the only blind person to climb Mt. Everest, rode in a tandem sidecar during the ride.

"It becomes a family affair," Carrigg said. "The bonding is really what happens in a positive way."

"The message we want to send to these guys is, 'You've lost a leg; you've lost an arm; or you're blinded. You can still be active. You can still be on the team. You can still be part of the fun and the camaraderie,'" Carrigg said.

Potts got that message loud and clear when he took part in last year's ride.

As an Army combat medic, Potts served with 6th Battalion, 8th Cavalry Regiment, 3rd Infantry Division, and spent 11 months in Iraq. Thirty days before he was due to come home, he was riding in a Humvee that hit an improvised explosive device. Getting out of the vehicle, Potts triggered a second IED that took off his right leg below the knee.

After spending 10 months at Walter Reed Army Medical Center, Potts went home to Konawa, Okla., a small town about 70 miles southeast of Oklahoma City, where he bought a 117-acre farm.

Last year, Potts rode a handcycle in the 2006 Face of America ride. This year, World T.E.A.M. Sports paid for his flight to Gettysburg so he could take part again.

"I'm in a lot worse shape than I was last year," Potts said halfway through the ride during an overnight stop in Frederick, Md. "I left Walter Reed in November, and I haven't done much since. They had the facilities for me to work out.

"Back home," he said, "I watch the cows grow. I live in such a rural community, I have to drive an hour and a half to the city to be able to get any type of facilities for me to use."

Potts said he has no complaints about the care he received from the military or at the Department of Veterans Affairs hospital in Oklahoma City, where he said he gets priority care.

"About a month ago, I set up an indoor trainer and rode my bike for about 30 minutes for two weeks, and then I quit," he said. "I got tired of it. That's all the training I got for this."

At the end of the second day, after nearly 14 hours of pedaling and 110 miles, Nathan Potts and his cohorts arrived at the National Naval Medical Center.

"I knew I could do it," Potts said. "It's just one of those things. You've just got to put your mind to it and do it."

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Deputy Defense Secretary Calls for Immediate Fix to Disability Process

By Donna Miles
American Forces Press Service

April 12, 2007 – Deputy Defense Secretary Gordon England today called for a new policy that moves wounded troops from Iraq and Afghanistan to the front of the line in the disability rating process while system-wide fixes to the disability and health care systems are put in place. England recommended an immediate measure to speed combat-wounded troops through the DoD disability system and smooth their transition to the Department of Veterans Affairs system. The goal, he said, is "an uninterrupted, seamless continuum of care and support" that ensures nobody falls through the cracks or gets mired down in bureaucratic red tape.

Wounded troops represent about 11 percent of the 25,000 servicemembers being processed through DoD's disability system. The problem, England told the senators today, is that this 11 percent is funneled through the system just as the other 89 percent, many of them career servicemembers preparing to retire.

This "one-size-fits-all rating process" bogs down the processing of combat-wounded troops cases, England said.

Instead, he recommended that DoD expedite its cases to smooth their transition into VA care. Many of the wounded troops' cases are relatively clear-cut and can be moved through the system quickly, he said.

England acknowledged that this immediate fix is just one step toward improving the way wounded troops are cared for and, when appropriate, processed through the disability system. He said he's looking forward to hearing what the many studies, reviews, commissions and panels have to say about the matter when they report their findings before the year's end.

What's needed, he said, is a broad-based system that ensures combat-wounded troops get the care and treatment they deserve. "In my judgment, it is time to step back and take a holistic look at the system instead of just applying fixes to the system," England told the committees. "We need an integrated, systemic solution with the right mechanisms in place ... that makes sense from the soldier's perspective."

That requires thinking about what the best system would look like if it were being built from scratch and what steps would have to be taken to get it, he said.

England said it also may require looking to other national systems associated with disability determination and compensation: the Social Security Administration's disability payments, the Department of Labor's workmen's compensation program and the Department of Veterans Affairs and DoD disability systems, among them.

"They are all carried out in different ways, against different systems to achieve different ends," he said.

The differences between these complex programs can be confusing to benefit recipients, England said, suggesting the need for a new national approach for compensating disabled workers. "It may be time to cast a wider net and look at this whole area of disability," he said.

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Circus Honors Wounded Servicemembers

By Samantha L. Quigley
American Forces Press Service

March 23, 2007 – About than 60 wounded warriors from Walter Reed Army Medical Center here and the National Naval Medical Center in Bethesda, Md., spent last night clowning around at Ringling Brothers and Barnum and Bailey Circus's Military Appreciation Night. Ringling Brothers and Barnum and Bailey Circus is a corporate team member of America Supports You, the Defense Department program that highlights the ways Americans and the corporate sector are supporting the nation's military.

Army Cpl. John Callahan, a patient from Walter Reed, said he hadn't been to the circus since he was 11. "I love coming out when I get a chance. I think it's good for the morale, too."

Marine Staff Sgt. Jonathan Bryant, also a Walter Reed patient, agreed the night was about having fun, but he said the fact that the servicemembers were the guests of honor made the night even better.

"We're just glad that people recognize our service most of all," he said. "We're just glad to be here, just glad to have fun. (We want to) thank everybody for supporting us."

America Supports You home-front group Our Military Kids also attended the circus to inform circus-goers about its program. The group provides grants and scholarships to children of deployed and severely injured Reserve and National Guard military personnel to continue sports, fine arts and tutoring activities. Three of their families also were able to attend, Linda Davidson, executive director of Our Military Children, said.

"We're supporting the children of severely injured and deployed Reserve and National Guard (servicemembers), and I think when we think of circuses we think of children and we think of families," Davidson said. "We felt it was a great opportunity to showcase the Our Military Kids program."

Before the festivities officially began, Marine Corps Lt. Gen. John Sattler, director for strategic plans and policy for the Joint Staff, joked with the clowns and greeted the wounded warriors and their families. He called the circus's gesture of free tickets to the performance "a great tribute" to the servicemembers.

"I think it's great that Ringling Brothers and Barnum and Bailey is honoring them tonight," Sattler said. "It makes the families feel good, (and) I think the rest of us who are here, it gives us kind of a warm touch in your heart to realize this kind of generosity exists."

The general's backstage experience wouldn't have been complete without photos with Army Sgt. Tom Davis and his family and, of course, Karen the elephant. Karen showed her patriotic appreciation by sporting an elephant-sized America Supports You dog tag.

Kenneth Feld, chairman and chief executive officer of Feld Entertainment, which owns the circus, said supporting the troops is a part of the circus's culture now.

"Every performance, ... before the show starts, we talk about our relationship with America Supports You," he said. "The response it generates - the applause, the support - we see that as we play in over 135 cities across America every year."

As the evening's performance began, Feld, on behalf of the circus, expressed pride in being a part of the Defense Department's program. "This is a very special night," he said. "We're excited that this is the second year of Ringling Brothers and Barnum and Bailey's partnership with the Department of Defense America Supports You program."

Then Sattler, as the guest ringmaster, took the spotlight.

"On behalf of a grateful nation, I want to thank you and Ringling Brothers and Barnum and Bailey Circus for sponsoring some of our wounded warriors here at the circus," he said. "What we have with us tonight are some of the soldiers and Marines, sailors and airmen who went forward and stood on the wall and looked evil in the eye and said, 'Not on my watch!'"

After a round of applause for the servicemembers in attendance, it was all about fun for the general.

"This is the one time in my life where I get to say, 'Welcome to the Greatest Show on Earth! Ooo-Rah!'" Sattler said to open the show.

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Burn Patients Tour Center for Intrepid

By Nelia Schrum
Special to American Forces Press Service

March 23, 2007 – When Army Sgt. Antonio Autrey was burned in Iraq by a blast that destroyed his Bradley fighting vehicle almost a year ago, all the former high school football receiver wanted to do was to be able to hold a football again. Now, after almost a year in recovery at the Burn Center here, the 4th Infantry Division soldier has set his sights on bench pressing, with a goal of lifting 345 pounds - something he regularly accomplished with ease before an insurgent's blast.

Touring the Center for the Intrepid here March 16 with fellow burn patients, Autrey, 26, said he hoped the new facility would help him get back in shape.

Burn patients, who receive both physical therapy and occupational therapy in the Burn Center, took an orientation tour of the Center for the Intrepid with an eye on how the rehabilitation center could help each of them once their therapists referred them for the next level of occupational and physical therapy.

To help the Center for the Intrepid with the increased patient load of Burn Center patients on their way to recovery, the Institute of Surgical Research is adding 25 staff members to work with the burn patients, including physical therapists, occupational therapist, physical therapy assistants and social workers.

Army Capt. Charles Quick, chief of occupational therapy at the Burn Center, arranged for the burn patients to have an in-depth look at the Center for the Intrepid.

"We want to give them the opportunity to restore function in all of their activities of daily living," Quick said. "This will give them opportunities to get back to the things they know and love."

He said each burn patient is evaluated weekly, and when therapists at the Burn Center identify a wounded warrior able to take on more advanced therapy, that patient would begin a course of treatment at the Center for the Intrepid. Each referred patient will be evaluated by Army Lt. Col. Jennifer Menetrez, medical director for the center, who will develop a rigorous individualized therapy plan.

Dr. Rebecca Hooper, Center for the Intrepid program manager, said the staff of the Brooke Army Medical Center's Amputee Care Center has worked with many patients who have lost limbs as a result of burn injury prior to the opening of the center.

At the Center for the Intrepid, burn patients who may not necessarily be amputees, but have functional loss in their extremities, also will be able to benefit from a variety of therapies that are provided in the new, larger space at the rehabilitation center that features new, world-class equipment.

Hooper said the Center for the Intrepid is not a gymnasium or a workout facility; it is a rehabilitation facility.

"Patients do not simply come in and work out, but are appointed for care using the BAMC outpatient appointment system," Hooper said. "All patients treated at the CFI have individually tailored treatment plans designed to help them meet their specific goals."

Many of the burn patients are looking forward to meeting their individualized goals and incorporating additional activities that will help with strengthening and endurance.

And for Army Spc. Richie Dominguez, a military policeman who suffered burns in August after an attack by a suicide truck bomber, the Center for the Intrepid's Fire Arms Training System will help him get back a critical skill.

"No other rehabilitation center in the country provides firearms training and certification," Dominguez said. "As a sSoldier and police officer, that is an important skill for me."

(Nelia Schrum is assigned to Brooke Army Medical Center Public Affairs.)

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Wounded War Veterans Reach New Heights

By John J. Kruzel
American Forces Press Service

Feb. 4, 2007 – The sky was the limit for six wounded Iraq war veterans who met here Feb. 2 at Sport Rock Indoor Climbing Center. Disabled Sports USA and Wounded Warrior Disabled Sports Project sponsored the event that brought three double-leg amputees, two single-leg amputee and one soldier blinded during combat together to transcend their handicaps and climb toward recovery.

Volunteers from Walter Reed Army Medical Center sat the amputees in wheelchairs and modified their prosthetic legs for the climb. Carbon-fiber foot shells, designed to absorb the impact of physical activity, replaced standard rubber feet. Rock-climbing shoes were fitted over the composite appendages.

"These guys keep pushing themselves, pushing their limit, and we're just here to facilitate it," U.S. Army Capt. D.J. Skelton, the program organizer, said. "All we did is set the stage so that when these guys were ready and had the confidence to take the step out, it was there for them."

For retired U.S. Army soldier Jake Kessler, who lost his legs to an improvised explosive device in June, this trip to the climbing gym marked his first with prosthetic legs.

"Climbing is one of the passions I've wanted to get back to," Kessler said. "Being able to get back here and climb is the first step of many."

Rock climbing was a cornerstone of Jake and Vanessa Kessler's relationship before Jake's accident, Vanessa said. She said her husband's progress here represents a step in the right direction. "This is just another piece of what our lives are going to look like now," she said. "And every new thing that he accomplishes reinforces the fact that we're going to be okay."

Since she lost both legs in December 2005, Marissa Stroch, a 21-year-old Military Police soldier, wondered if she could still climb.

"A week ago in physical therapy, I heard them say 'rock climbing' and I said, "Oooh Oooh, pick me! Pick me! I wanna go!" she said. "When I came in today, I said, I'm either going to end up leaving here really angry with myself, or really happy."

Here at the rock-climbing center, Stauch fought her way up a 15-foot tall rock and slapped her hand defiantly on its top. "It's definitely a cool feeling to know that I'm still able to do some of the stuff that I had fun with before," she said.

"Whether they're going to use more arms, more legs, more turning of the hips, or be more creative with how they use their body, they're going to find a way to get from the bottom to the top," Lillian Chao-Quinlan, the Sport Rock president, said.

U.S. Army Capt. Scotty Smiley was blinded by shrapnel during combat in Iraq, yet his disability couldn't keep him from climbing a 50-foot wall, the gym's tallest rock.

When asked if he was nervous, Smiley joked, "Nah, I'm not afraid of heights. I can't see the ground.

"As the voices get farther and farther away, I know I'm getting higher and higher," he said. "I don't know how high I am, but I know I'm going up."

After Smiley reached the top of the wall, voices from below guided his hand toward a cowbell hanging within reach. As the mallet slapped against the cast-metal bell, clanging rang from the rock top and mixed with the echo of applause and cheers from below.

"Scotty sees more right now climbing on this wall than most of us see with two eyes in life," Skelton said. "What's it teaching you about the limitations you think you have in life?

"When you leave here, are you going to open doors you closed earlier?" Skelton said. "That's why Scott's doing this: to teach a lesson."

Disabled Sports USA and Wounded Warrior Disabled Sports Project are partners in the Defense Department's America Supports You program. The program highlights activities corporations, grassroots groups and private citizens are doing to support the men and women in uniform.

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National Leaders Thank Wounded Warriors

By Linda D. Kozaryn
American Forces Press Service

Jan. 30, 2007 – How does a nation thank someone whose legs were destroyed by an insurgent's homemade bomb? How do Americans pay tribute to someone whose face melted in the fires of war? In marking the opening of a new state-of-the-art rehabilitation center and two new Fisher Houses here yesterday, Cabinet secretaries, military leaders, senators, business leaders, and celebrities did their best to express their gratitude to some of the nation's sons and daughters who bear the scars of combat. The VIPs acknowledged both the servicemembers' and their family members' sacrifice.

"All those who have made the ultimate sacrifice and all those recovering from their wounds remind us of the price of freedom," Deputy Defense Secretary Gordon England said. "It is a price that is periodically required to be paid in blood, and suffering and courage."

England was one of about 3,000 people gathered here to mark the opening of the Center for the Intrepid, the Army's national rehabilitation center, and two Fisher Houses, where families of the severely wounded stay to be near their loved ones. The $50 million center was built from private funds donated to the Intrepid Fallen Heroes Fund.

"What you see before you is a monument built by contributions by 600,000 Americans," said Arnold Fisher, chairman of the fund. "This is a monument to not only the men and women and their families who will come here, but a monument to the generosity of our citizens and their love for those who serve."

Both the Intrepid Fallen Heroes Fund and the Fisher House Foundation are members of the Defense Department's America Supports You program. The program works to highlight ways in which Americans support U.S. troops

The guests, including actress Michelle Pfeiffer, talk show celebrity Rosie O'Donnell, singer-songwriter John Mellencamp and producer David E. Kelley, paid tribute to more than 300 severely wounded men and women. While some troops sat in a row of wheelchairs in front of the stage, others slowly walked beneath crossed swords to silently parade before the applauding audience.

Mellencamp performed two of his hit songs, "Pink Houses" and "Our Country" during the event. The entertainer said he came here because the rehabilitation center is a worthwhile project. "It shows the spirit of what people can do on their own when they want to and when they need to," he told American Forces Press Service.

Marine Gen. Peter Pace, the military's highest-ranking officer, said he objects to the idea that these members of the all-volunteer force "lost" their limbs. "You gave an arm; you gave a leg; you gave your sight as gifts to your nation that we might live in freedom," the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff emphatically told the wounded warriors.

Pace said families members have sacrificed in ways that most people can only imagine. They, too, often need rehabilitation, and that's why the Center for the Intrepid and the Fisher Houses are so important.

"Those of you who are family members of the fallen and of the wounded have served this country as well as anyone who has ever worn the uniform, and we thank you for that," the chairman said. "You pray for us when we're gone, and ... when we're wounded, you're there to put us back together again."

Pace's senior enlisted advisor, Army Command Sgt. Maj. William J. Gainey, later echoed his boss's sentiments. "Families are the most important thing to us soldiers, sailors, Marines, airmen and 'Coasties,'" Gainey said in an interview. "If we have a system that will take care of our families, then we can deal with it, and that's a fact. If we take care of the families, we take care of the troops."

Pace also paid tribute to the military's caregivers. "From the instant any of us is wounded on the battlefield until the time we arrive here," he said, the medical professionals provide "the loving care and compassion that these wounded warriors so deserve."

One of those caregivers, retired Army Sgt. 1st Class Kathy Rasmussen, assistant administrator for the Center for the Intrepid, led the chairman on a brief tour of the $50 million facility. The 24-year veteran from Charles City, Iowa, recently retired from active duty but stayed on as a civilian employee here. "What better way to continue to serve my country," she told American Forces Press Service. "I absolutely love working with the patients."

Army Master Sgt. Daniel Robles, 17-year-Army veteran from Tucson, Ariz., who's now a patient at the Center for the Intrepid, was severely injured about four months after deploying to Iraq. He said hopes to find work at Fort Sam Houston.

"There's a lot of good people here who want to support me in that," he said in an interview. "I think it's going to work out."

During the ceremony, Arizona Sen. John McCain acknowledged the debt the nation owes its combat veterans and their families. "We have incurred a debt to you, and no matter how sincerely and generously we honor our obligations to you, we can never repay in full," McCain said. "What you have done for us we can never do for you. But we're mindful of that distinction and humbled by it.

"Our appreciation for your service demands that we all do what we can ... to help keep this nation a place, an idea worthy of the hardships, dangers and sacrifices you have borne so valiantly for us."

New York Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton said the country has been well served by those who fight for our freedoms.

"We are blessed to have so many who have given so much," she said. "But in return, we are obligated to ensure in every way we can that they and their families are given the support that they have so richly earned and deserved."

The rehab center will be a place of healing and support, for the wounded warriors who face a challenging road ahead, Clinton said.

"May this center and the staff that serve so nobly here help all who pass through its doors to heal in body and soul, to look forward to a future that is still filled with potential, to live long and productive lives at home and to continue in whatever way you choose to serve this nation that admires, respects and loves you," she said.

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States Declare May 1 'Silver Star Day'

By Samantha L. Quigley
American Forces Press Service

Jan. 25, 2007 – Thanks to the efforts of Silver Star Families of America, Indiana and New Mexico have proclaimed May 1 as "Silver Star Day" to honor the nation's wounded servicemembers. Silver Star Families of America is a member of America Supports You, a Defense Department program highlighting the ways Americans are supporting the nation's servicemembers.

"What we really want to do is have a nationwide event that day," Janie Orman, the group's vice president, said. She added that the proclamation had been sent to every state.

The group, which would like to establish May 1 as a national day of observance honoring America's wounded servicemembers, drafted a proclamation in November for Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels' consideration. His office responded a few weeks later, informing Silver Star Families of America that the governor had signed the proclamation.

New Mexico followed suit, and Wyoming recently contacted the group regarding the initiative, Orman said.

"We need someone in (each) state to represent us," she said, adding the American Legion has expressed interest in supporting the group in this effort.

"A resolution we wrote has passed the local (American Legion chapter). It has to then pass the district, then the state, then national," she said. "But they're in big support of Silver Star Day also, so that's a great help."

Orman also said that individuals wanting to help represent Silver Star Day in a their state should contact her or Steve Newton, Silver Star Families of America's president and co-founder.

"Their main goal would be to get the word out about the Silver stars and what we do: ... honor and assist our wounded and their families in any way we can," Orman said. "We do that by presenting the Silver Star banners and care packages."

The group also acts as an advocate for the wounded and works to educate the public about dilemmas wounded troops and veterans face, according to it's the group's Web site.

The Silver Star Banner, which the group is working to make a government-recognized service banner like those of the American Gold Star Mothers, will play a big part in observing Silver Star Day on May 1, Orman said. Silver Star Families of America members are hoping to present their banners to veterans and wounded servicemembers in each state.

They also hope to work with schools to help students understand why the day is important. "I guess what we try to instill in them is that their freedom (to) go to school ... depends on our troops standing up for freedom," Orman said.

The day of recognition is open to participation by other groups wishing to honor America's wounded troops, as well.

The Patriot Guard Riders, a motorcycle group that attends military funerals to shield families from protestors, has indicated it would like to hold a rally to commemorate the day, Orman said.

"We're just really getting a great response about Silver Star Day," Orman said.

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