Posted on 12/22/2004 2:04:28 AM PST by kattracks
Looking for that last-minute Christmas gift? Here's an idea: a backpack. Not just any backpack. Get the one stuffed with a hooded sweatshirt and sweatpants, a T-shirt, underwear, socks, a CD player, deodorant, a phone calling card, a comb, razors and ... allow me to explain.The backpack full of practical goodies goes to American soldiers wounded in Iraq and Afghanistan who are in hospitals and rehab centers here at home, trying to put their lives back together after horrendous injuries.
They often want and need simple, everyday items. Hence, the list of toiletries and comfort clothes along with the CD player, which even comes with extra batteries. You can't get more practical than that.
The backpack program is the brainchild of the Wounded Warrior Project, one of the many charities doing their part in the war on terror.
Some of the groups, such as Give 2 The Troops and Operation Gratitude, send care packages to soldiers at the front that contain everything from video games to soap. Others, such as Injured Marine Semper Fi Fund, raise money to reunite families and their wounded soldiers.
These charities are all homemade. Andi Grant started Give 2 The Troops when her Marine reservist husband was called to duty. He returned safely, but her project continues and grows.
A photo in The New York Times shows her Connecticut house stuffed with boxes, some from donors, others ready to go to the front. All she wants for Christmas is a warehouse and money for postage!
Just reading about these incredible Americans fills me with pride - and a little guilt. Which is why I clicked onto the Wounded Warrior Project Web site and contributed the $99 that pays for a backpack. I immediately felt better.
John Melia, a founder of Wounded Warrior, assured me soldiers who get the backpacks feel better, too.
"It's not just the stuff we put inside," Melia said by phone. "It's that it comes from the public. It wouldn't mean as much if it was government-issued. To them, it shows their sacrifice meant something to people."
Melia knows from that feeling. A former Marine, he was injured in 1992 when his helicopter crashed near Somalia in a training exercise.
"I remember thinking probably nobody even knows that four Marines were killed and 14 were injured," he said. "That always stuck with me, wondering what the public knew."
The Pentagon says more than 5,000 soldiers in Iraq alone have been wounded too badly to return to duty. Better battlefield surgery and body armor have enabled many soldiers to survive terrible injuries.
"The number of amputees is, as a percent of the wounded, higher than it's ever been," Melia said. "We've had some triple amputees and lots of blindness from the improvised explosive devices the enemy uses."
His group, now part of the United Spinal Association, is hiring a full-time counselor and is taking recovering soldiers on outings. But each day shows the challenges the soldiers will face the rest of their lives.
"One guy is only 18," Melia said of a man on a recent cruise in Baltimore. "My daughter is 10, and I'm looking at him and thinking he's only eight years older than my daughter. A couple of weeks ago, he was holding his guts in his hands. That's a life-changing experience."
Attacks like the bloody one in Mosul yesterday remind us that these young Americans are making incredible sacrifices in our name. The least we can do is whatever we can do. Especially at Christmas.
Originally published on December 22, 2004
a definite and most OOOOORAAAHHHHHHHHH BUMP
The left has finally found their niche in the war on terror. Good for them. God bless our troops.
Bump for a worthy cause. Probably the worthiest.
On a similar note, my wife and kids worked at the VA Hospital this week. They always need help this time of year preparing packages for the residents.
opgratitude.com has a cell phone collection link.
Bump
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