Voices of Medhold seeks to soothe injured Soldiers

ARNEWS ^ | Jan 26, 2006 | Tim Hipps

[SandRat]

The Voices of Medhold, a singing group from the Medical Hold Company at Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington, D.C., entertain the audience while judges tally the results of the Army’s 2006 Margaret “Skippy” Lynn Stars of Tomorrow Talent Contest Jan. 21 at Fort Belvoir, Va. From left to right: Sgt. Jonathan Oliver, Sgt. Carl Oliver, Staff Sgt. Michael Green, Staff Sgt. Alan Drew, Sgt. Michael Walcott, Sgt. 1st Class Samuel Lampkins and Sgt. 1st Class Brenda Goodson.

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Voices of Medhold seeks to soothe injured Soldiers

By Tim Hipps

January 26, 2006

FORT BELVOIR, Va. (Army News Service, Jan. 26, 2006) – The Voices of Medhold, a singing group from the Medical Hold Company at Walter Reed Army Medical Center, entertained the audience while judges tallied the results of the Army’s 2006 Margaret “Skippy” Lynn Stars of Tomorrow Talent Contest Jan. 21 at Wallace Theater.

These Soldiers and military civilians use music to help motivate and lift the spirits of injured comrades.

“We represent every single injured Soldier in the United States military,” said Staff Sgt. Michael Green, one of the founding members of the group.

The Voices of Medhold is the brainchild of Maj. Carzell Middleton, commander of the Medical Hold Company at WRAMC in Washington, D.C.

“Major Middleton wanted to form a choir,” Green said. “One morning in formation, he asked for some volunteers and three or four of us stepped forward. That was the beginning of it.”

WRAMC treats U.S. military personnel injured during conflicts throughout the world. Named in Maj. Walter Reed’s honor, the facility opened in 1909 on principles that it would provide patient care, teaching and research. Most members of The Voices of Medhold have been treated at the hospital.

“When you’re in an emotional state, sometimes it takes certain things to put you over that hump, to get you from point A to point B,” Staff Sgt. Alan Drew said. “Walter Reed and the staff there was absolutely fantastic. They were very supportive of our physical condition, but you have to take charge of your mental condition. That’s what the music did for us. It helped us to mentally get ourselves prepared to get better.”

The group has employed a revolving door of volunteer vocalists, including active-duty Soldiers, National Guardsmen, Reservists and civilian members of the hospital staff.

In addition to Green and Drew, the current Voices of Medhold are Sgt. Jonathan Oliver, Sgt. Carl Oliver, Sgt. Michael Walcott, Sgt. 1st Class Samuel Lampkins and Sgt. 1st Class Brenda Goodson. The Stars of Tomorrow contest was their first official gig outside the gates of WRAMC.

“This isn’t our job. I’m a chaplain’s assistant,” Drew said. “We get together maybe twice a week for rehearsals. On average, we’ve done maybe two shows a month lately. Before, it was just once every blue moon.”

Their primary missions are to entertain and boost the morale of Soldiers.

“We want to give something to the Soldiers and it’s a healing process for us, too,” Green said. “It just feels good to do it. It’s an honor.”

“We’re not trying to be anything but what we are, which is Soldiers helping out other Soldiers helping out other Soldiers,” Drew added. “If one Soldier smiles today because somebody spent time with him or somebody sang to him or somebody made him laugh, then we did our job.”

(Editor’s note: Tim Hipps writes for the U.S. Army Community and Family Support Center.)

[SandRat]

Cheering Up the Wounded!

[HiTech RedNeck]

NOW I know who performs the hold music when you hit "0 to speak to the operator."

[E.G.C.]

BTTT

[cyborg]

I was in medhold. It sucks a**. I can't imagine being on the first floor where the really sick people were :(