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'It is extraordinary that doctors were able to do anything for Todd Nelson. The former US Army master sergeant's injuries were so bad the medics thought he would not survive. "I was on my 300th-plus convoy across Kabul, Afghanistan," he recalls. "We were headed home for the night when we passed next to a typical yellow and white sedan. When they saw us getting ready to pass, they flipped the switch. "The blast came in my side of the truck; I was on the passenger side. "It flipped the truck through a brick wall and put shrapnel through my right...

WASHINGTON – Maj. Walter Reed's sword was symbolically handed over to the Navy at a ceremony Wednesday marking the closure of the Army hospital bearing his name, where hundreds of thousands of the nation's war wounded have been treated for more than a century. The tone was somber at times, but mostly celebratory, as more than a thousand former and current staff members and patients — some of them wounded troops from the Iraq and Afghanistan wars in wheelchairs who have lost limbs —gathered under a white tent to say goodbye to the Army's flagship hospital. The Army band played,...

LOS ANGELES (AP) -- Former TV game show host Bob Barker is donating $2 million to a charity that helps injured members of the military and their families. The former host of "The Price is Right" will donate to the Semper Fi Fund, which assists Marines, soldiers, sailors, and Air Force and Coast Guard members who are injured during service.

Week 259, April 2, 2010 - Good Friday at Walter Reed FRONT GATE NOTES We had a fairly quiet Good Friday night. There was no bus for wounded warriors and their families and it was a long weekend with many troops taking leave. With no snow, sleet, rain, wind or cold to brace against, we had a chance to enjoy some good camaraderie and receive many honks of support from passing drivers. Our MOAB (Mother Of All Banners) sends a strong message to the troops, their visiting families and all who drive past the front gate. On April 9, 2010,...

FAIRFAX, Va., March 25, 2010 – Doctors once told Matthew Bilancia that playing sports and competing in athletic competition would be difficult, if not nearly impossible. Air Force veteran Matthew Bilancia rides a spin bike during a workout March 24, 2010, at a health club in Fairfax, Va. Bilancia is training up for the inaugural Warrior Games in Colorado Springs, Colo., May 10-14. DoD photo by Army Sgt. 1st Class Michael J. Carden  (Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available. But the Air Force veteran is defying those odds with a demanding workout regimen and by being selected to participate in...

As you will read in the following Rob is back in the United States. Please read the following and pray for Rob and his family. This is the latest post from the father of GSergent Robert Gilbert, as he prepares to bring his badly injured son home for medical attention. The letter was posted this afternoon on Matt Patrick's Facebook page. Things are grim. Dear Family and Friends, Good Morning! It is Oh Six Thirty, Sir (0630) in Germany and the Marine Chaplin and Marine liaison just picked Ruth Ann, Dana and Heidi up to transport them to the Frankfurt...

Pretty cool tribute. This happened at the "Country Music Awards".

Week 253, February 19, 2010 - After surviving the Great Blizzard of 2010, the DC Chapter continued supporting the wounded warriors and their families for the 253rd consecutive Friday evening. FRONT GATE NOTES Snow continued to melt, but a brisk wind made for a very chilly evening. Traffic on Georgia Ave was moderate and the drivers honked as they passed. Two buses returned from taking the wounded warriors and their families to dinner. The forecast is calling for 2 to 3 inches of more white stuff Thursday, a sign that winter is subsiding. WRAMC Anti - War Protester News Four...

BAGHDAD - Rick Kell, executive director of the Troops First Foundation, has done it again. Six wounded warriors stepped off a C-130 Hercules here, Jan. 31, and took their first steps on Iraqi soil since being severely wounded the last time they were here. This is the fourth time Kell has returned wounded service members to Iraq as part of Operation Proper Exit, a program aimed at helping the warriors find emotional closure after being injured. Although this is the fourth trip, this set of Soldiers differs from previous groups, as all six Soldiers are now retired. Capt. Ferris Butler...

News of Vice President Biden's low-key visit to Walter Reed Army Medical Center on Christmas Day was buried in the wake of the terror attack on Northwest Airlines Flight 253 and the subsequent bungled response by his already vacationing boss, Barack Obama.But for all the grief Obama rightly took for his exhorbitant, self-indulgent extended stay in Hawaii over Christmas and New Year's, Biden should be credited with spending much of his Christmas with our wounded warriors and their families.As Free Republic's Walter Reed regulars know, Christmas at Walter Reed can be quite lonesome as the hospital and service groups work...

A Taliban bomb claimed both his legs, but it couldn’t take away Sapper Gregg Stevenson’s courage. The 24-year-old stunned doctors by learning to walk on artificial limbs within two weeks. In February the 6ft 4in former rugby player will return to duty, ten months after the attack. And yesterday he insisted that his next goal is to go back to Afghanistan when his comrades from the 24 Commando Engineer Regiment return later in the year. His inspiring story emerged as it was confirmed that a sixth Army bomb disposal expert has been killed while trying to defuse IEDs (improvised explosive...

Kabul, Afghanistan (CNN) -- A suicide bomber struck a forward operating base in eastern Afghanistan on Wednesday, causing an unknown number of American casualties, a U.S. military official said.

Christmas Day evening at Walter Reed, Week 245, December 25, 2009 Wet, Icy and Standing Tall FRONT GATE NOTES Not just another Friday Night at Walter ReedAfter four and a half years of Friday night... “support the troops” rallies at Walter Reed, the DC Chapter of Free Republic, lurkers and friends, were way overdue for a Friday evening on Christmas Day (and next week on New Year’s Day). And so it was last night on a wet, icy dark evening. It was quiet with only one ambulance arriving, Very few cars or pedestrians going in or out of the front...

Walter Reed, Week 241, 11/27/09 Thanksgiving – Thanking Our Brave Soldiers The Friday After Thanksgiving FRONT GATE NOTES November 27, 2009, Thanksgiving, No Bus and Patriotism Friday night after Thanksgiving is normally quiet with light traffic. Tonight was no different. Very windy, making the hi 40’s seem like the lo 30’s. Even so, eleven of us were in place during the evening. The wind was so stiff that our banners would have blown away, leaving us with signs and hand held flags. The war doesn’t stop though and two big ambulances raced down Georgia Ave and into Walter Reed to...

GW University Students Enthusiastically Display Troop Support At Walter Reed FRONT GATE NOTES November 20, 2009, Students, Soldier Hugs and Patriotism A big Shout-Out for the over 33 university students from George Washington University who warmed a brisk Friday evening by waving American Flags at passing cars, chanting USA, USA, USA…. and singing patriotic songs until 8:30pm. Many wounded warriors are about the same age as these students, and seeing university students supporting our military was especially meaningful to the wounded warriors and their families who are constantly coming and going through the front gates. It is an important...

FORT HOOD -- This is the latest information on the injured. There are 16 people still hospitalized, including the alleged shooter. Seven victims are still in intensive care unit and 9 others people are still being treated.

"I'm sorry." Those were the first words that U.S. Army Pvt. Najee Hull said to his mother after he was shot Thursday at Fort Hood, according to the Sun-Times. "He thought he had disappointed me. He knew I worried about him [being in the Army]," Yvonne Hull said Sunday. Paramedics rushed the Homewood soldier to a hospital while his mother sought to reassure him. "I said, 'I love you. You can never disappoint me; I'll be right there,' " she said. Hull, 20, says he was the first person shot Thursday when Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan allegedly opened fire at...

Former President George W. Bush and Mrs. Laura Bush made a private visit to Darnall Army Medical Center at Ft. Hood Friday evening. The former president and first lady visited with soldiers wounded in the incident on Thursday, as well as some of their family members.

<p>FORT HOOD, Texas (AP) ― Former President George W. Bush and his wife, Laura, visited wounded soldiers and their families near the site of the worst mass shooting on an Army post in the United States.</p> <p>The Bushes made their private visit to Fort Hood's Darnall Army Medical Center on Friday night. Bush spokesman David Sherzer said in an e-mail that the couple thanked Fort Hood's military leaders and hospital staff for the "amazing care they are providing."</p>

FORT HOOD, Texas (AP) ― Former President George W. Bush and his wife, Laura, visited wounded soldiers and their families near the site of the worst mass shooting on an Army post in the United States. The Bushes made their private visit to Fort Hood's Darnall Army Medical Center on Friday night. Bush spokesman David Sherzer said in an e-mail that the couple thanked Fort Hood's military leaders and hospital staff for the "amazing care they are providing."