Bridging the Divide

Written by Nick Palmisciano, former Army Ranger, President of RangerUp.com, and newest member of the Soldiers' Angels Board of Trustees.

To most people, the benefit of our troops’ contact with Soldiers’ Angels is obvious – our Angels provide comfort to those deployed, to those injured, and to those who have returned and need someone to hear their voice. If these three functions alone showcased the full extent of what Soldiers’ Angels brought to the table, the organization would be absolutely invaluable to our servicemen and women.

In the last few years, however, I have noticed another incredible service that our Angels bring to the table – they bridge the military/civilian divide.

To the average citizen, this divide is most likely not apparent, and that makes sense, as most people have absolutely no interaction with our Armed Forces. This is a marked change from the experience of previous generations. During World War II, a full 11.5% of all Americans served in the war, which essentially equated to almost every able-bodied man available. Everyone had multiple family members involved in the conflict and the war was very personal. People were willing to sacrifice because they had skin in the game. Limit fuel consumption? Absolutely. It might help dad. Buy war bonds? Of course. My brother needs the money for ammunition. Regardless of service status, nearly every man, woman or child had to sacrifice something, whether it was the loss of a loved one, years of separation, financial loss, or a lack of comfort items. Every American’s life was changed markedly, and when the war ended, it was truly a victory for all.

Over time, however, service numbers have dropped, our economy has become more robust, and our politicians have created a system where the average American feels no change in lifestyle due to a wartime stance.

Only 0.45% of all Americans have been involved in the Global War on Terror, and the majority of those 0.45% are the children of veterans, thus we’re seeing the possible beginning of a small “warrior caste” emerge that is even further separated from the population at large. Our taxes have not gone up to compensate for the increased spending necessary to fund the war. We have not been asked to curb our use of fuel, rubber, or steel. We have not been limited in the type of goods we can purchase. In short, while war has raged on for ten years, most of us have had to contribute well…nothing.

At the same time, we’ve seen Congress whittle away troop benefits while discussing a large reduction in force, a possible reduction in retirement benefits, and a general disregard for troop quality of life and safety (multiple deployments without rest, lack of proper equipment, insufficient training time and ammunition, challenging ROE, etc.). As there has been no outrage coming from the civilian world (because so few are directly affected), it’s easy for many troops to fall into an “us against them” thought process. This gets exacerbated when the only time any troop issue does get attention and pressure is when there is a lapse in judgment (e.g. urination on the enemy dead), leaving troops feeling that no one cares if they are killed or wounded or live in rough conditions, but God forbid something unpalatable happens in the din of battle that might be distasteful for someone sitting on their couch watching the war on CNN.

The last piece of this disconnect comes when troops return home, finally, and rejoin the civilian world. They enter a world that cannot fathom what they have gone through, that worries about insignificant challenges rather than life or death ones, and that views them as “broken” thanks to the media and Hollywood’s constant love affair with post-traumatic stress. This anger and frustration often results in an inability to connect with potential employers and has resulted in the largest veteran unemployment rate in history.

And this is where you, as a Soldiers’ Angel, make all the difference. Those letters and care packages sent to our deployed troops remind them that there are people who care for them – that appreciate their sacrifices. Those Angels visiting the wounded in the hospitals and helping to solve their problems and provide them comfort proves to our heroes that there are some Americans willing to still give their time, effort, and money for our men and women in uniform. And those Angels working to rehabilitate troops through our Heroes & Horses program, music programs, and homeless programs are helping provide that bridge back to normal life.

You see, what you may not realize is that receiving a care package isn’t a big deal because of what is in the care package, even though all the items are appreciated and needed. These packages move the troops because they show that someone out there cares. And when you’re sitting out there in a dusty post in the middle of a place you’d rather not be, having lost a friend or two and sacrificed a lot of time away from those you love, you need to know it matters every now and then.

Angels, for many people, you’re the only person letting them know it matters.

Please never forget that.
Thank you for all you do.

May no Soldier walk alone,

Nick Palmisciano


If you'd like to help with supplies for care packages - Soldiers' Angels is in particular need of healthy snacks right now - please click here to make a donation in kind, or here to make a tax-deductible cash donation.

Wounded Soldier to be reunited with dog he rescued in Afghanistan

The puppy Donny Eslinger rescued peeks out of his backpack in Afghanistan (Photo courtesy of the Eslinger family)

The Orlando Sentinel:

Donny Eslinger was on a mission in Afghanistan last August when he encountered perhaps the friendliest face of his tour of duty there.

It was a small puppy, and it was love at first sight.

Eslinger — son of Seminole County Sheriff Don Eslinger Sr. — rescued the puppy, stashing him in his backpack for the hike back to a checkpoint where he was stationed.

The puppy he named Smoke became an instant sensation when a photo of Eslinger with the puppy in his backpack made the cover of Army Life magazine.
...

A little more than a month after he rescued Smoke, it was Donny Eslinger, 20, who needed to be rescued.

He was hit by mortar fire while on patrol Sept. 24, suffering a penetrating chest wound, a head injury, broken ribs and a broken leg. He also lost his spleen.

He underwent surgery the next day at Kandahar Airfield Hospital and was transferred to Bagram Airfield Combat Support Hospital, where he was placed in a medically induced coma and was on a ventilator.

Don Eslinger flew to Germany to be with his son at Landstuhl Army Regional Medical Center before Donny was flown to Walter Reed National Military Medical Center in Bethesda, Md.
...

Don Eslinger Sr. left Central Florida on Monday to join his son at Walter Reed, and he took along a companion: Smoke.

The 7-month-old puppy arrived at Orlando International Airport last Wednesday, five months to the day after Eslinger's fellow soldiers in Afghanistan set in motion plans to send the dog to him.

The elder Eslinger said he has arranged to board the dog with a veterinarian near Walter Reed so he can take him to visit his son.

Donny has told his dad he can't wait to be reunited with his pup.

And we can't wait to see pictures of the reunion!

Smoke now, 7 months old. (Photo courtesy of Eslinger family)

Thank you!

The clothing shelves haven't been this well-stocked in a long time! Everything will go fast, but it's nice to pause and take a moment to thank everyone who helps support our wounded warriors at Landstuhl!

If you'd like to help, check our list of requested items.

Wounded Warrior Receives First-of-its-kind Bionic Arm

Hospital Corpsman Sharod Edwards, who lost his arm in Iraq in 2005, is the first person in the world to have this incredible new arm.

"This is the next step of what the progress is as far as technology in this field... I'm very happy to be a part of it," [said prosthetist Geoffrey Hemmen].

Edwards said having two hands again has given him much of his life back.

"I wanted to fight the whole thing of being amputated," he said of his injury. However, he said a friend who has spent his whole life in a wheelchair -- and who has won two gold medals -- has inspired him to keep going.
...

He also offers a message for others in similar situations.

"Don't let that injury count you out. There is help out there."

Another video at the link shows how the arm works.

'God wanted me alive for a reason'

Great interview with Marine Corporal Juan Dominguez by KGTV News in San Diego. (Make sure to watch the video at the link.)

"I woke up with a bad feeling that day, I knew something was going to happen," said Dominguez.

The 27-year-old Marine Corporal was on foot patrol in Sangin, Afghanistan assigned to a battalion from Camp Pendleton. A rifleman on the front line-safeguarding the way for others- when he stepped on a 30 pound improvised explosive device. It threw him 15 feet in the air.

"It was a Saving Private Ryan moment where everything was in slow motion. I saw dirt flying and I saw my legs. It looked like mangled raw meat. I knew at that time I was a double (amputee) but I didn't notice my arm right away. I was screaming for God to take the pain away. I was saying please if you are going to take me, take me now. If you are going to keep me on this earth, please make me numb God," Dominguez said.

Within minutes his fellow Marines found him in a cloud of smoke and they refused to let him die.

"They kept screaming at me saying this was my ticket to go home and see my daughter. They were bawling, these guys were my best friends," according to Dominguez.

A Navy corpsman kept him from bleeding to death by refusing to give him morphine, lest he go into shock.

Dominguez remembers, "my corpsman was yelling at me, I can't give you morphine, because I don't know if I will be able to bring you back if I do. Stay with me, stay with me. ...

Read the rest about Juan's recovery, his Mom ("she is a strong woman"), his new life as a motivational speaker, and the upcoming benefit concert by Gary Sinise to help finance Juan's new adaptive home.

Aeromedical Evacuation Crew provides lifesaving transportation

U.S. Air Force 1st Lt. Timothy Talbert, native of Richmond, Va., a flight nurse with the 455th Expeditionary Aeromedical Evacuation Flight, watches over a patient while the critical care air transport team works to keep the patient alive on a C-130 Jan. 10. The 455th EAEF picks up and cares for patients from all over Afghanistan. (Photo by Spc. Cody Barber, 11th Public Affairs Detachment)

U.S. Air Force 1st Lt. Timothy Talbert, a flight nurse, is part of the 455th Expeditionary Aeromedical Evacuation Flight team on Bagram Air Field, whose mission is to care for and transport patients from one location to another to get them further medical care.

“Our primary mission is to transport patients anywhere in theater,” said Talbert, a native of Richmond, Va. “We move injured and wounded patients whether they are soldiers, sailors, airmen, Marines or contractors. There isn’t a patient we can’t transport.”

The 455th EAEF picks up and treats service members and civilians with injuries varying from anything as minor as a cough to as severe as multiple amputation or gunshots wounds.

The unit covers all of Afghanistan. They also take patients from Craig Joint Theater Hospital to Landstuhl Regional Medical Center, Germany for a higher level medical care.

Talbert said they are the medics in-between when referring to the transportation of patients from one location to the next.

“We are a part of a system,” said Talbert. “We are the intermediate area between point A to point B. The transport is vital for the continuity of care and getting the patient to the next step, which might be the life saving step, the diagnosis that they need, or the treatment that they need.”
...

“It’s something that is hard to describe,” said air medical evacuation technician Senior Airman Melissa Deardorff.“… but there is no greater feeling than to take care of one of your own and get them the help they need.”

Read more about this Aeromedical Evacuation Team.

The American flag hangs while a critical care air transport team helps to keep alive a patient during flight that was wounded in combat on the C-130 Jan. 10. The CCATT is needed for treating the most critically injured patients in the aeromedical evacuation system. (Photo by Spc. Cody Barber, 11th Public Affairs Detachment)

Freedom Isn't Free

I watched the flag pass by one day
It fluttered in the breeze
A young soldier saluted it, and then
He stood at ease.
I looked at him in uniform
So young, so tall, so proud
With hair cut square and eyes alert
He'd stand out in any crowd.

I thought how many men like him
Had fallen through the years.
How many died on foreign soil?
How many mothers' tears?
How many Pilots' planes shot down?
How many foxholes were soldiers' graves?
No Freedom isn't free.

I heard the sound of taps one night,
When everything was still.
I listened to the bugler play
And felt a sudden chill.
I wondered just how many times
That taps had meant "Amen"
When a flag had draped a coffin
of a brother or a friend.

I thought of all the children,
Of the mothers and the wives,
Of fathers, sons and husbands
With interrupted lives.
I thought about a graveyard at the
bottom of the sea
Of unmarked graves in Arlington...
No, Freedom isn't free.

- Kelly Strong

In Loving Memory
PFC Gunnar Becker
January 22, 1985 - January 13, 2005

The Wait

A U.S. Army soldier watches the treatment of his comrade heavily injured by an IED in FOB Shank in Logar Province, Afghanistan November 19, 2011. Photo: Reuters/Umit Bektas.

Exciting new advances in prosthetic knees

Great news.

New Knee Helps Amputees Return to Front Lines

By Terri Moon Cronk, American Forces Press Service

BETHESDA, Md., Jan. 10, 2012 – A sophisticated prosthetic knee with a newly designed microprocessor is giving many wounded warriors with above-the-knee amputations the chance to return to active duty, military medical officials here reported.

Wounded warriors who had such severe limb loss in the early days of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars were fitted with a prosthetic, rehabilitated and medically retired in most cases, amputee services officials at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center said.
That was before 2004, when the Defense Department contracted with a prosthetics company to design a “military grade” microprocessor-controlled prosthetic knee to return these skilled veterans to duty when possible, officials said.

As a result, troops who have returned to duty wearing the Genium X2 prosthetic knee during the past three years include members of the Navy’s SEALS, the Army’s Golden Knights parachute team and infantrymen on the front lines, said David Laufer, chief of orthotics and prosthetics services.

“We wanted to enable any wounded soldier who has the willingness and ability to go back on active duty,” he said. “We’re not trying to force soldiers, Marines or sailors to go back on active duty after an amputation. We want to give them the opportunity to stay on active duty, and not be limited by their prostheses.”

The impact of these service members returning to the combat theater is more far-reaching than the extensive skills and experience they bring with them, clinic staff members said, noting that other service members can gain a new perspective on wounded warriors when they fight side-by-side with those wearing the newly designed prosthetic knee.

“They see them bring forward what they already know and realize they can do the jobs they were doing before they were injured,” said Charles Scoville, chief of amputee services in the medical center’s orthopedics and rehabilitation department.

“They learn to respect [those wearing the prosthetic knee], and realize, ‘He’s not going to hold us back or get us killed,’” he said. “It also shows them if they are injured, they will be taken care of.”

Laufer said the new devices are on back order, because the company that manufacturers them can’t keep up with growing demand.

One, the X2, was an instant hit when the first few patients got the opportunity to try it out as a prototype three years ago, Scoville said. At the time, the next-generation knee, the X3 that is scheduled to debut this summer, was still in the design phase.

“We were so impressed by the X2 prototype,” Scoville said. “We told the company, ‘We need these now.’”

At first considered “impossible” to design, the X2 has provided a new way of life for above-the-knee amputees, Scoville said. The new microprocessor has five sensors, compared with the original C-Leg, which had two, said Zachary Harvey, a certified prosthetic orthotist.

A combination of gyroscopes, accelerators and hydraulics form the knee’s greater stability, mobility and its versatility by “recognizing” actions, Harvey said.

Multiple sensors recognize when the wearer wants to sit down or go up and down ramps and stairs, he explained, all without being preset with a remote device, as required by former technology.
Harvey said the X2 is intuitive to learn. “It feels natural to walk on, in comparison to some other knees,” he said.

The X2 also enables wearers to rapidly switch from a walk mode into a run without changing settings, he said. “The X2 knee picks up on the change, kicks in and swings out a little faster into a run,” he explained.

In addition, the X2 features a protective cover in the event of falls and other minor accidents. “It's a qualitative and quantitative leap,” Laufer said, comparing it to the two-sensor unit on the C-Leg.

Marine Corps 1st Lt. James Byler, a 26-year-old infantryman who was wounded in Afghanistan more than a year ago, said he got used to the X2 almost immediately. A double amputee above the knees, Byler was fitted with a C-Leg for several months before receiving an X2 for one leg and a power knee on the other leg for his own comparison.

Unlike the X2, the power knee propelled him forward and was complicated because he had to focus on the knee, which was hard to do while walking, he said.

When Byler went to the X2 model on both knees, “the feeling was pretty immediate,” he said.
“I don’t think there’s any knee that compares to the X2,” Byler added. “It feels more natural than the others.”

The effect on his rehabilitation, Byler said, has been dramatic.

“It was only recently that guys like me with the really high amputations [realized] we could walk at all,” he said. “It took a lot of time and effort just to get up and walk.”

Byler said he’s decided to retire from the military, because as a double above-the-knee amputee, he doesn’t want to be a liability. But that doesn’t stop him and some of his fellow patients from putting on their X2 knees prostheses to visit newly injured patients who are bedbound. He and his friends tell the new patients it’s the X2 they want to get, and not anything else.

“I can walk on the X2 and not even think about it,” Byler said. “That’s the goal.”

'For those I love... ', Part 3

U.S. Army Pfc. Kyle Hockenberry is tended to by medics after being wounded in a blast from an improvised explosive device on June 15 in Afghanistan in this picture taken by a Stars and Stripes photographer. Photo courtesy of the Hockenberry family to the Marietta Times.

Another update on PFC Kyle Hockenberry and the story behind his tattoo at today's Salina Journal News:

Love can make people do some crazy, unusual, heroic things.

A dance outside in a rain storm, a midnight flight across the country, a dash into a burning home, none of these are outside the realm of what people will do for those they love.

For one 1st Infantry Division Soldier, his love for his family and his country led him into an Army recruiter’s office, onto basic training, up the road to Fort Riley, Kan., and around the world to Afghanistan.
...

One evening, shortly before the deployment, Kyle and a few fellow Soldiers “went under the needle.” One of the Soldiers had his children’s names or birthdates tattooed, some had a lucky number or special picture done but Kyle selected a seven word phrase that had been rolling around in his head ever since he decided he was going to be a Soldier.

That night, the tattoo artist etched “for those I love, I will sacrifice” onto Kyle’s right side.

“I thought since I was in the military that it would be a good one to get,” he said. “’Those I love’ is for everyone – for my parents, my brother and all my family but it really for everyone in the country.”

Right now Kyle is looking forward to being fitted with prosthetics and getting cleared for travel to Fort Riley in April to attend the 4th Sqdn., 4th Cav. Regt. Welcome Home Ball.

Make sure to read the whole article.


Prior:
"I'd do it all over again"
For those I love...

'Hero's Highway' flag presented to 59th Medical Wing at Lackland Air Force Base

SAN ANTONIO - The 59th Medical Wing at Lackland Air Force Base received an American flag Thursday that offered hope to thousands of soldiers, sailors, Airmen and Marines who were wounded in Iraq.

The flag is one of four displayed in Hero's Highway, a tent that wounded troops entered as they were brought into the Air Force Theatre Hospital at Joint Base Balad, Iraq.

Over seven years, 35,000 patients were treated at the hospital in Balad.

More than 9,000 of those wounded warriors passed under the flag which was presented to the 59th Medical Wing.

Retired Col. Charles Hardin, who was the commander at the hospital from January 2005 to May 2005, said the glimpse at the flag offered hope.

"You could see the relief on their faces," he said. "That flag meant all the world to them at that moment."

It was a sign that they were in American territory -- and would be taken care of.

This 2007 Air Force photo by Tech. Sgt. Cecilio M. Ricardo Jr. shows the US flag canopy of the "Hero's Highway" at Balad Air Base, Iraq, through which hundreds of wounded Soldiers, Airmen, Marines, Sailors and Iraqi personnel passed each month.

Wounded Warrior Liaison

When a Wounded Warrior arrives in Germany, a hospital liaison is waiting to help them navigate through the process of recovery. Nice video about some of the unsung heroes of Landstuhl - the Liaisons - featuring our own SFC Robert Van Meter of the US Army Reserves. Way to go, Sgt Van Meter!!

Auld Lang Syne

To friends and loved ones who can't be with us; and to those who are no longer with us.

You are always in our hearts.

Auld Lang Syne (to days gone by)... farewell 2011.

"I'd do it all over again"

U.S. Army Pfc. Kyle Hockenberry is tended to by medics after being wounded in a blast from an improvised explosive device on June 15 in Afghanistan in this picture taken by a Stars and Stripes photographer. Photo courtesy of the Hockenberry family to the Marietta Times.

Remember this photo of PFC Kyle Hockenberry being MEDEVAC'd after sustaining critical wounds in an IED blast in Afghanistan?

Today there's a great follow up in the Marietta Times.

Speaking to The Marietta Times from San Antonio, Texas, the 2010 Frontier High School graduate said he doesn't regret joining the Army, even after the June 15 blast from an improvised explosive device that cost him most of both legs and his left arm.

"I just always wanted to fight for my country," said Hockenberry, 20. "I'd do it all over again if I could."

Hockenberry continues to progress in his recovery since the June explosion. He was discharged from Brooke Army Medical Center in San Antonio in Nov-ember and is staying in a two-bedroom apartment while he undergoes rehabilitation at the nearby Center for the Intrepid. He's been fitted with a prosthetic arm and is expected to take his first steps on prosthetic legs this week.

"Physically it's been difficult at times," he said. "I've been having to relearn how to do things."

But Hockenberry said he's come to terms with his situation.

"It's not in my hands," he said. "I'm OK with it. I'm alive and I'm with my family."

Read the whole thing. Kyle looks great!

Front Page Magazine's Man of the Year: The Wounded Warrior

Couldn't agree more.

The official end of the Iraq war this month is an occasion to reflect that, for many of America’s wounded veterans, the war will never be over, that they will always carry its scars. Over 32,000 servicemen have been wounded post-9/11, spanning all branches of the military. In the sands of Iraq, and in the mountains of Afghanistan, they have suffered horrific injuries, of which the most painful often left no outward mark. Limbs lost, lives turned upside down, futures permanently altered. For those of us safe in the comforts of civilian life, the enormity of their sacrifice is utterly beyond comprehension.

Just as awe-inspiring, though, is their resilience, their relentless determination not to surrender to the hardships imposed by their injuries, mental or physical. Where lesser spirits might have yielded, they have worked to embrace life, going to school, finding jobs, raising families. While others their age were playing at rebellion on the streets of New York and Oakland, they, who have so many reasons to complain, refused to turn their personal struggles into a public spectacle. They’re not the protesting kind. For these daily acts of heroism, no less than for the heroism they showed in battle, America’s wounded warriors are Front Page Magazine’s “Man of the Year.”