A Cause Greater Than Themselves ______IWV Trip/December 2012
“Dedicated to all our brave warriors who fight for a cause greater than themselves.”
These words on the plain wooden wall plaque in the wounded warrior unit greet visitors
as they enter the 65-room hospital floor at Walter Reed National Medical Center in
Bethesda Maryland. Once the former Bethesda Naval Hospital, the sprawling center is
the first stop for returning soldiers who have sustained such serious injuries as
traumatic brain injury and limb amputation from their recent service in the Middle
East. This was the destination last weekend of the members of iPods for Wounded
Veterans.
iPods for Wounded Veterans (IWV) made their 8th trip (November 30 - December 2nd)
to visit the troops at Walter Reed as well as Fort Belvoir Community Hospital in
Virginia, taking with them not only lots of goodies (iPods shuffles, Skull ear buds, Mp3
players, Hudson News magazines and some other select items such as Kindles, Nooks,
iPod Touch and a Speaker tower, “Dear Soldier” letters written by area schoolchildren
and beautiful red, white & blue handmade bracelets) but their good cheer and
dedication to visit with the soldiers during this holiday season. Some of them drove for
ten (10) hours from Boston. This visit included Chairman Paul Cardello, Bob Regan,
Wayne Fox, Don Leard, Ron Buccheri, Jim Marshall and his wife Dawn along with
Elena Barbera and Maureen Jordan.
The wounded warrior unit at Walter Reed Medical Center was (thankfully) quieter and
less populated on Friday November 30th than some of the IWV members had
remembered from previous visits. The group had the opportunity to visit with about 7
returning soldiers, all who have lost limbs (some double and some triple amputees) and
are all at early stages of recovery. One brave young man had literally just returned from
the operating room but was eager to visit with the IWV members. The soldiers hailed
from various parts of the country, including New York, North Carolina, Pennsylvania.
Breaking up into small groups, the IWV members were allowed to visit with individual
soldiers, and with their family that would often be in the room as well. Paul Cardello
introduced the group and handed out various goodies such as iPods, iTunes cards, Mp3
players, ear buds, magazines. Dawn handed out bracelets to moms, wives and girlfriends
of the soldier patients. The visit added a bright spot in the long days of recovery for the
soldiers and the IWV group had the humbling opportunity to be inspired by these brave
men and women, especially when the soldiers were so clearly moved by the IWV’s
efforts on their behalf. More than one soldier looked wide-eyed and beaming as
members of the group handed them the various goodies. In the hallway, one soldier’s
mother was waiting for her son to return from surgery but she related how one of her
son’s most prized personal items, his iPod, was left behind as they evacuated him. She
was beyond thrilled as IWV handed her an armful of gifts for her soldier son, including a
replacement iPod and iTunes cards.
Elena and Maureen had an opportunity to meet one of IWV’s most supportive and
enthusiastic champions on Friday afternoon. They drove to Fort Belvoir Community
Hospital in Virginia (the group’s destination for Saturday afternoon) to meet with
Pamela Winn-Lovelace, the Outreach Coordinator for the 1st Battalion Warrior
Transition Brigade. Affectionately known to all as “Queen”, she is a warm and engaging
presence at Fort Belvoir, the point person for the soldiers recovering there. “When you
need something, anything, you call Queen!” She is clearly and fiercely dedicated to all
those in her care and she is especially grateful and effusive when speaking about the
good works of IWV. Queen emphasized that IWV is unique among some of the
organizations that support the soldiers because IWV doesn’t just show up around
holiday times; IWV remembers the soldiers all year long, the trips to visit happen
several times during the calendar year and she knows she can always count on IWV.
On Saturday the IWV group packed up the van with a heavy cache of electronic goodies
and headed south toward Virginia to Fort Belvoir Community Hospital, a $1.3 billion,
1.3 million square foot, state-of-the-art medical complex which is the newest military
treatment facility operated by the Department of Defense. It is here where the soldiers
come after their acute stages of treatment (at Walter Reed) and they can recover at Fort
Belvoir anywhere from 3 months to 3 years. The complex includes housing so that
soldiers families are also able to live on the grounds with the soldiers as they recover.
The IWV group doesn’t usually meet wounded warriors at Fort Belvoir but they had a
very special meeting with a recovering soldier Saturday afternoon. Sargent Frazer
Brooks, the liaison from the Warrior Family Coordinating Center, arranged for the
group to visit a veteran who was recovering from a IED wound. He was in the room with
his wife and father. As Paul introduced the IWV group and started to explain the
mission, especially the goal of not letting our soldiers be treated the way the returning
Vietnam Vets were treated, the soldier’s wife became very emotional. Her gratitude was
evident and her wounded soldier husband was so moved that he attempted, despite his
acute physical pain, to sit upright in his bed “so I can shake everyone’s hand.” Each IWV
group member spoke directly to this soldier; such an incredible personal encounter left
an indelible mark. Paul observed that if this was the only encounter the IWV group had
made the whole weekend, it would have been worth the long trip from Boston.
After the hospital visit, the IWV proceeded to the Family Center. The afternoon
activities took on a distinctly festive atmosphere. IWV, along with several local church
groups, set up the communal area to accommodate recovering soldiers and family
members. The church groups brought in gift bags and dozens of pizzas for lunch. Paul
Cardello, Bob Regan, Elena Barbera and Dawn Marshall, assisted by Pamela WinnLovelace, started by handing out iPods, ear buds, Mp3 players, iTune cards, and Dear
Soldier letters to the recovering soldiers and then held a ticketed raffle for all in
attendance for a chance to win prizes such as Kindles, Nooks, an iTouch and Vivitar
camcorders. Ron Buccheri and Don Leard manned the video recording duties for the
afternoon, while Jim Marshall and Maureen Jordan moved about the crowd, taking
photographs and recording the winning moments as lucky recipients posed with Wayne
Fox in the various Boston sports garb he had them temporarily don for each photo op.
Soldiers and their families seemed to enjoy the relaxed and convivial atmosphere. As
the afternoon activities were concluding, Army Lt. Colonel Carl Curriera, Commander of
the of the 1st Battalion of the Warrior Transition Brigade at Fort Belvoir, asked those
gathered for their attention as he made a presentation to iPods for Wounded Veterans in
the form of a Certificate of Appreciation for the group’s devoted service to the men and
women of the unit. See press release:
http://www.ipodsforwoundedveterans.org/news/12-2012Release.pdf
At the end of the weekend, IWV had distributed a total of 250 pieces of electronic
equipment (including 1 color Nook, 2 Nook tablets, 1 Kindle and 1 Kindle Fire HD, 6
Vivitar High Def camcorders, a speaker tower, 1 Nook nano with a speaker system, 1
iTouch with a speaker) and over 300 Dear Soldier letters as well as 80 bracelets, 60
iTune cards, $10,000 worth of Hudson News magazines. iPods for Wounded Veterans
happily accomplished their goals for this trip but the mission continues. IWV’s next
journey to the Washington DC area hospitals is planned for May 2013 and the
fundraising efforts begin again. IWV’s success relies on the participation of many
volunteers, both in front of the cameras and behind the scenes. If you would like to help,
please see the following link:
http://www.ipodsforwoundedveterans.org/donate-online.html