BlackFive

If she hadn't gotten involved...

I don't even want to think about it. 

Bear with me for a few minutes.  (There's a link to an important interview that I want you to visit at the end of this post.)

Please allow me to tell you some stories...

Imagine that you are an Airborne Military Police (MP) Sergeant in Iraq. The convoy that you are protecting is hit by an Improvised Explosive Device (IED).  You are hit.  The medics put you into a drug induced coma to stabilize you, but they don't believe that you are going to make it.  That's the last thing you know before you lose consciousness...

Now, imagine that you are that MP's mother.  That the Army has notified you that your son has lost both legs and his right arm, that he is barely alive.  Your son is being moved from Iraq, through Germany, to Walter Reed Army Hospital in Virginia.  You live hundreds of miles away from WR with your family.  Your MP also has a fiance in Texas.  You have to tell her what's happened.  Your son hasn't woken up yet and doesn't know that he's lost three limbs.  The doctors won't wake him up until he arrives at Walter Reed.  You have a mortgage, car payments, bills, a job...all of the things we all have.

Your son will be at Walter Reed for a year, minimum.

Because of the recent assault on Fallujah, there are a lot of wounded, and, therefore, the free housing for wounded soldiers' families is full (Fischer House).

What would you do?

This, unfortunately, is a true story about someone you know.  It's about Sergeant Joseph Bozik who was wounded in Iraq.

Soldiers' Angels was able to not only help the family with paying for lodging and food, they were the ones who picked up Joey's mom from the Airport and stayed with her for days at Walter Reed.  They made sure that Joey's fiance would be there for him when he woke up.  They made sure that the family doesn't have to worry about other things while they take care of Joey in Virginia. 

And they, along with two Majors (and brothers), helped me find the Air Force Chaplain - Captain Joel Warren - that broke the hospital rules and stayed with Joey (slept on a cot next him) for three days straight.  He did that because Joey was not supposed to make it.  That Chaplain conducted Spiritual Warfare on a level that I had not heard of before.

They are Angels in every sense of the word.

Imagine that you are a Soldiers' Angel in Annapolis (Kathleen).  You get word that Captian Chuck Ziegenfuss has been severely wounded in Iraq and is on the way to WR.  His wife and family are mobilizing to get to DC to help him and will be there in a day or two.  After a long work week, you head to WR to check on him.  He's mostly sedated but in a lot of pain - a lot of pain.  There's not much you can do so you just hold his head and stroke his hair to ensure that he knows that someone is there that cares for him.  You don't even know if he knows that you are there, but you stay with him anyway. 

Eventually, the doctors need you to leave so they can work on Chuck so you walk the ward to see if you can find another soldier that needs help.

You find him...

Imagine that you are a 19 year old cavalry trooper at Walter Reed.  Due to wounds from an IED, you are supposed to have your leg amputated.  You haven't been able to reach your family in California to tell them what is happening.  You are trying hard to be brave.

A Soldiers' Angel named Kathleen stops by late one night after caring for a wounded Captain nearby.  Kathleen ensures that you are cared for and sees to your needs and talks to your doctors.  You are relieved that someone cares about you.

Your Angel stays with you into the early hours of the morning.

That's a 20 hour day for Kathleen.

Fortunately, this story has a very happy ending.  You get to keep your leg.  Eventually, you mother shows up after flights were delayed for days due to bad weather in the midwest.  The next time Kathleen comes by, you tell your mother, "There's my Angel, Mom!"

Kathleen introduces herself and talks to your mother.  After awhile, she moves on to find another Soldier in the ward who might need her...

Those are just three examples.  I probably have a hundred.  There's Americans and German citizens in Germany who tend to our wounded at Landstuhl.  There's more help at the other hospitals in the US and abroad.

I've never been more thankful to be part of an organization like Soldiers' Angels.

So, now to the point of this post - this is about Patti Patton-Bader, the Founder of Soldiers' Angels.  Patti gets interviewed by the media and they usually find some @$$ to argue with her about supporting the troops.  She keeps moving forward no matter what obstacles are put in her way.

Holly Aho, a Soldiers' Angel with a blog, did a podcast interview with Patti.  Be sure to listen to it and leave a comment for Patti.  You'll learn more about Soldiers' Angels and hear about why your support is so important to our military men and women.  There were things that I didn't know about Patti and the history of Soldiers' Angels in the interview.

Think about all of the military men and women overseas receiving letters and support from ordinary Americans like you and I, all of the wounded and their families receiving support, all of the families of the fallen that Soldiers' Angels has helped... NONE OF THAT would have been possible without Patti.

I believe that she gets more hatemail than I do.  Can you @#$%ing believe that?!

Sometimes, even the strongest among us need support.  Please go to the interview at Holly's site and voice/write some support for Patti.