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Category: 2006 News
Benjamin Zieske
Benjamin T. Zieske – September 2006 Shipment Honoree
Pfc. Benjamin T. Zieske
Source: By Jason B. Johnson, San Francisco Chronicle
Benjamin Zieske was an outgoing kid with little use for rules or authority as a student at Olympic High School in Concord, CA. So principal Rinda Bartley was stunned by the straight-arrow soldier who visited the school a few months ago while on leave from Iraq.
"He was wearing his fatigues. He looked very sharp," Bartley said of Zieske, who graduated in 2003. "He was very happy. He had a strong sense of mission and was very proud of what he was doing there."
Army Pfc. Benjamin T. Zieske, 20, was killed Wednesday in an improvised explosive device blast as his unit patrolled Kirkuk on foot, Army officials said Monday.
A small wreath with a black sash reading "Beloved Son" hung on the front porch of the family's home Monday. Laurie Zieske recalled her son as a "fireball" whose lively Gemini personality and smile — his nickname was "Squints" because his smile was so broad — could light up a room.
"When everybody was kind of down and depressed, he was trying to get everybody up. He had tons of energy," she said. "He was just a little fireball. There's nothing I wouldn't give just to have another moment with him."
Zieske joined the Army because he was told he could get a good education through the military.
He was an infantryman in the 101st Airborne Division assigned to Headquarters Company, 1st Battalion, 327th Infantry Regiment, 1st Brigade Combat Team. He enlisted in March 2005, arrived at Fort Campbell in July and was deployed to Iraq.
During his short career, Zieske received the National Defense Service Medal, Army Service Ribbon, Global War on Terrorism Expeditionary Medal, Global War on Terrorism Service Medal, Combat Infantryman Badge and Oversees Service Ribbon.
The Army transformed a cocky boy who seemed to be going nowhere into a confident young man with a clear future, said those who knew him.
"He was a student who struggled in school. School wasn't easy for him," Bartley recalled, a smile spreading across her face. "He had very strong ideas about things and the way things should be. He was very articulate, very intelligent, and following the rules was not on the top list of his priorities."
But the Army seemed to give Zieske's life structure and clear instructions for the way things should be.
When Zieske visited Olympic High, he impressed students and teachers with his presence, and he talked candidly about his experiences in Iraq, Bartley said.
"He'd dropped a lot of weight, put on a lot of muscle," she said. "The kids were intrigued and a little disturbed. They hear so much about the war and here he was living it."
Some students asked Zieske if he was afraid in Iraq.
No, he said, he wasn't.
"I think that surprised the kids," said Bartley.
From the Office of the Governor of California
Governor Schwarzenegger Issues Statement on Death of Concord Soldier: Pfc. Benjamin Zieske
Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger today released the following statement regarding the death of Pfc. Benjamin Zieske of Concord:
"Pfc. Zieske's courageous service reminds us of the dangers the men and women of our armed forces face daily. Maria and I join all Californians in offering our deepest sympathies to Benjamin's family and friends for their loss. As we honor his memory we must also keep all of our brave servicemen and women in our thoughts and prayers."
Zieske, 20, died May 3, 2006 of injuries sustained when an improvised explosive device detonated during a dismounted combat patrol in Kiruk, Iraq. He was assigned to the 1st Battalion, 327th Infantry Regiment, 1st Brigade Combat Team, 101st Airborne Division, Fort Campbell, KY.
In honor of Pfc. Zieske, Capitol flags will be flown at half-staff.
Soldier Tributes
"Zieske was probably one of the best guys I knew. He was always there, dependable, and he could always take a joke. But my favorite thing about "Z" was that he was always smiling and joking with you. No one could keep him from laughing for long."
-SPC James Drebelbis
"Benjamin Zieske, we had some really good times together. You always found a way to make a real bad day good. You came to Iraq in high spirits, and kept the Scouts morale high, too. You keep looking down on us and I'll keep looking up when I need you. I love you, man."
-PFC Scott Laube
"PFC Zieske was one of the Soldiers who sought nothing but self-improvement. His motivation and perseverance was to be envied by all. As his team leader, I was in charge of his training. His battlefield knowledge improved every day to the extent of him training his fellow Soldiers on the things he knew. There was no greater feeling than when 'Z Man' was giving a class on the operation of our team's equipment. 'Z' was an exemplary Soldier and a role model to us all."
SGT Gustavo Gutierrez, Team Leader
"PFC Zieske was one of the best Soldiers I ever had. His attitude and willingness to work was infectious. He was the life of our platoon. If you were having a bad day, all you had to do was go talk to 'the Z Man,' and you would instantly feel better. We all loved him and miss him tremendously. We pray for his family and friends and wish them the best. May God ease their pain."
SSG James Auttonberry, Squad Leader
The members of Landstuhl Hospital Care Project were honored to remember Benjamin during the month of September 2006 with our shipments to the Landstuhl Regional Medical Center in Germany, and U.S. military hospitals in Iraq and Afghanistan. Our thoughts and prayers remain with Benjamin's family and friends today and in the years to come.
Author LHCPPosted on September 26, 2012 August 4, 2019 Categories 2006 Honorees, 2006 News, Honorees, News2 Comments on Benjamin Zieske
Michael Monsoor
Michael A. Monsoor—December 2006 Shipment Honoree
DDG 1001 named for MoH recipient Monsoor
Source: Navy Times October 31, 2008
By Christopher P. Cavas and Philip Ewing – Staff writers
Posted : Friday Oct 31, 2008 7:30:41 EDT
One of the Navy's largest new surface warships will bear the name of a Navy SEAL who received the nation's highest award for valor.
"DDG 1001, the second ship in our newest class of destroyers, will be named after Michael Monsoor," Navy Secretary Donald Winter said remarks prepared for an address to be given Wednesday night in New York.
"Michael Monsoor's name will now be linked with one of our nation's most visible examples of military power — a U.S. Navy warship," Winter said in the address prepared for a Navy SEAL Warrior Fund dinner.
The Michael Monsoor will be the second DDG 1000 Zumwalt-class advanced destroyer. Northrop Grumman Shipbuilding is expected to begin construction of the ship next year at its Ingalls shipyard in Pascagoula, Miss., with delivery projected to take place in 2014.
Master-at-Arms 2nd Class (SEAL) Michael Monsoor is one of two sailors awarded the Medal of Honor since the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan began. The first, Lt. Michael Murphy, is the namesake of DDG 112, now under construction at General Dynamics Bath Iron Works of Bath, Maine, and is expected to be delivered in 2011.
Monsoor was one of about 32s SEALs fighting with U.S. Army, Marine Corps and Iraqi troops to take the insurgent-controlled city of Ramadi in September 2006, Dick Couch, author of "The Sheriff of Ramadi," told Navy Times earlier this year. Rather than make a traditional invasion sweep through the dangerous capital of Anbar province, as U.S. forces had done in the battle of Fallujah, regular and special operations troops advanced piecemeal through neighborhoods in the city, cleared out enemies and held the territory in an "ink-blot strategy," Couch said.
Monsoor and his SEAL teammates provided reconnaissance and cover for other troops as they fought in the city, and often bore the brunt of intense enemy attacks, Couch said.
On Sept. 29, the day he died, Monsoor was stationed with his machine gun on a rooftop between two SEAL snipers providing cover for an Army unit working in a rail yard. The two men were lying prone, aiming their rifles through holes blasted in the wall, when a grenade sailed onto the rooftop and bounced off Monsoor's chest.
According to the official Navy biography, there was no way either of the teammates could have escaped.
"He had a clear chance to escape, but in his mind, it was not a choice at all," President Bush said in April when presenting the medal to Monsoor's family.
Monsoor dove on the grenade and smothered its explosion, saving the lives of the two SEALs.
Monsoor is the first SEAL to receive the Medal of Honor for service in Iraq. Murphy was posthumously given the award last year after he was killed in Afghanistan making a last radio call to save his four-man squad after an ambush. Monsoor is the fifth service member to receive the Medal of Honor for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Monsoor's other decorations included the Silver Star, the Bronze Star with combat "V" and the Purple Heart.
Sally Monsoor, Michael's mother, was expected to attend the New York dinner.
Navy SEAL Dies Saving Comrades
Source: Associated Press, October 14, 2006
CORONADO, Calif. – A Navy SEAL sacrificed his life to save his comrades by throwing himself on top of a grenade Iraqi insurgents tossed into their sniper hideout, fellow members of the elite force said.
Petty Officer 2nd Class Michael A. Monsoor had been near the only door to the rooftop structure Sept. 29 when the grenade hit him in the chest and bounced to the floor, said four SEALs who spoke to The Associated Press this week on condition of anonymity because their work requires their identities to remain secret.
"He never took his eye off the grenade, his only movement was down toward it," said a 28-year-old lieutenant who sustained shrapnel wounds to both legs that day. "He undoubtedly saved mine and the other SEALs' lives, and we owe him."
Monsoor, a 25-year-old gunner, was killed in the explosion in Ramadi, west of Baghdad. He was only the second SEAL to die in Iraq since the war began.
Two SEALs next to Monsoor were injured; another who was 10 to 15 feet from the blast was unhurt. The four had been working with Iraqi soldiers providing sniper security while U.S. and Iraqi forces conducted missions in the area.
In an interview at the SEALs' West Coast headquarters in Coronado, four members of the special force remembered "Mikey" as a loyal friend and a quiet, dedicated professional.
"He was just a fun-loving guy," said a 26-year-old Petty Officer 2nd Class who went through the grueling 29-week SEAL training with Monsoor. "Always got something funny to say, always got a little mischievous look on his face."
Other SEALS described the Garden Grove, Calif., native as a modest and humble man who drew strength from his family and his faith. His father and brother are former Marines, said a 31-year-old Petty Officer 2nd Class.
Prior to his death, Monsoor had already demonstrated courage under fire. He has been posthumously awarded the Silver Star for his actions May 9 in Ramadi, when he and another SEAL pulled a team member shot in the leg to safety while bullets pinged off the ground around them.
Monsoor's funeral was held Thursday at Fort Rosecrans National Cemetery in San Diego. He has also been submitted for an award for his actions the day he died.
The first Navy SEAL to die in Iraq was Petty Officer 2nd Class Marc A. Lee, 28, who was killed Aug. 2 in a firefight while on patrol against insurgents in Ramadi. Navy spokesman Lt. Taylor Clark said the low number of deaths among SEALs in Iraq is a testament to their training.
Sixteen SEALs have been killed in Afghanistan. Eleven of them died in June 2005 when a helicopter was shot down near the Pakistan border while ferrying reinforcements for troops pursuing al-Qaida militants.
There are about 2,300 of the elite fighters, based in Coronado and Little Creek, Va.
The Navy is trying to boost that number by 500—a challenge considering more than 75 percent of candidates drop out of training, notorious for "Hell Week," a five-day stint of continual drills by the ocean broken by only four hours sleep total. Monsoor made it through training on his second attempt.
Petty Officer 2nd Class Michael A. Monsoor, 25, Garden Grove, California; Navy SEAL Killed in Combat in Ramadi
Source: By David Reyes, LA Times, October 8, 2006
Navy SEAL Michael A. Monsoor told his family in Garden Grove before he went to Iraq that he knew the dangers of war but he believed in himself and others on his SEAL team, who were like brothers to him.
"He knew what he believed in and would stand by what he believed in. Of this, he couldn't be corrupted," said Monsoor's younger brother, Joe.
Petty Officer 2nd Class Michael Monsoor, 25, was killed in combat Sept. 29 in Ramadi, Iraq, west of Baghdad. Not much is known of the circumstances surrounding his death, family members said.
Last week, family members spoke of his life and military duty, including his dedication to becoming a SEAL, a goal he achieved after initially dropping out of the training course.
He was expected to return in another week to see his family and watch his 21-year-old brother play in an upcoming football game at North Dakota's Minot State University, where he is a junior and tight end.
Although they chatted on the telephone, the last time the brothers saw one another was during spring break. That was when they drove cross-country to the university and Michael spoke about the discipline it took to overcome pain during his first SEAL training, which he had to quit.
"Michael had a broken heel and he still had to pass more physical tests," his brother said. "He was running hard in sand and the pain mounted, but he told himself, 'Don't pass out, I can't pass out.' But he couldn't continue.
"He rang the bell," his brother said, a signal that a trainee has quit the program.
Michael Monsoor stayed in the Navy and waited for another chance. He was assigned to Europe for two years, and when his mother, Sally, visited him in Italy, she said she found him focused, "working out, swimming and running," so he could reenter the SEAL program.
For Monsoor, it was his chance to join one of the nation's elite forces, she said, adding that when he finally graduated, it was her son's and the family's proudest moment.
The 25-week Basic Underwater Demolition/SEAL training in Coronado, Calif., is one of the most grueling training programs in the military, and the dropout rate exceeds 50%.
As one of the U.S. military's most elite and secretive fighting units, the SEALs almost never reveal their missions to the public, even long after completion.
In August, when the Pentagon announced the death of Petty Officer 2nd Class Marc Alan Lee, who was the first SEAL to die in the Iraq war, it was the first recognition that the SEALS are involved in the battle to wrest Ramadi from insurgent control.
The loss has shaken the proud Marine family—Michael's father, George Monsoor, and older brother, Jim, 27, are both former Marines—which has sought solace in knowing that Michael did not die in vain.
Relatives, neighbors and friends have visited the family's home and left flowers. Neighbors tacked yellow ribbons that read "Support our Troops" on trees and sign posts in recognition of Monsoor.
"He was friendly and would wave whenever he did the lawn outside," said neighbor Patricia Stanton. "He was nice, very sweet and I know he was dedicated to the service."
Monsoor enlisted in the Navy in March 2001 and graduated from SEAL training in March 2005, said Lt. Taylor Clark, a Navy spokesman.
Rear Adm. Joe Maguire, a SEAL and commander of the Naval Special Warfare Command, issued a statement praising Monsoor, who died "conducting some of our military's most important missions."
"We hope that in time Michael's family is comforted in knowing that he died fighting for what he believed in and we will not forget his sacrifice," Maguire said.
Monsoor attended Garden Grove High School, where he played on the Argonaut football team as a tight end and graduated in 1999.
Michael Monsoor shipment
Author LHCPPosted on July 26, 2012 August 4, 2019 Categories 2006 Honorees, 2006 News, Honorees, NewsLeave a comment on Michael Monsoor
4th Qtr 2006 LHCP Newsletter
Author LHCPPosted on December 30, 2006 August 4, 2019 Categories 2006 News, 2006 Newsletters, News, NewslettersLeave a comment on 4th Qtr 2006 LHCP Newsletter
Landstuhl Project appreciates marines' Help
By JULIA LeDOUX
Patriot Editor
Quantico Marines Receive a Big Thank You and Certificate From LHCP President Karen Grimord
A group of Leathernecks from Marine Corps Base Quantico was honored Dec. 12 for their volunteer work on behalf of the Landstuhl Hospital Care Project.
Lance Cpl. Marcela Cavalcanti, Lance Cpl. Amber Goodman, Lance Cpl. Victor Solis, Master Sgt. Kevin Murphy and government employee Mindy Yurkonis were among the volunteers who packed 1,288 pounds of supplies last month at Stafford American Legion Post 290. The donated supplies were then shipped to Landstuhl Regional Medical Center in Germany and to 18 units in Iraq and Afghanistan.
"The day that we packed turned out to be a beautiful, sunny day somewhere, but not here in Virginia," said Landstuhl Hospital Care Project President Karen Grimord before she presented the volunteers with certificates of appreciation at Lejeune Hall. "We had torrential rain, tornados and downright miserable weather."
The Quantico group got involved in the effort after Grimord contacted Master Gunnery Sgt. William Nix to see if he would be able to provide volunteers to help pack the project's November shipment.
"He contacted Master Sgt. Kevin Murphy who in turn sent out an e-mail and received several replies," she said.
Lance Cpl. Amber Goodman, legal clerk, presented certificat of appreciation form LHCP President.
During the several hours it took the Marines and project volunteers to complete the packing, Grimord said she never heard, "are these supplies going to Marines?"
"Our service men and women are from all branches of the military, and they are all members of one big family. Family takes care of one another," she continued. "During these times it is necessary for members of the family to draw together and support one another. These dedicated volunteers proved their active role within this extended family unit."
Since founding the Landstuhl Hospital Care Project in November of 2004, Grimord and her husband, Brian, have spearheaded sending personal care and other relief items to Landstuhl and field hospitals in Iraq and Afghanistan for war-wounded patients. The items include sweats suits, tennis shoes, CD players, skull caps, socks, phone cards, house slippers, break-away pants, winter jackets, board games, hand-held electronic games and decks of playing cards.
Each shipment that LHCP sends is sent in honor of a military member who has made the ultimate sacrifice and lost his or her life in service to the country. For more information on the project or to make a donation, LandstuhlHospitalCareProject.org.
Germany-bound
Marines help Stafford post with care packages
Marines Saved The Day
More than 1,200 pounds of personal care items are now on their way to injured and sick troops overseas, thank to the efforts of the Stafford based Landstuhl Hospital Care Project.
Marines from Headquarters Battalion, marine Corps Base Quantico and American Legion Post 290 in Stafford packed hundreds of blankets, scrub pants, sheets, towels and snacks into card board boxes on Nov. 16 for shipment to Germany, Iraq and Afghanistan.
"If it hadn't been for these guys coming in, I would never make the post office today." said Karen Grimord, LHCP president, of the Marines.
The Landstuhl project is a non-profit organization that provides comfort and relief items for military members who become sick, injured or wounded due to their service in Iraq and Afghanistan. Donated items are distributed to military patients at Landstuhl Regional Medical Center in Germany, the largest American military hospital outside the United States, and to field hospitals in Afghanistan and Iraq.
Quantico Ceremony
"We're not there. We're here to do what we can," pointed out Lance Cpl. Marcela Cavalcanti.
Spending the time packing helped Lance Cpl. Amber Goodman also feel closer to the area she now calls home.
"i love to volunteer," she said. "I love getting out and meeting the community."
Grimord explained that the purpose of the program is to enhance the morale and welfare of the wounded service members by contributing quality of life items.
"I think it's a great cause," added Master Sgt. Kevin Murphy.
The Landstuhl project's monthly shipments are sent in honor of a service member who has been killed while on duty.
MSGT Kevin Murphy
The November honoree is Marine 1st Lt. Frederick Pokorney, 31, of Tonopah, Nev. Pokorney was assigned to Headquarters Battery, 1st Battalion, 10th marine Regiment, 2nd Marine Expeditionary Brigade when he was killed in action along with eight other Camp Lejeune, N.C.-based Marines on March 23, 2003, near An Nasiriyah, Iraq.
The volunteers honored Polorney with a moment of silence before they began filling the boxes in his honor.
Quantico Sentry
By Cpl Sha'ahn
Combat Correspondent
The American Legion Post 290 in Stafford, VA., honored a group of Marines from Quantico Dec. 12 on behalf of the Landstuhl HOspital Care Project in recognition of their hard work and help volunteering to make care packages to send to field hospitals around the world.
From junior to senior enlisted, the marine volunteeers packed 1,299 pounds of supplies last month in Stafford. The donated supplies were then shipped to Landstuhl Regional Medical Center in Germany and to 18 units in Iraq and Afghanistan.
The personal care items support all service members in need and were packed during downright miserable weather, said Karen Grimord, president of the Landstuhl Hospital Care Project.
"It was a sunny day some where, but not in Virginia," Grimord said. "it really would not have gotten done without the help of these Marines."
The Quantoco gorup got involved after Grimord contacted master Gunnery Sgt. William Nix, manpower chief at Quatioc, to round up volunteers.
After the calls and contact was made, the Mariens formed a small team and went to work.
During the time it took the Mariens and other volunteers to complete the packing, Grimord said the Marines never asked if the supplies were going to other Marines.
"A Famiy takes care of one another," se said. "Our service men and women are from all branches of the military, and they are all members of one big family.
"These dedicated volunteers proved their active role within this extended family unit," Grimord said before presenting the Marines with their certificates of appreciation.
"It's good to help out and do something like this because they need us," said Lance Cp. Amber Goodman, a legal clerk here.
Sent monthly, each shipment that the LHCP sends is in honor of a military service member who has lost his or her life in service to the country.
Since 2004, Grimord and her husband, Brian, have worked hard to send personal care and other relief items to Landstuhl and field hospitals overseas for war-wounded patients.
Items include clothing, phone cards, electronic games, CD players, jackets and sheets.
FOr more information about the project, or to make a donation, viist the Web site at www.LandstuhlHospitalCareProject.org
Author LHCPPosted on December 21, 2006 August 4, 2019 Categories 2006 News, Guest, NewsLeave a comment on Landstuhl Project appreciates marines' Help
American Supports You Summit
In November 2004, theDepartment of Defense launched the America Supports You program to highlight and communicate the support of the American people to members of our armed forces and their families.America Supports You makes a direct connection between grassroots groups and our troops. The Landstuhl Hospital Care Project is a proud new member of the America Supports You family!
ASY Camille and Karen
By Samantha L. Quigley/AFPS
Pictures by Karen Grimord
WASHINGTON, Dec. 13, 2006 – After a holiday tour of the White House, participants in today's America Supports You Community Group Summit met at the Pentagon for a welcome from the program's architect, a look at the past year, and a glimpse into the America Supports You program's future.
Donald H. Rumsfeld Secretary of Defense
America Supports You is a Defense Department program launched in 2004 that spotlights and facilitates support for the nation's servicemembers from the American public and the corporate sector.
"It's great to have you here today on our second annual America Supports You Summit at the Pentagon," Allison Barber, deputy secretary of defense for internal communication and public liaison, told the group representing more than 80 America Supports You grassroots organizations.
"Through (America Supports You) and your partnership in this program, we have real ways to make sure that the troops always know – and their families always know – politics is one debate and one discussion," she added. "But on the people side of that discussion, there's only one message, and that's that the American people support our troops."
Barber commended all of the nearly 250 America Supports You members for their accomplishments this year. A combined total of more than 6 million care packages and letters have been sent to the troops. Groups have raised nearly $3.5 million in financial support for servicemembers and their families and have renovated more than two dozen homes for wounded servicemembers.
This is in addition to organizing and participating in Freedom Walks in all 50 states to commemorate 9/11 and honor the nation's servicemembers, both past and present.
Donald H. Rumsfeld
"Don't ever slow down," Barber encouraged the groups. "That's the beauty of you. You're agile. You're effective. You move the needle."
The group got a glimpse at some of the different avenues America Supports You will take in the new year. The program plans to bring Capitol Hill into the mix in 2007, Barber said.
"The Department of Defense's strategy, on purpose, has been not to really be involved on the Hill in the first two years, … because we wanted people to know that America Supports You is not political," she said. "In 2007, now we will reach out to the Hill and start an America Supports You caucus so that some of the issues that are concerns for you and your states and across the country will be able to bubble up with Congress."
Of particular interest for 2007 is the New Year's resolution America Supports You is encouraging its corporate members to make: "Adopt an America Supports You Grassroots Organization Today!"
Some — like Jeanette Cram, founder of an organization called "Treat the Troops," already have realized the benefit of partnering with an America Supports You corporate team member. Cram said a partnership between her organization and DuPont Teflon will help with her biggest challenge in getting fresh, homemade cookies to troops overseas: postage.
"America Supports You … got me hooked up with the right people," Cram said. "Treat the Troops is not a big, powerful organization; there's not a whole lot of us. (But) to be recognized by America Supports You and DuPont, that lends a lot of credibility to us."
Cram said she hopes the summit would be an opportunity for her to meet and network with some of the other groups attending.
This was the second summit for teenager Brittany Bergquist of Norwell, Mass., and she agreed it's a great way to meet people and develop new connections with groups that can either lend a hand or need a hand.
"We had such a great time last year and were able to meet so many great people who we thought it would be a really good idea to come back and try to network a little more," said Brittany, who co-founded Cell Phones for Soldiers with her brother, Robbie, in April 2004. "There definitely are a lot of new faces that we don't recognize from last year, so it's nice to meet new people."
The morning concluded with a briefing on the global war on terrorism by Air Force Brig. Gen. Mark O. Schissler and a discussion with Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld. Both offered the group a chance to ask any questions they had.
Rumsfeld fielded a question that drew loud applause regarding how to go about changing the law to allow for reduced postage for groups shipping package overseas. The answer perhaps wasn't what the group had hoped for, but it drew some chuckles. "Get your congressmen and senators to change the law," Rumsfeld answered.
American Supports You Summit 13 Dec 2006
Agenda for Summit
White House Holiday Tour
(orginal link https://www.whitehouse.gov/holiday/2006/2006-tour-book.pdf)
Click to view "Deck the Halls and Welcome All"
(original link https://www.whitehouse.gov/holiday/2006/photoessays/essay/peindex.html)
Arrive at Pentagon
Ms. Allison Barber
Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Public Affairs
Update on the Global War on Terror
Brigadier General Mark O. Schissler
Deputy Director of the War on Terrorism
Discussion and remarks
Ethics Overview
Stephen Epstein
Director of the Standards of Conduct office of the General Counsel
Author LHCPPosted on December 13, 2006 August 4, 2019 Categories 2006 News, Guest, NewsLeave a comment on American Supports You Summit
Frederick Pokorney
Frederick E. Pokorney, Jr.—November 2006 Shipment Honoree
Marine 1st Lt. Frederick E. Pokorney, 31, of Tonopah, Nev.; assigned to the Headquarters Battery, 1st Battalion, 10th Marine Regiment, 2nd Marine Expeditionary Brigade, Camp Lejeune, N.C.; killed in action near Nasiriyah, Iraq on March 23, 2003.
"Gentle giant" of a Marine mourned
Source: Arlington National Cemetary Website
CAMP LEJEUNE — When Chelle Pokorney saw her husband, Second Lieutenant Frederick E. Pokorney, off to Kuwait, something told her she wouldn't see him again. "When he left, I knew he wasn't coming home," she said Wednesday at Camp Lejeune. "He didn't have to tell me. I had a feeling."
Pokorney died Sunday in battle near An Nasiriyah with eight other Lejeune Marines. He was a field artillery leader and was likely a forward observer with the 1st Battalion, 10th Marine Regiment.
Chelle, a part-time nurse at Onslow Memorial Hospital, spoke to reporters Wednesday. It was her first public comment since she found out her husband was killed by Iraqi forces during an ambush.
Her voice quaking at times, she called her husband a "gentle giant" and said he loved his family, the Marine Corps and the Oakland Raiders. She said he was an honorable man, who lived up to the Marine Corps' standards of "honor, courage and commitment."
She couldn't explain why she knew she would never see her husband again when his bus pulled away for the first part of the journey to his deployment to the Persian Gulf and war with Iraq. "I think it was the love that we had," she said.
But she couldn't ask him not to go. "What can I do?" she asked. "He was a Marine. He did what he loved."
The news has been hard on their 2-year-old daughter, Taylor Rochelle, "his spitting image," she said. "She is hurting now," she said. "My daughter is going to suffer not having a father, but she had him for a very short time."
Frederick Pokorney is going to get a full military funeral in Arlington National Cemetery, with all the honors befitting a hero, she said.
She said it was important to support the families of Marines deployed in Iraq now. Most of them receive little contact while their husbands are deployed in conflict. "The wives are brave," she said. "We need to support them as a nation."
Chelle last spoke with her husband on March 4. It wasn't their anniversary, but he knew he wouldn't be able to call her later, and he wanted her to know how much he loved her, she said. Their seventh wedding anniversary would have been Saturday. "That call was a blessing," she said.
She said it was also important to remember the Marines who are still in Iraq. "There are many Marines that are still over there," she said. "My husband led them until it was his time."
In memory of Nevada's first known casualty in the war with Iraq
Source: Arlington National Cemetery Website
TONOPAH, NEVADA — Fred Pokorney became a star by shooting hoops on the high school basketball court, and Friday the town gathered in that same gym to share stories, shed tears, and offer hugs in memory of Nevada's first known casualty in the war with Iraq.
"Fred was a hero," Wade Lieseke, who served as a surrogate father for Pokorney since his high school days, said after the hour-long memorial service. "He died a hero, and he'll always be a hero to all of us. We'll miss him for the rest of our lives."
First Lieutenant. Frederick E. Pokorney Jr. was killed Sunday outside An Nasiriyah when Iraqi soldiers appeared to surrender but then opened fire. Eight other Marines, also from Camp Lejeune, North Carolina., died in the attack.
He leaves behind his wife, Chelle, and their 2-year-old daughter, Taylor. He is scheduled to be buried April 14 at Arlington National Cemetery.
"Tonopah High School was an important part of his life," Principal Barbara Floto told about 350 children, students, veterans and residents lining the bleachers, many carrying small U.S. flags. "He gave and took valuable memories. Those of us who knew Fred will treasure his very being," she added. "We pay tribute to a young man who will always be a part of us." Floto then signaled student body president Beth Gaydon to present the Lieseke family with 31 red roses for each of Pokorney's 31 years.
Pokorney grew up in the Bay Area with his father, Fred Pokorney, but when he was 16, he moved to Tonopah to live with an aunt. When she died, the young man joined the Lieseke family, although he was never legally adopted. "I didn't have to — he was just our boy," Lieseke said.
He excelled in sports — his 6-foot 7-inch, 220-pound muscular physique landed him top spots on the varsity football and basketball teams. And he endeared himself to many in this isolated mining-military town of 3,500 people in the eastern Nevada desert. Many cried during the service and stood with arms around each other afterward. "It's a very small community, so it hits us hard," local resident June Downs said after the ceremony.
"He was a good guy, a caring guy, considerate of others," added his former classmate J.D. Gray. "I saw him at our high school reunion and he was excited about being in the service. He was doing what he wanted to do."
The Rev. Kenneth Curtis offered some comfort by reading from Ecclesiastes — a passage entitled "a time for everything." "Everything that happens, happens at a time of God's choosing," he said. "A time to be born and a time to die. A time to kill and a time to heal…"
It seemed the most fitting thing to say when you're looking for answers and there are none, he said. "It's hell when you have to bury your kids," he said after the service.
The school's choir then sang "Tears in Heaven," a song Eric Clapton wrote when his young son died in an accident. As Lieseke wept throughout the song, his daughter, Christina Uribe, rested her head on her father's shoulder. Her dad stroked her hair.
"Words can't express what they've endured in the last week," Christina's husband, Staff Sergeant Joe Uribe, said after the gathering.
Pokorney, who went to the Middle East as a Second lieutenant, was promoted posthumously effective the date of his death, the Pentagon told the Associated Press. He had been selected for a promotion, but had not received official word before his death.
Fred Pokorney's uncle, Gary Pokorney of Custer, North Dakota, said he has been in contact with the Marine's biological father, who now lives in the Midwest. He is saddened by his son's death, the uncle said, referring to the junior Fred Pokorney by a family nickname: Benny.
"He's OK," Gary Pokorney said Friday in a telephone interview. "He regrets not being able to see him in recent years. He's disturbed that he died, but believes he died for a good cause," the uncle added.
14 April 2003:
Shortly after Lieutenant Frederick Pokorney was buried Monday at Arlington National Cemetery, his 2 1/2-year-old daughter clutched the tightly folded flag that had just covered the dead Marine's casket. "Where's daddy?" Taylor asked her mother, Carolyn Rochelle Pokorney, as the two knelt beside the casket for a final goodbye.
In a funeral service under a cloudless sky, Pokorney became the first Marine from Operation Iraqi Freedom to be buried at the cemetery in Arlington, Virginia—hallowed ground for the nation's war dead. The 1989 Tonopah High School graduate was the first soldier from Nevada to die in the war on Iraq.
Pokorney, who was buried with full military honors, was killed in combat at Nasiriyah last month. Marine Lance Corporal Donald John Cline, 21, of Sparks was confirmed dead this weekend from wounds he received in the same battle.
During a Catholic Mass before the graveside ceremony, family friend Larry Mullins said the tall 31-year-old Pokorney was a "gentle giant" with a "real sense of compassion."
"He was silent and strong," Mullins said. "He was confident. He made you feel safe and secure." Mullins said Pokorney shouldn't be forgotten. His bravery had made everyone proud.
"All in all it's quite a life to celebrate," Mullins said. "We won't see a flag … without thinking of the sacrifice he made." Well done, Marine. Semper Fi."
About 150 mourners gathered to remember Pokorney, including a number of Marines. Among others paying tribute was the man Pokorney considered his adoptive father, former Nye County Sheriff Wade Lieseke. Sen. John Ensign, R-Nev., and Rep. Jon Porter, R-Nev. also attended.
Six horses drew the caisson carrying the flag-draped casket to Section 60, grave No. 7861 of the cemetery. A 25-piece Marine band and full honor guard marched in step behind. A seven-man rifle team fired a traditional three-round volley and a bugler played Taps.
Marine Brigadier General Maston Robeson presented the folded flag to Pokorney's wife.
Pokorney is survived by his wife and daughter, who live in Jacksonville, North Carolina, near Camp Lejeune, where Pokorney was stationed. He had been assigned to the Headquarters Battery, 1st Battalion, 10th Marine Regiment, 2nd Marine Expeditionary Brigade.
As a teenager, Pokorney lived in Tonopah, Nevada, a small mining town midway between Las Vegas and Reno. He lived with Lieseke during part of his high school years after his mother died and his father left town to find work. Lieseke considered Pokorney a son. One of the last letters Pokorney wrote arrived at Lieseke's home three days after the Marine died March 23.
Pokorney was a standout high school athlete in Tonopah, starring in basketball and football, and earning townspeople's respect for his work ethic and self-reliance. Several hundred turned out to remember him last month at a memorial service.
Pokorney graduated from Oregon State University in Corvallis, Oregon, before beginning his military service.
In an interview published Monday in the Daily News of Jacksonville, North Carolina, Pokorney's widow said he told her before he left for the war, "No matter what, you have to keep on going and be Taylor's best friend."
Chelle Pokorney, 32, told the paper that she knew even as she embraced her husband a final time that she would have to make good on that promise.
She said the couple visited Arlington National Cemetery during a 2001 Memorial Day trip to Washington, D.C. Her grandfather, an Air Force colonel, and her great-uncle, an Air Force general, are both buried at Arlington, and she recalled Fred Pokorney saying during that trip, "I want to be buried here. It would be an honor."
Frederick E. Pokorney, Jr.
Source: Honor the Fallen—Associated Press (orginal link – www.militarycity.com)
Frederick Pokorney Jr. started his career as an enlisted man. He ended it as an officer.
At 6-foot-6, Pokorney played center on a Tonopah, Nev., High School basketball team that went 14-9 and was runner-up for the state championship in 1989. "He was a nice looking, tall, muscular kid," said Joann Cody, assistant sheriff in Nye County, Nev.
Pokorney had taken care of himself for many years. His mother left when he was 1½, said his father, Fred Pokorney, Sr., who lives in Branson, Mo. The elder Pokorney had not spoken to his son in more than five years. "It's sad, but I don't know much about his life," his father said. "He had his own life and didn't want to have much to do with me."
Pokorney moved to Nevada when his father, a construction worker, got a temporary job at a missile test range near Tonopah. After his father left, his son stayed, living with the local sheriff and his basketball coach. "He was my son," former sheriff Wade Lieseke said.
From there, Pokorney made his own way in life. People who knew him say he a very good person — independent, polite, friendly. "He was a good student, very diligent," said Art Johnson, who taught him auto mechanics for two years.
He enlisted in the Marines and enrolled in the ROTC program at Oregon State University in 1997 to become an officer, a university spokesman said. He majored in anthropology and graduated in 2001.
He is survived by his wife, Rochelle, a young daughter, a brother and a sister.
The members of Landstuhl Hospital Care Project were honored to remember Frederick during the month of November 2006 with our shipments to the Landstuhl Regional Medical Center in Germany, and U.S. military hospitals in Iraq and Afghanistan. Our thoughts and prayers remain with Frederick's family and friends today and in the years to come.
Author LHCPPosted on November 30, 2006 August 4, 2019 Categories 2006 Honorees, 2006 News, Honorees, NewsLeave a comment on Frederick Pokorney
Sam Williams Huff
Sam Williams Huff —October 2006 Shipment Honoree
Memorial for Pfc. Sam Huff: Mourners honor "best female soldier"
Mountain View grad killed by blast in Iraq
Source: By C.T. Revere, Tucson Citizen (Tuesday, April 26, 2005)
Sam HuffSam Huff was an unlikely soldier in the eyes of those who knew her just months ago as a classmate and drum major at Mountain View High School. Even those who paved the way for the Tucson teen to enter the U.S. Army had a hard time envisioning the petite brunette with a gleaming smile as a member of their own ranks.
But to the Army sergeant who cradled the 18-year-old in her dying moments on a dusty highway outside Baghdad, Pfc. Sam Williams Huff was the kind of soldier to boast about. When Private Huff became my husband's soldier, he was so proud to have her on his team," Californian Erica James said yesterday at a memorial service where about 850 people celebrated Huff's short life.
Huff died April 17, 2005 in the arms of Sgt. Sam James, her team leader with the 504th Military Police Battalion, after a roadside bomb ripped through the armored vehicle she was driving.
Erica James flew from Los Angeles to share her husband's impressions of Huff as a soldier with those who knew her only as a friend, classmate, sister or daughter. "He would always come home from work talking about how motivated she is and how quickly she learned everything. He couldn't stop saying, 'Erica, I have the best female soldier in my company,' " she said, fighting back tears. "My husband was honored to have Private Huff as his soldier."
For nearly two hours, Huff was honored during a memorial service at Casas Adobes Baptist Church in Oro Valley. It painted a portrait of a girl who loved music, had scores of close friends and was scarcely removed from student life.
On one side of the speaker's lectern sat her feathered drum major's helmet, on the other her canvas-shrouded Army helmet. Her parents, retired Tucson police Detective Robert Huff and Oro Valley police employee Margaret Williams, sat in the front row with other relatives and close friends. Behind them sat scores of mourners in military and police uniforms. In front of them on stage was the entire Mountain View marching band.
A video tribute to Huff shared photographs from infancy to soldier, accompanied by Bob Carlisle's song "Butterfly Kisses," a ballad about a father reminiscing on his daughter's wedding day.
Sgt. 1st Class Michael Colon-Mateo recalled the day Huff walked into the Army's Foothills Recruiting Station in Marana. "When Sam came into our office, all of 16 and 99 pounds, talking about 'I want to be in the Army,' we looked at each other and went 'Mmm hmm, yeah,' "he said.
But before long, Huff showed the recruiters she had what it takes to be a soldier, Sgt. Roger Jackson said. "She was enthusiastic, energetic, very motivated," Jackson said. "Anybody who was around her knew how contagious it was."
Student after student stepped to microphones to share stories, read poems, shed tears and say goodbye. One young woman recalled the day she met Huff, who ushered her to the school nurse's office after a playground spill. Another remembered being a frightened freshman who was introduced to Huff's silly side. "She crossed her eyes, stuck out her tongue and did the Chicken Dance," the teen said. Another female classmate recalled her as "gorgeous, kick-ass and fun."
Former teachers noted Huff's blend of maturity and playfulness. "She's probably one of the top three beautiful people I've ever known," said Shannon Gibson, Huff's eighth-grade English teacher. "She was smart and beautiful and funny, and she would laugh with me when other kids were doing stupid things."
Jeremy Vega, a former bandmate, wondered how Huff is being received in heaven. "How does God react when one of his angels comes back to Him so soon?" he said. "I miss her."
Jennifer DeMille, a junior at Mountain View, saw indications of Huff's leadership in her freshman year with the school's marching band. "We had two lines across the field. I was in front, and Sam was behind me, and I remember her saying, 'Boots up! Boots up!' " she said.
Huff's brother, Sean, said she was "a hero to all of us." "Sam gave her life for everybody in this room, Arizona and the United States. Sam gave her life for the freedoms that you and I take for granted every day," he said.
Huff will be buried Thursday at Arlington National Cemetery in Virginia.
1 May 2005:
Pfc. Sam Williams Huff
Facing the highest ever casualty rate for servicewomen in its history, America is considering making official what is already a reality—allowing women to fight on the front line in war.
The ground war in Iraq has made the historical tradition of not having women in combat unworkable. A total of 35 US servicewomen have now died in Iraq and 271 have been injured. It is a small percentage of the 1,500 US service personnel fatalities and the 11,600 wounded, but these women are being killed and injured under enemy fire.
Three days ago army private Sam Huff was buried with full military honors at Arlington National Cemetery. She was 18 and died on 18 April 2005 when her convoy was blown up by a roadside bomb. "Beneath that beautiful young lady was a backbone of steel," her sergeant, Sam Jones, wrote in a letter read aloud at her hometown funeral in Tucson, Arizona.
Huff's parents reluctantly let her join the army when she was 16 and she quickly gained a reputation for enthusiasm and grit. "She's the bravest kid I've ever known," said her father, Robert Huff. "She was up and down that damned road between Baghdad and the airport, which is notorious for improvised explosive devices. But she knew the risks and believed in the mission."
Photos Courtesy of the Family
Pfc. Dan Balda
4th Brigade Combat Team PAO
"You know what Lathers? I could have been the next Gap girl. I had a modeling contract and everything. But no, look at me I'm in this awful country, wearing (desert combat uniforms), carrying around a weapon wherever I go and fighting for my country," said Private First Class Ashley Lathers, a military policeman, 170th Military Police Company.
Private First Class Sam Huff in an undated photo
(U.S. Army photo by Pfc. Dan Balda)
"I can't count how many times Private Huff said this to me day after day. Always with a smile and a laugh after she said it. Followed by, 'I wouldn't change where I'm at for anything.' That's the kind of person she was. In all honesty she was a model; a model Soldier."
Lathers was talking about her 'sister,' Private Sam Huff, at Huff's memorial service, April 22. Huff was killed while returning from the al Dora police station when the vehicle she was traveling in was struck by an improvised explosive device.
According to her battalion commander, Lieutenant Colonel James Switzer, she was not a typical Soldier. "Within two weeks of her arriving in our unit, even I knew who she was," Switzer said. "Battalion commanders get to know their Soldiers for two reasons. They got in trouble or they are very unique individuals. Private Huff was a unique individual. Her smile could light up a room. She could lighten the mood of any hardcore (noncommissioned officer) and even bring a smile to an old warrior's face."
Switzer told his fellow Soldiers that he had spoken to Huff's parents. They told him they knew their daughter might perish in combat, but that Huff fSW Huff PHOTOelt she was doing what she always wanted to do; serve in the United States Army. Huff felt she was in the right place, doing the right thing, with the right people.
Lathers shared many fond memories of huff with her fellow Dragonslayers as well as the assembled mourners. "If you knew Sam at all, you knew her two loves; dancing and her fiancé Nick," Lathers said. "That girl would dance any time she got the chance, I'd catch her dancing in our room, dancing down the hall. She danced with a confidence and grace most people lack. 18 is a tender age to leave this world. But know this, she lived a life that many people only dream about."
Huff's team leader, Sergeant Sam James praised her for her beauty as well as her brains. "Her thirst for knowledge sometimes overwhelmed me as a leader, leaving me scrambling to answer question after question," James said. "She was also a beautiful young lady, the kind that would turn heads in the mall."
James continued to extol the virtues of his Soldier. "You would be hard pressed to find a Soldier that could learn and retain knowledge as fast as she did," James said. "If I wrote down every positive quality I'd want in a Soldier, Huff would still be better. She was the kind of Soldier that made being a leader in the Army fun."
Captain Robert Matthews, Huff's company commander, described which of Huff's many qualities he will miss the most. "She was a quiet professional who took her job seriously," Matthews said. "Her dedication to duty and pursuit of excellence was an example for us all to emulate. Sam was a brave and honorable woman. She did her duty without complaint and earned nothing but respect and admiration from those of us that served with her. Her death was tragic and has left a void that will never be filled."
Switzer mentioned that Huff will be laid to rest at Arlington National Cemetery, an appropriate resting place for a young hero. "I can bet you the sun will be shining that day (the day she will be laid to rest), and up in heaven a bunch of old warriors will be smiling."
Slain Soldier Reached Beyond Expectations
Source: By Ian Shapira, Courtesy of the Washington Post (Friday, April 29, 2005)
Not many people, including her parents, considered Sam W. Huff to be obvious Army material. She was petite—just over 5 feet tall—didn't play any major sports and was best known at Tucson's Mountain View High School for her striking beauty and sharp fashion sense.
But the marching band drum major was also feisty and persistent, a conductor with a loud voice and commanding presence. With relatives who had served in the Air Force, Navy and Marine Corps, the 18-year-old had precise career goals: a tour of duty in the military, a college degree in psychology and a job at the FBI profiling criminals. After graduating from high school last year, Huff completed the grueling months of basic training and then, around Christmas, visited her old stomping grounds before being deployed to Iraq.
"She told me basic training was really hard, how she was having problems with her knee and that they tried talking her out of the Army," said Ellen Kirkbride, band director at Mountain View. "But she pleaded with them to stay. She would have felt as if she failed. She was tough."
On April 18, 2005, Private First Class Huff died in Baghdad from injuries she received the night before when the Humvee she was driving was hit by a roadside bomb, according to the Army. Yesterday, she became the 130th soldier killed in Operation Iraqi Freedom to be buried at Arlington National Cemetery. She was a member of the 170th Military Police Company, 504th Military Police Battalion, 42nd Military Police Brigade, based at Fort Lewis, Washington.
Her parents, Robert Huff, 50, a retired police detective-turned-musician, and Margaret Williams, 52, a former Marine and communications supervisor for a suburban Tucson police department, accepted the Purple Heart, Bronze Star and Good Conduct Medal on her behalf during the service.
Robert Huff, who spoke with Army officials about the circumstances of his daughter's death, said that she had spent the night of April 17 guarding an Iraqi police station. She and others in her unit were headed back to their base on the outskirts of Baghdad when an improvised explosive devise detonated next to the Humvee's driver's side. Huff was the only one seriously injured, according to Major Elizabeth Robbins, an Army spokeswoman.
The blast severed Huff's leg, and "there was nothing anyone could do and she bled to death," Robert Huff said. Huff was supposed to operate the machine gun on the top of the Humvee, he said, but she was not strong enough to load the weapon quickly. So, the petite soldier with a penchant for Disney ballads learned how to pilot the monstrous Humvee.
Teachers at Mountain View High said the community has been crushed by her death. At a recent memorial service at Casas Adobes Baptist Church in Tucson, the marching band played two of her favorite ballads, Kirkbride said: one from "Beauty and the Beast," another from "The Little Mermaid." On the stage, a black marching band hat—adorned with a plume of black and silver feathers—sat next to her combat helmet, Kirkbride said.
Robert Huff said he'll never forget what an Army official told him about his daughter's last moments. As she was bleeding, she told a sergeant next to her that she wanted him to pass along a message to her parents. "He said, 'No, you'll be able to make the call yourself.' Then she said: 'No, I don't think I can make it. Tell my mom I love her, and tell my Dad good luck with his album.' "
Sam Williams Huff was barely a year out of her drum major's uniform, prom dress and high school graduation cap and gown in April when she was laid to rest at Arlington National Cemetery.
Her father remembers the 18-year-old Fort Lewis military policewoman as a "girlie girl and a soldier's soldier." In 10 months, she journeyed from the teenage dramas of high school to the real life drama of Iraq, where her sergeant cradled her in his arms after a bomb exploded by her Humvee.
"She couldn't have turned out any better," said her father, Bob, 51, a retired Tucson police officer. "I'm prejudiced as hell, but she was as close to perfect as anyone could have been. She was just beautiful inside and out."
Sam Huff is one of the 2,000 men and women in uniform who have died in Iraq and one of 107 with ties to Washington, reflecting in part this state's strong military presence in the war. In the last two years, 8,000 soldiers from two Fort Lewis Stryker brigades and 4,000 Washington National Guardsmen with the 81st Combat Brigade Combat Team have been in Iraq. Those units have returned, but smaller units from Washington bases, as well as the state's National Guard and Reserve segments, continue to deploy. Perhaps more than 2,000 are there now.
Many who died were like Huff, young, committed and willing to serve. They left behind families who alternately worried and waited and now grieve and search for answers. "I don't know what 2,000 means to me other than it's too damn many," Bob Huff said. The Huffs feel for such parents as Cindy Sheehan who channel their grief into efforts against the war, but they think such protests are misplaced. "You can't blame anybody but the enemy for what happens," Bob Huff said.
Bob Huff served 25 years as a Tucson police officer before retiring last year to make his longtime passion, the guitar, a career. His wife, Maggie Williams, who served with the Marine Corps in Vietnam 35 years ago, works for the Oro Valley (Ariz.) Police Department. She is undergoing chemotherapy for cancer.
They called their daughter Sam. It was her name, not her nickname.
"In school when she wanted to do something, she excelled," Huff's father said, recalling her performance in a dance group. "She had a smile as big as (the grill of) an Edsel."
Huff surprised her parents when she made up her mind to join the Army. It was a means to an education and a future in the FBI, but "she and her fellow soldiers have embraced an ideal of duty, honor and country in a big way," he said.
Despite 12- to 15-hour days at war, she was enrolled in online college courses. "She was definitely a girlie girl but was tough and driven. She had a great heart," her father said.
"When it happened to Sam there were a lot of broken hearts over there," Huff recalled. "She was known to everyone from the colonel on down. She just was a go-getter and stuck out in a crowd. They called her an 'exceptional soldier.' "
When she was laid to rest at Arlington, Huff's mother had her own Marine Corps dress blues put into Sam's coffin. She said, "Bury them with her because I have no one to give them to now."
The members of Landstuhl Hospital Care Project were honored to remember Sam during the month of Oct 2006 with our shipments to the Landstuhl Regional Medical Center in Germany, and U.S. military hospitals in Iraq and Afghanistan. Our thoughts and prayers remain with Sam's family and friends today and in the years to come.
Author LHCPPosted on October 30, 2006 August 4, 2019 Categories 2006 Honorees, 2006 News, Honorees, NewsLeave a comment on Sam Williams Huff
Dance academy collects supplies for soldiers
News Page Dance Academy collects supplies for soldiers
(original link: www.myrtlebeachonline.com/)
Author LHCPPosted on October 12, 2006 August 4, 2019 Categories 2006 News, NewsLeave a comment on Dance academy collects supplies for soldiers
all BOXED up Residents aid injured soldiers
Hundreds of pounds of supplies packed up and shipped out to help soldiers injured overseas
By JODI BIZAR
Kat Higgins' husband has been in Landstuhl Hospital twice. She volunteers with the hospital care project, helping box up donations from around the world for the U.S. military hospital.
Residents of Stafford County and elsewhere came out last week to pack up 700 pounds of supplies to be shipped to a military hospital in Germany.
Starting early Wednesday morning, the volunteers worked diligently at the Stafford American Legion Post 290, packing up sweat pants and shirts, not to mention other supplies.
"It's a whole truckload of goods," said Duane Morrison, American Legion spokesman.
The goods were sent to Landstuhl Medical Center in Germany later that day for soldiers injured in Iraq, Morrison said.
He said the American Legion wanted to help out an effort called Landstuhl Hospital Care Project, a national program providing supplies for injured soldiers.
"These soldiers are typically issued a standard hospital gown and that's it," Morrison said. "Then, they have to spend a lot of time in it."
All boxed up
To help these soldiers, volunteers provide money, solicit donations of goods or money, buy needed items and then ship the goods to the hospital.
Since the project started a few years ago, about 4 tons of goods have been shipped. The biggest shipment thus far was 1,600 pounds.
Karen Grimord, president of the project, said this latest shipment was one of the best.
"We got a super-excellent donation of blankets, and we weren't charged for the shipping," she said.
After the merchandise was shipped out on Wednesday, Grimord said she came home to find more goods that will go out in the next mailing.
The American Legion is hosting a fundraiser for the project Sunday at the post at 1204 American Legion Road. There will be food, a silent auction, raffles and a horseshoe tournament.
Anyone interested in donating goods for the soldiers is asked to drop it off at the event. Donors also can call Grimord at 540/286-1539, and a pickup might be possible. However, she said they can accept only new bedding and comfortable clothing.
For more information on the project visit landstuhlhospital careproject.org.
To reach JODI BIZAR: 540/374-5000, ext. 5627
Email: jbizar@freelancestar.com
Author LHCPPosted on September 19, 2006 August 4, 2019 Categories 2006 News, Guest, NewsLeave a comment on all BOXED up Residents aid injured soldiers
Grassroots Project Provides Comfort
Air Force wives collect blankets, bedding for military hospitals
LHCP's shipment is in 🙂
Grassroots project provides comfort-Air Force wives collect blankets, bedding for military hospitals
Six hundred pounds of sheets and blankets were delivered to Karen Grimord's home in Stafford last Thursday, and she could not have been happier.
."This will take care of a lot of needs for the hospitals for two months," said Grimord, president of the Landstuhl Hospital Care Project, a grassroots organization that provides comfort and relief items for service members who become sick or are injured in Iraq, Kuwait or Afghanistan.
Inspecting shipment
Grimord and volunteers Sherry Karlson and Angie Ribuffo-all Air Force wives- quickly unloaded the bedding supplies from the back of a semi-truck and stored them in Grimord's garage.
"There's enough room for my husband's motorcycle," laughed Grimord, who became serious as she discussed the organization's mission.
The Landstuhl Hospital Care Project began in 2005 and is supported by American Legions Posts and Auxiliaries in Arlington, Lorton, Springfield, Stafford, Spotsylvania, Culpepper, Woodbridge, Fredericksburg, Annadale, Centreville and Triangle she explained. Its efforts are also supported through donations that come in from all across the country via its website, LandstuhlHospitalCareProject.org/.
"Nobody asked us to do it, we just did it," said Grimord, who has family members who have served in the Middle East. It was through that connection that Grimord discovered that patients at Landstuhl and medics serving on the front lines needed items like bedding, toiletries and clothing.
Patriot at work
Grimord and her family began collecting the items and shipping them overseas but discovered they could not do it all by themselves. She contacted area American Legion Posts, who quickly joined in the effort. To date, three tons of donated items have been sent to troops serving overseas.
Each monthly shipment sent by the group honors a fallen service member, continued Grimord, who said the quality of life items lift the spirits of wounded troops and remind them that people "back home" appreciate their sacrifice. September's shipment honors PFC Benjamin T. Zieske, 20, who died May 3 of injuries he sustained in Kirkuk, Iraq, when an improvised explosive device detonated during a dismounted combat patrol. He was assigned to the 1st Battalion, 327 Infantry Regiment, 1st Brigade Combat Team, 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault), Fort Campbell, Ky.
One more box
"You can't forget the ones who are over there," Karlson added.
Each month the list of needed items changes and can be found on the project's Web site. Donated items must be new and packaged and can be dropped off at Grimord's home at 29 Greenleaf Terrace in Stafford.
Monetary donations can be sent to Sharon Buck, project treasurer, at 14101 Rectory Lane, Upper Marlboro, MD 20772. (Address has changed since article printed)
Volunteers planned to pack up the latest shipment Wednesday at the Stafford American Legion.
LHCP teamwork
The group plans to hold a barbecue benefit with hotdogs, hamburgers and more to raise money for the Landstuhl Hospital Care Project on Sept 24 beginning at 2 pm at the Stafford American Legion Post 290's horseshoe team challenges all comers to a competition during the benefit. Entrance fee for a two-person team is $100 with all proceeds benefiting wounded warriors at Landstuhl Hospital in Germany. Teams should contact vice commander Bruce Miller at (540) 659-2394 to reserve their team's spots.
Grassroots Efforts by LHCP
Author LHCPPosted on September 14, 2006 August 4, 2019 Categories 2006 News, Guest, NewsLeave a comment on Grassroots Project Provides Comfort
3rd Qtr 2006 LHCP Newsletter
Author LHCPPosted on September 6, 2006 August 4, 2019 Categories 2006 News, 2006 Newsletters, News, NewslettersLeave a comment on 3rd Qtr 2006 LHCP Newsletter
Douglas A. DiCenzo
Douglas A. DiCenzo —August 2006 Shipment Honoree
Road bomb in Iraq kills principal's son
BY DIANE KNICH
The Post and Courier (Charleston, SC)
Army Capt. Douglas DiCenzo, son of popular Orange Grove Elementary School Principal Larry DiCenzo, was killed Thursday in Iraq when his Humvee drove over a roadside bomb. DiCenzo, who was 30 years old, was "a born leader," his father said. "He knew what he wanted to do in life and went after it."
Doug DiCenzo & familyA company commander in the 1st Armored Division, DiCenzo went to Iraq in November. He had been stationed in Germany. He was married to Nicole DiCenzo. The couple had a 16-month-old son, Dakin or "Dak."
DiCenzo graduated from Plymouth High School in Plymouth, N.H., in 1995 and from West Point in 1999. He ranked fifth in his class at Plymouth and was an all-state offensive guard for the state-champion Bobcat football team, according to the Manchester (N.H.) Union-Leader.
Larry DiCenzo said his son decided when he was a sophomore in high school that he wanted to pursue a military career and never wavered from that decision.
The news of DiCenzo's death stunned and saddened the staff Friday at Orange Grove Elementary. Curt Norman, the West Ashley school's assistant principal, called a meeting at the end of the school day so the staff could try to make some sense of the news. First, with the efficiency of teachers, staffers briefly discussed managing the rest of the school year without their leader. Then, with the hearts of parents, sons and daughters, they talked about how they could help their principal, his family, the school and each other.
Larry DiCenzo recently married Anne DiCenzo, principal at Mitchell Elementary School in downtown Charleston. "We are family and this is a family loss," said Tish Carter, a teaching assistant at Orange Grove.
The meeting Friday felt like a gathering of family pulling together to do its best at a time when everyone was feeling their worst. Tears rolled, and some who had suffered losses shared what helped them most. Patty Kay, a kindergarten teacher, said she's deeply concerned about Larry DiCenzo. "Larry is a passionate, demonstrative person," she said. "When he feels something, he feels it deeply. So, when he's sad, he's very, very sad." But, she said, he can count on the staff to take care of the school. "We'll keep doing what we have to do here. We share his pain, and we'll pull him back up."
Reach Diane Knich at 937-5491 or dknich@postandcourier.com. It was printed via the web on 5/27/2006 10:50:39 PM . This article appeared in The Post and Courier and updated online at Charleston.net on Saturday, May 27, 2006.
NH's DiCenzo remembered as true leader
By PAULA TRACY
Union Leader Staff (Manchester, NH)
Plymouth – Army Capt. Douglas Andrew DiCenzo was remembered in his hometown yesterday as an extremely intelligent and caring young man, who was fearless and driven to lead. Family said the 30-year-old West Point graduate died when the Humvee he was in hit a roadside bomb about 2 p.m. Thursday in the streets of southern Baghdad.
In Plymouth, where graves of fallen soldiers were being decorated yesterday for Memorial Day, the news came as a harsh reminder of the war in Iraq. DiCenzo was company commander for C Company in the 1st Armored Division 2nd Brigade based in Baumholder, Germany. He lived with his wife, Nichole, and toddler son, Dakin, in Germany. But according to his stepfather, Mark Burzynski, DiCenzo said if he were killed in action, he wanted to be buried in Plymouth.
DiCenzo's death marked the third New Hampshire soldier to die in Iraq this month. Burzynski, of Plymouth, said a funeral service will be held here, likely sometime next week. He said yesterday the family was continuing to get information in bits and pieces about what happened and when the body would be returned.
Flags flew at half-staff at Plymouth Regional High School yesterday. Principal Bruce Parsons called DiCenzo "a true, all-American." Graduating in the top five of his class, with a 94.6 academic average, DiCenzo was president of the Plymouth Class of 1995, captain of the football and wrestling teams. He led the Bobcat gridders to the state championship in his senior year. He also was a school board representative from the high school and was a member of the National Honor Society.
He considered only military academies for college and was accepted by the U.S. Military Academy, graduating in 1999. He was deployed to Kuwait and Iraq in November but had trained the past few years at Fort Benning, Ga., and in Fairbanks, Alaska, friends said.
On Main Street in Plymouth, DiCenzo was remembered for his caring nature, a man devoid of ego, fearless and a leader by example who saw in the military a way to hone his strengths and interest in leadership. "Probably the reason he was drawn to this was his outgoing and caring personality," said Scott Biederman of Holderness. "He was an enthusiastic type who had no fear . . . There was no middle ground. "He obviously knew what he was getting himself into," Biederman said. "His leadership skills were his strength."
Prayers for his family and the military were said at an 8 a.m. Mass at St. Matthew Catholic Church. At Plymouth Elementary School, where DiCenzo's mother, Cathy Crane, is a fifth-grade teacher, efforts were being put in motion to create a scholarship in his name. The family requested that in lieu of flowers, donations be made payable to the DiCenzo Fund and sent to Plymouth Elementary School, 43 Old Ward Bridge Road, Plymouth NH 03264. Burzynski urged people not to send flowers but to consider instead a scholarship gift. "Flowers will be donated to local nursing homes," if they arrive, he said.
Friends were rallying around the family and trying to do what they could to ease the blow. Patti Biederman recalled DiCenzo as a small boy and how she watched him and his brother Daniel grow. She said she became good friends with his family when they were in the same babysitting cooperative.
Larry DiCenzo, the soldier's father, was principal of Plymouth and Campton elementary schools. Crane has been a teacher for many years. When the boys were about 2 and 5, Biederman said, their parents divorced. Larry DiCenzo now lives in Charleston, S.C., and has remarried. Mark Burzynski and Cathy Crane live in Plymouth.
Norm LeBlanc, a guidance counselor at Plymouth Regional High School and DiCenzo's Little League coach, said DiCenzo was among the finest people the community has produced in his 37 years in education. "The parents did a fantastic job with them, and they did not skip a beat," LeBlanc said. Had DiCenzo lived a full life, LeBlanc would not have been surprised to see him become a U.S. senator, he said. "He would always say the right thing. He was very thoughtful and caring," LeBlanc said. "A true leader."
The members of Landstuhl Hospital Care Project were honored to remember Douglas during the month of August 2006 with our shipments to the Landstuhl Regional Medical Center in Germany, and U.S. military hospitals in Iraq and Afghanistan. Our thoughts and prayers remain with Douglas's family and friends today and in the years to come.
Author LHCPPosted on August 30, 2006 August 4, 2019 Categories 2006 Honorees, 2006 News, Honorees, NewsLeave a comment on Douglas A. DiCenzo
Christopher W. Thompson—July 2006 Shipment Honoree
Navy Petty Officer 3rd Class, age 25, of N. Wilkesboro, North Carolina.; assigned to Echo Company, 2nd Battalion, 2nd Marines, 8th Regimental Combat Team, 2nd Marine Division, Fleet Marine Forces Atlantic, based in Camp Lejeune, North Carolina; killed in action on October 21, 2005 from an IED explosion while conducting Combat operations against enemy forces in the Al Anbar Province of Iraq.
Wilkes County, North Carolina Sailor Killed in Iraq
Source: Associated Press
Hospitalman 3rd Class Chris Thompson and another member of the 2nd Marine Division, 2nd Marine Expeditionary Force (Forward) were killed in the bombing near Amiriyah, 25 miles west of Baghdad. Thompson, 25, was riding in the left rear seat of an armored vehicle when an improvised explosive device was set off, his parents, Larry and Geraldine Thompson.
Thompson's executive officer said he was proud to go to war with Thompson, his brother, David Thompson said.
"He knew if something happened, he'd take care of them," David Thompson said. "If things were worst, he'd be the first one to step up." David Thompson also is a Navy corpsman assigned to the Marines.
When Thompson came home from his first combat tour, he was asked how he managed to insert an IV in someone's arm on a battlefield while bullets were crackling by and bombs were exploding. "He said, 'All I can tell you is I haven't missed yet. When you've got somebody dying, you've got to do what you can do," Larry Thompson said.
During his first tour from March 2004 to October 2004, Thompson helped four Marines hurt when a bomb exploded beside the Humvee in front of his. A fifth Marine, his best friend, died in his arms.
At home, he talked to his father about still seeing the faces of those who had died. Larry Thompson, an Army veteran, said he still sees the faces of those who died when he was in Vietnam.
"I don't want to forget them," he says he told his son. "I want to remember them and honor them.
"You do the best you can and come home. That's all you can do."
Thompson joined the Navy when he was 21. He finished basic training three days after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks and was sent to the USS Austin. Eighteen months later, he started corpsman training.
Thompson's mother remembered him as a funny boy. As a teenager, he would sneak her convertible out to take his friends for a ride, she said. She never told him she knew.
He played football and baseball at North Wilkes High School, and hoped to study at Coastal Carolina University in Conway, S.C. when his military duty ended. He wanted to become a coach and teacher, his family said.
Navy Petty Officer 3rd Class Christopher W. Thompson
Source: The Gazette
Chris Thompson kept a level head as a Navy hospital corpsman, even amid the violence and bloodshed of war. Marine Lance Cpl. Michael Jernigan said Thompson saved his life after an explosion and firefight left him blind and bleeding. "He was one of the best men I've ever met. I'm standing here because of him," Jernigan said.
Thompson, 25, of North Wilkesboro, N.C., died Oct. 21 in an explosion near Amariyah. It was his second tour in Iraq. Thompson's sister-in-law, Mellisa, a corpsman in the Navy Reserves, offered a tribute during his funeral. "I can remember at our wedding that Chris was always hugging me," she said. "He said he'd always wished for a sister." Thompson won the Navy and Marine Commendation with Valor for his actions that saved Jernigan and other Marines on Aug. 22, 2004. His brother, David, also a Navy hospital corpsman, said that Chris' executive officer told him he was proud to go to war with Chris. "He knew if something happened he'd take care of them," David said. "If things were worst, he'd be the first one to step up." He also is survived by his parents, Larry and Geraldine.
Petty Officer Third Class Christopher Thompson
Source: Charlotte Observer. 10/29/2005.
NORTH WILKESBORO—Officer Thompson, age 25, of Shingle Gap Road, Millers Creek, died Friday, October 21, 2005 in Iraq. Funeral services will be held Sunday, 3:00 at Peace Haven Baptist Church with the Rev. Tim Pruitt and Rev. Tommy Hutchins officiating. Burial will be in Mountlawn Memorial Park.
Petty Officer Thompson was born in Wilkes County, July 30, 1980, to Larry and Geraldine Reid Thompson. He served in the US Navy as a corpsman and was attached to US Marine Corp in Camp Leujune. He received the National Defense Service Medal, Sea Service Deployment Ribbon 3rd Award, Good Conduct Award, Combat Action Ribbon Operation Iraqi Freedom, Global War On Terrorism Service Medal, Global War On Terrorism Expeditionary Medal, Iraqi Campaign Medal, Joint Meritorious Unit Award, The Navy and Marine Commendation with Valor and the Purple Heart.
Christopher was very active in sports. He played baseball for North Wilkes High School and Wilkes Community College. He also played football at North Wilkes High School. Christopher was a member of the North Wilkes ROTC for one year. He was active in Yellow Jackets Football and Babe Ruth Baseball and a counselor at the Elk Camp for two years.
In addition to his parents, Christopher is survived by two brothers, Jimmy Epley and his wife, Krista of Hays, David Thompson and his wife, Mellisa of Wilkesboro; paternal grandmother, Statia Thompson Eplee of Forest City.
Memorials may be made to Navy-Marine Corps Relief Society, 875 N. Randolph Street, Suite 225, Arlington, VA 22203-1977. Online Condolences may be made at www.reinssturdivant.com
The members of Landstuhl Hospital Care Project were honored to remember Christopher during the month of July 2006 with our shipments to the Landstuhl Regional Medical Center in Germany, and U.S. military hospitals in Iraq and Afghanistan. Our thoughts and prayers remain with Christopher's family and friends today and in the years to come.
Author LHCPPosted on July 30, 2006 August 4, 2019 Categories 2006 Honorees, 2006 News, Honorees, NewsLeave a comment on Christopher Thompson
LHCP president talks with 1st Vice Commander Bruce Miller before event.
Brownie Conley looks over competition as horseshoe teams from all over Northern Virginia prepare to battle it out for "Top Dog" position and trophy.
Beck enjoying the day, without rain!
Looking for that perfect shot.
JayMike and Brian check out how close that toss was!
Brian prepares to toss and hopes for ringer.
Mike Lee's turn
Second round of shoes for play offs.
Horseshoe teams battle it out 1st place.
Jerry Howard American Legion Department commander talks with vistors about competition
New friends and great supporters!
LHCP volunteer, Sherry, exchanges raffle tickets for money.
Ann, Evelynn and Francis help out at LHCP support our troops card signing table.
Ron, Gary and Day all caught with food in their mouth. MUST BE GOOD!
Sherry caught selling more tickets to AD Carter and his lovely wife.
Jim does great job cooking hamburger and hotdogs!!
Author LHCPPosted on July 4, 2006 August 4, 2019 Categories 2006 Fund Raising, 2006 News, Fund Raising, NewsLeave a comment on Horseshoe Tournament
2nd Qtr 2006 LHCP Newsletter
Author LHCPPosted on June 30, 2006 August 4, 2019 Categories 2006 News, 2006 Newsletters, News, NewslettersLeave a comment on 2nd Qtr 2006 LHCP Newsletter
Anissa Shero
Anissa A. Shero—June 2006 Shipment Honoree
Air Force SSGT, 31, of Grafton, W.V.; assigned to the 16th Special Operations Wing, Hurlburt Field, Fla.; killed in an MC-130H Combat Talon crash on June 12, 2002, in Afghanistan.
West Virginia Airman to be Buried at Arlington
Source: Arlington National Cementery Website
A West Virginia native killed in a military plane crash in Afghanistan will be buried at Arlington National Cemetery, her family says.
The bodies of Staff Sergeant Anissa Ann Shero and two other Americans were flown to a U.S. base in Germany, where they were received Monday with military honors. The three were to arrive at Dover Air Force Base in Delaware.
Shero, who was stationed in Florida with her husband, will not be returned to her hometown of Grafton, said her grandmother, Edith Kenney.
A public memorial service is scheduled for June 28 at the Mother's Day Shrine in Grafton. Taylor County veterans groups are planning the event. "This is to show our appreciation for the sacrifice she gave for our freedom," said Tootsie Robinson, commander of Disabled Veterans of Taylor County.
Shero, 31, and Technical Sergeant Sean M. Corlew, 37, of Thousand Oaks, California, were members of the 16th Special Operations squadron that was serving as crew of the MC-130H when it crashed last week. Also killed was Army Green Beret Sergeant First Class Peter P. Tycz II, 32, of Tonawanda, New York.
The plane, a version of the C-130 cargo plane outfitted for special forces missions, crashed and caught fire after taking off from an airstrip in southeast Afghanistan. Seven others on board survived. The crew was picking up three Special Forces members from the airstrip south of the town of Gardez. The cause of the crash is still under investigation.
Last fall, Anissa Shuttleworth married Nathan Shero, also a special forces airman, and changed her name. The couple were based at Hurlburt Field and had recently bought a home in Navarre, Florida.
Anissa Shero, who enlisted in 1992, was the first Air Force woman to die in Afghanistan, and the second West Virginian killed there since the military campaign began.
"When she called me a few days before she left, she said, 'Well, I'm going again.' But she couldn't say where," Kenney said Sunday. "I told her to please write me a postcard or anything, just to say hello or goodbye. And she did. She was a thoughtful child. It's going to be very lonesome," she said. "I think back at the times I've treasured and what was and is now, and I guess, what is to be. She would just laugh. I can see her laughing now.
Statement of Senator John D. Rockefeller IV on the Senate Floor
On the Death of Staff Sgt. Anissa A. Shero in Afghanistan
Mr. ROCKEFELLER: Mr. President, for many generations, the people of West Virginia have distinguished themselves by their willingness to serve their country in the armed forces. West Virginians understand the cost of freedom and have always been willing to pay it when called. Today, we are reminded again just how great that cost can be, as we mourn the loss of Air Force Staff Sgt. Anissa A. Shero, of Grafton, West Virginia, who died in a tragic airplane crash near the town of Gardez, Afghanistan.
Sgt. Shero was a volunteer, who chose to serve her country in the face of grave danger. When terrorists struck, she left behind the mountains of West Virginia for the mountains of Afghanistan—to risk her life so that we might live ours in freedom and safety. She was part of an extraordinarily successful effort to crush the Taliban, disrupt and demoralize al-Qaeda, and free the people of Afghanistan from two decades of war and despotism. Men and women in both nations are safer now because of her work, and all of us who value freedom owe Sgt. Shero a profound debt of gratitude and honor. I know that the thoughts and prayers of many people are, like mine, with her family and her friends.
Like the two service members who died with her, and the 37 others killed in Afghanistan during this war, including West Virginian Sgt. Gene Vance, Jr., Sgt. Shero bravely did her duty as an American. Now, let us pledge to do ours in her honor. Let us remember always, including on the floor of this Senate chamber, that wars are about people, and freedom, and lives. Let us make certain that our armed forces have the tools they need to meet any foe, any where, any time. And let us treasure the freedoms we enjoy as Americans and give thanks for the service members who fight to protect them.
Sgt. Shero represented the best of West Virginia and the best of America. She was strong, courageous, and dedicated. She will forever serve as a role model for West Virginians, men and women alike, who love their country and who, like her, know our ideals are worth fighting for.
The members of Landstuhl Hospital Care Project were honored to remember Anissa during the month of June 2006 with our shipments to the Landstuhl Regional Medical Center in Germany, and U.S. military hospitals in Iraq and Afghanistan. Our thoughts and prayers remain with Anissa's family and friends today and in the years to come.
Author LHCPPosted on June 30, 2006 August 4, 2019 Categories 2006 Honorees, 2006 News, Honorees, NewsLeave a comment on Anissa Shero
Manassas HOG Chapter Poker Run
A Winning Hand for Soldiers
By ELISA A. GLUSHEFSKI
Karen Grimord, president of the Landstuhl Hospital Care Project, kisses the hand of Justin Reynolds prior to the Poker Run, which started in Manassas and ended in Woodbridge Sunday, June 18, 2006. The 120-mile route allowed local bikers to take part in an event where the proceeds would go to the Landstuhl Project, which provides relief items to members of the military who have been injured in Afghanistan and Iraq. Reynolds is one of those soldiers, sustaining injuries while serving in Iraq. (Photo By Joe Brier / Staff Photographer)
On Feb. 3, somewhere in Iraq, U.S. Marine Corps Lance Cpl. Justin A. Reynolds drove a Humvee over an improvised explosive device. Both of Reynolds' feet were broken, along with a bone in his leg and shrapnel tore through his knee.
A short time later, the entire left side of his body was paralyzed and the 22-year-old lost vision as a result of a virus he contracted after the explosion, said Reynolds' father, Bob Reynolds. Had it not been for Karen Grimord and her charity organization, the Landstuhl Hospital Care Project, Bob said he and his wife wouldn't have known how to manage. "As parents not in the service we didn't know who to call [for help]," the Ohioan said. "[Grimord] was his mother over there as far as we're concerned."
About 80 motorcyclists signed up Sunday morning for the Manassas chapter of Harley Owners Group's Poker Run – a charity ride to benefit the project. The game was five-card stud poker. Each motorcyclist paid $15 per hand, randomly picking their first card at Whitt's Harley Davidson in Manassas – where the ride started – then picking the next three cards at various stops along the 120-mile pre-planned route and ending at American Legion Post 364 in Woodbridge, said Mike Lee, coordinator of the event.
Landstuhl Hospital Care Project provides comfort and relief items to sick, injured and wounded military members who served in Iraq, Kuwait or Afghanistan. Before the rally, Reynolds – a soft-spoken, stout young man – sat in his wheelchair and delivered a brief and selfless speech, thanking Grimord and the attendees for their support. "Your support is what makes us men and women do our job," he said. "It gives us wounded soldiers a piece of home, when our only possessions are cutups and hospital scrubs." Tears spilled from Grimord's eyes as Reynolds closed his speech. "Karen was my mother away from home and she will always be in my heart."
Based out of Grimord's Stafford home, the organization took form after she took a trip to Germany in August 2004 to visit her daughter and son-in-law who were stationed at Ramstein Air Force Base, about 10 miles from Landstuhl Regional Medical Center. There was no grand vision in Grimord's mind, though, when she first began sending care packages from the states to the Landstuhl. After sending her first package of about 500 DVDs, Grimord almost immediately called the hospital chaplain to find out what else they needed.
Nearly two years later, the program has expanded to a nationally sponsored organization that makes monthly shipments tailored to the needs of each hospital. "If the hospital needs Colgate toothpaste, we send Colgate toothpaste," she said. "We don't send them Crest." Each Operation Iraqi Freedom or Operation Enduring Freedom patient receives a $250 voucher from the Department of Defense, Grimord said, that can be used at the Post Exchange. Most arrive with nothing more than the clothes on their back, she said, and the needs of the men and women sometimes exceed the allowance.
Kris Paquette, a three-year motorcyclist, said she was shocked to learn the military does not provide the sick, injured and wounded with any personal care items beyond the $250 voucher. "It's a crime that the military doesn't provide our troops, with adequate clothing, toiletries and other comfort items," she said. "This is just such a good cause."
Dan Sullivan, who retired in September of last year as a lieutenant colonel in the Army, found the cause to be particularly dear to him. "It just makes it a little more comfortable for them over there," he said. "Makes them feel less like a patient and more like a human." Reynolds is currently stationed at Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune in North Carolina and has a year left of service.
Author LHCPPosted on June 19, 2006 August 4, 2019 Categories 2006 Fund Raising, 2006 News, Fund Raising, Guest, NewsLeave a comment on Manassas HOG Chapter Poker Run
Another "We Remember" News Article
We Remember" Campaign Raises $8,053 for Severely Wounded U.S. Military Personnel
Campaign Benefits the Injured Recovering in Iraq, Afghanistan and Germany
WHEELING, W.VA. – June 9, 2006 – Hundreds of seriously wounded U.S. military personnel recovering overseas will have their spirits lifted as Upper Ohio Valley residents and businesses contributed $8,053 to the "We Remember" campaign.
The fundraising effort was sponsored by: the West Virginia High Technology Consortium (WVHTC) Foundation; WTOV-TV9, Steubenville-Wheeling; Main Street Bank, Wheeling-Wellsburg; and WOVK-FM, Wheeling. The local fund drive was conducted with the Landstuhl Hospital Care Project (LHCP), Stafford, Va.
The funds raised during the three-week campaign will be used to purchase "comfort items" for patients at U.S. military hospitals and medical units in Iraq and Afghanistan in addition to the Landstuhl Regional Medical Center, Germany.
"If we're this excited about the donation total, imagine how our injured military personnel will feel when they receive their comfort items and they realize that there are people who they've never met that care about them. We can't thank the local residents enough for remembering those hospitalized individuals who are so far from their homeland and their loved ones," said WVHTC Foundation Vice President and General Manager Joseph Allen.
Rich Lucas, Main Street Bank president, said he and his staff are proud to again partner with local organizations to help charitable activities. He added, "This is our fourth fundraiser working in conjunction with other local businesses and organizations. This one was really special and heartwarming. It was an honor to help the men and women who are protecting our freedoms."
In addition to Main Street Bank receiving donations, the campaign sponsors held a bake sale, raffled a patriotic hand-woven basket and held an auction for a portrait of a former historical building at Bethany College.
The WVHTC Foundation, headquartered in Fairmont, is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization functioning as an engine of economic change for growing a regional and statewide high tech business sector. The foundation has established a multi-faceted approach to maximize economic development, commercialization and workforce development. In addition to its Fairmont headquarters, it has offices in Wheeling, Moundsville and Glenville.
Karen and Gregg
Listening to TV Crew
Joe Speaking
American Legion,
Joe and Karen
Having Lunch Finally
Karen at Radio Station
Joe at Radio Station
Soldier Art Action
2nd Radio Station
We Remember Campaign Graphic Artist with his work
Author LHCPPosted on June 9, 2006 August 4, 2019 Categories 2006 Fund Raising, 2006 News, Fund Raising, NewsLeave a comment on Another "We Remember" News Article
"We Remember" Bake Sale
Author LHCPPosted on May 31, 2006 August 4, 2019 Categories 2006 Fund Raising, 2006 News, Fund Raising, NewsLeave a comment on "We Remember" Bake Sale
Robert Hernandez
Robert Hernandez— May 2006 Shipment Honoree
Army SSgt., 47, of Silver Spring, Md.; assigned to the 3rd Battalion, 318th Regiment, 1st Brigade, 80th Division (Institutional Training), Army Reserve, Fort Meade, Md.; killed March 28, 2006 when an improvised explosive device detonated near his Humvee during combat operations in Taquaddum, Iraq.
Staff Sergeant Robert Hernandez, 47, of Silver Spring, Maryland, joined the United States Army in 1981 and spent more than three years on active duty. Following his active duty tour, he joined the Army Reserve and in 1988 successfully completed the Army's Drill Sergeant School and served as a Drill Sergeant with 1st Brigade, 80th Division. In 2003, after a break in service, he returned to the Army Reserve where he completed Military Police School and was assigned as a Military Police Drill Sergeant in the 3rd Battalion, 318th Regiment, 80th Division, at Fort Meade, Maryland. Staff Sergeant Hernandez was mobilized in May, 2005, to support Operation Iraqi Freedom. He arrived in Iraq in August, 2005, and was assigned to the Multi-National Security Transition Command – Iraq (MNSTC-I) J3 Convoy Security Company. His duties included vehicle driver, gunner, scout, and tactical commander.
Staff Sergeant Hernandez's awards include the Bronze Star Medal, Purple Heart, Meritorious Service Medal, Army Achievement Medal, Good Conduct Medal, Army Reserve Components Achievement Medal, National Defense Service Medal, Iraq Campaign Medal, Global War on Terrorism Service Medal, Armed Forces Reserve Medal w/ 'M' Device, NCO Professional Development Ribbon, Army Service Ribbon, Overseas Service Ribbon w/ the Bronze Numeral '1', Drill Sergeant Badge, and the Combat Action Badge.
As a civilian, he was employed as a Police Officer with the Prince George's County, Maryland, Police Department. Staff Sergeant Hernandez is survived by his two sons, Xariel Hernandez and Micah Hernandez; his fiancé, Pricila Godley; and his mother, Juana Pizarro.
Chief High/County Police Department Mourn County Officer Killed in Baghdad
Source: Police Department, Prince George's Country, Maryland
Prince George's County Police Chief Melvin C. High today said that Prince George's County Police Department is mourning the loss of Corporal Robert Hernandez, a county officer who was an Army Reservist deployed in Iraq. The only details available to the Police Department at this time are that his convoy was struck by an explosive device at approximately 9:00 p.m. E.S.T.
"Today this Department is deeply saddened by the loss of our brother Corporal Robert Hernandez. On behalf of my office, our Command Staff and all the men and women of this Department, our hearts are with Officer Hernandez' fiancé and other family members," said Police Chief Melvin High.
County Executive Jack Johnson said, 'I'm heart broken by this loss, and I know the people of Prince George's County will keep Corporal Hernandez' family in their prayers, as I will. It is a tragic loss for our county, and the nation."
Corporal Hernandez was a 10-year-veteran of the department; he served the last four years in Police District II. His Commanding Officer Major Michael Blow said Corporal Hernandez was a hard working officer who easily earned the respect of his fellow officers. He said Hernandez volunteered to be a Field Training Officer (FTO) to help new officers graduating from the Police Academy gain "real world" experience. His squad won a unit citation in 2000 for organizing care packages for food victims in Mozambique. "His loss will be felt throughout the District, the Department and the community, "Blow said.
Hernandez joined the Prince George's County Police Department with experience from both the Metropolitan Police Department and the Baltimore City Police Department. A Staff Sergeant and Army Reservist, Hernandez was a 24-year military veteran. He had been deployed in Iraq since last summer.
Corporal Hernandez is survived by his family in Silver Spring, his fiancé, his adult son and two children. The rest of his family, including his parents, lives in Puerto Rico.
The members of Landstuhl Hospital Care Project were honored to remember Robert during the month of May with our shipments to the Landstuhl Regional Medical Center in Germany, and U.S. military hospitals in Iraq and Afghanistan. Our thoughts and prayers remain with Robert's family and friends today and in the years to come.
Author LHCPPosted on May 30, 2006 August 4, 2019 Categories 2006 Honorees, 2006 News, Honorees, NewsLeave a comment on Robert Hernandez