USMV M/C Western MD Chapter
visits Walter Reed Hospital 24DEC06
It's not often you get to see heroes in
real life. It's even less often that you can make them smile, shake their hand
and say Thank You. We had the rare and honored privilege of doing all of this on
our visit to Walter Reed Army Medical Center on Christmas Eve, 2006. The chapter
took with them 24 filled stockings, at least 30 individual meals donated by
Chubby's BBQ in Emmitsburg MD and an assortment of other gifts, including hats,
shirts and handmade throws donated by Battlefield Harley-Davidson in Gettysburg,
PA.
Many of the gifts you see were made possible by generous
donations to the chapter from our Brothers in the Eastern Panhandle Chapter of
WV, Northern VA Chapter and the VA State Chapter. Other donations came from
private individuals. Our heartfelt thanks go out to each and every one of you
who helped make this possible.
The purpose of this site is not to toot our own horn, but
rather that you can see the faces of these brave men and women, who's lives will
be forever changed in a very fundamental way by what has happened to them. We
also wanted you to see how they light up when they get visitors. They really
appreciated the gifts (and the food was a BIG hit, gotta hit that place sometime
soon), but they all said that the best thing was just us being there.
At 54 years of age, I am totally humbled by these people.
- Heroes
- this page is of four that we visited who had recently been awarded their
Purple Hearts directly from their Commander-in-Chief.
- Walter Reed Visit
- these were pictures of various men and women we visited while in Walter
Reed.
- Parsons
- Shane has made remarkable progress since he first arrived. The support he
has gotten from his family, friends and loved ones has made an incredible
difference so far and I am confident he will continue to make sure and steady
progress.
- Brawdy
- Tony is a joy to be with, laughs and smiles and has fun in spite of his
situation. We spent a good hour or more outside with him and in spite of the
cool temperatures, I have not been in a warmer place.
There were so many that we visited of whom we got no pictures.
Many of the rooms were either crowded and afforded no opportunity or were
visited in small groups and the camera just wasn't there. We did not want them
thinking that we were there for a photo op only, so sometimes, pictures just
were not appropriate.
I'd like to specially give a shout-out and a hearty "WELL
DONE" to three of our members who's tireless and continuing efforts have made
this possible:
- Dragon - top Chaplain if I ever saw one.
- Atrox - Great effort - ALWAYS there.
- Muttley - Sailor, ya done good.
Click on the Eagle to get back to the Photo page
Questions and comments can be made to
webmaster@usmvwmd.org