Two Iraqi War Veterans from Walter Reed Will Participate

Two Iraqi War Veterans from Walter Reed Will Participate in National Archives 4th of July Celebration on Monday

To: National and Assignment Desks

Contact: Walter Reed Army Medical Center Public Affairs Office, 202-782-7177

WASHINGTON, June 30 /U.S. Newswire/ -- Two Operation Iraqi Freedom wounded veterans from Walter Reed Army Medical Center will participate in a dramatic reading of the Declaration of Independence at the National Archives Fourth of July Celebration.

Army 2nd Lt. Frank E. Washburn and Marine Staff Sgt. Berle J. Sigman IV will read portions of the Declaration during Monday morning's ceremony which will take place from 10 – 11 a.m. on the Constitution Avenue steps of the National Archives Building between 7th and 9th Streets, NW, Washington, D.C. Both Iraqi war veterans will be available for media interviews after the ceremony from about 11:15 a.m. to 12:15 p.m. Media interested in interviewing the wounded veterans should contact the Walter Reed Army Medical Center Public Affairs Office at 202-782-7177 or send an email request to lyn.kukral@us.army.mil.

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First Soldiers receive Combat Action Badge

First Soldiers receive Combat Action Badge
By Cheryl Boujnida

WASHINGTON (Army News Service, June 29, 2005) – At a Pentagon ceremony today, Army Chief of Staff Gen. Peter J. Schoomaker awarded the Army’s new Combat Action Badge for the first time to five Soldiers who engaged in combat with the enemy.

The CAB, approved by Schoomaker in May, was created by the Army's leadership to recognize all Soldiers in combat. Soldiers engaged in the War on Terrorism since Sept. 18, 2001, are retroactively eligible to receive the award.

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Doonesbury Artist, Trudeau to donate to Fisher House

‘Doonesbury’ comes to aid of Fisher House
Trudeau donating profits from new book to military charity

by Steve Mraz, Stars and Stripes
European edition, Thursday, June 30, 2005

Courtesy of G.B. Trudeau
A sample page from from Garry Trudeau’s latest compilation book of his “Doonesbury” comic strips follows the injury and recovery of B.D., a popular cartoon character in his series who was wounded in Iraq.


Steve Mraz / S&S
Sgt. Travis Stoddard, seen when he received his Purple Heart, said he liked what he read of “The Long Road Home” during his recovery at Landstuhl. “That book is all right,” said the 25-year-old from Greenville, S.C.


Love him or hate him, Garry Trudeau, the man responsible for the “Doonesbury” comic strip, is doing his part to help wounded troops and their families.

Trudeau is donating all his proceeds from the sale of his newly released book “The Long Road Home: One Step at a Time” to the Fisher House Foundation. Also, Andrews McMeel Publishing, the book’s publisher, is contributing 10 percent of its take from the book to Fisher House.

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Willing to Share your Story?

From time to time, reporters contact me asking for information on amputees who are willing to be interviewed. If you are interested in sharing your story, please contact me. Email amputeeblog[at]yahoo[dot]com

The Legacy Project -- A project to save war letters

WarLetters Mission
If you would like to contact the Legacy Project, please write to us at:

PO Box 53250
Washington, D.C. 20009
or e-mail: WarLetters2004@yahoo.com


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THE LEGACY PROJECT
Launched on November 11, 1998, the Legacy Project is a national, all-volunteer effort that encourages Americans to honor and remember those who have served—or are currently serving—this nation in wartime by seeking out and preserving their letters and e-mails home. We believe personal correspondences offer unique insight into warfare and the thoughts and perspectives of those who have experienced it firsthand.

These letters and e-mails are also powerful reminders that the members of the armed forces are not just soldiers, sailors, airmen, Marines, and Coast Guardsmen; they are husbands and wives, brothers and sisters, sons and daughters, fathers and mothers, and their letters and e-mails capture their distinct voices and personalities. Every one of these individuals has a story to tell, and our mission is to preserve their stories—as expressed in their own words—for posterity.

The Legacy Project is looking for correspondences from all of America's wars and on any subject matter. We prefer previously-unpublished material, but letters and/or e-mails that have already appeared in local newspapers, self-published books, and/or family web sites are all acceptable.

Volunteers Wanted for Wounded Soldier project

I am beginning work on a project involving wounded veterans of the Iraq war who are under the age of 27. I am looking for at least thirty volunteers for this project who are willing to tell there story and be photographed in a studio setting as well as at their homes.

This is a non-profit, privately funded endeavor to honor our young warriors who have sacrificed their bodies by documenting the cost of war and the birth of a new generation of wounded and disabled veterans. Possibilities for the finished product include a traveling exhibition in galleries across the country and the publishing of a book. Any revenue generated from this project would be directed to programs designed to support the families of soldiers wounded or killed in action.

Anyone interested in participating please contact Brandon Powers at bbpowers@alltel.net and suggestions and comments on the topic are welcome.

Help the Wounded

Wounded Warrior Project
Soldier Ride 2005 Launches in May
Join Chris Carney, Heath Calhoun and Ryan Kelly as they, and fellow wounded warriors, bike 4200 miles to relay Soldier Ride's message of hope, courage and determination across America. The ride begins on May 21, 2005 at Mother's Beach in marina Del Ray, Ca. Click here to get more information, mark the riders' progress, and support the ride."

Shattered survivors from Iraq (Photos Included)

Shattered survivors from Iraq
By Jonathan Bor
Sun Staff
Originally published June 12, 2005
WASHINGTON - In his last memory of Iraq, he was riding in a Humvee on the main highway south of Baghdad. Ten days later, Army Sgt. Joey Bozik opened his eyes in a hospital to find that his right arm was missing. And both his legs. His remaining limb - his left arm - was braced in a plaster cast. He couldn't move his swollen fingers.

"I was glad to be alive," said Bozik, 26, who learned after regaining consciousness at the Walter Reed Army Medical Center that his vehicle had detonated a land mine. "I was in a lot of pain but decided to deal with the problem I had then. I was an amputee."

...snip
Six percent of injuries suffered by U.S. troops have involved amputations - twice the rate of recent wars, according to data included in the 2005 defense appropriations bill.

Through April, Army hospitals treated 240 amputees, 15 percent of whom lost two or more limbs, according to the Army. Data compiled by the Marines are incomplete, but the corps has suffered half as many casualties overall as the Army.

Also, a larger share of troops coming home from Iraq have suffered brain injuries, military doctors say.
...snip

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Bike Riders Raise Money for Injured Troops

Bike Riders Raise Money for Injured Troops
By Steven Donald Smith - Four thousand miles is a long distance to travel, especially if the mode of transportation is a bicycle.


Washington, D.C. - American Forces Press Service - infoZine - The riders of Soldier Ride 2005 intend to trek 4,200 miles from Marina Del Ray, Calif., to Montauk, N.Y., on the eastern tip of Long Island to raise money for injured servicemembers.

The riders began their journey May 21 and are scheduled to conclude July 19.

Chris Carney, a bartender at Stephen Talkhouse music club in East Hampton, N.Y., founded the nonprofit Soldier Ride after he visited Walter Reed Army Medical Center here with his friend and boss Peter Honerkamp. Carney was so moved by what he saw at Walter Reed that he came up with the idea for a cross-country bicycle ride to raise funds for the Wounded Warrior Project, he said.

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Peer Visitor Support of Recent U.S. Military Amputees

Peer Visitor Support of Recent U.S. Military Amputees
by Jeff Gambel, Jim Mayer, Andrew Lourake and Fred Downs
Volume 14 · Issue 6 · November/December 2004

More than 160 U.S. military service members have suffered amputation of at least one major limb during Operation Enduring Freedom (Afghanistan) and Operation Iraqi Freedom following the attacks on New York City and the Pentagon on September 11, 2001. The majority of their traumatic injuries have occurred due to blasts, such as from improvised explosive devices, landmines, and rocket-propelled grenades, and due to small weapons fire.

The care of these service members, representing each of the military services, has included immediate life-saving care and rapid medical evacuation in the theater of war for further medical stabilization and treatment. The average time for further medical evacuation from the theater of war to Germany and then to the United States is approximately one week.

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B.D.'s war injury shows serious side of 'Doonesbury'

B.D.'s war injury shows serious side of 'Doonesbury'

WASHINGTON -- Because of the "Doonesbury" comic strip, millions of Americans have a face for the thousands of injured soldiers back from Iraq struggling to reassemble their lives.

He's B.D., the long-running cartoon character who went to Iraq as a National Guardsman and lost a leg when a rocket-propelled grenade struck his Humvee.

...snip

"Injuring B.D. was a way of keeping the focus on the travails of a wounded warrior over a sustained period of time, something conventional journalism has difficulty doing," Trudeau said in an e-mail. "No matter where you stand on this war, averting your eyes from its terrible cost is unconscionable."

...snip

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