In my travels in support of the Hiring Our Heroes program, I’ve had the privilege of meeting with many veterans of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Some continue to serve in uniform; others have successfully transitioned back to civilian life, while others are still struggling to complete that move. Some of latter have a larger leap to make than others. I’ve met some of them – recovering warriors who have lost limbs, suffered spinal cord wounds and/or traumatic brain injuries.
While we mourn the high price they have paid to keep us free, we rejoice in the miracle of their survival. In fact, their survival is one of the bright spots in the carnage of these recent wars. Many more members of America’s military are surviving wounds today than ever before. In World War II, 1.7 U.S. soldiers, sailors, airmen and Marines were wounded for everyone who died. In Vietnam, the ratio was 2.6 to one. By comparison, 7.5 of America’s warriors in Iraq and Afghanistan have survived being wounded for every one who has died. That’s a four-fold improvement over World War II and nearly a three-fold gain over Vietnam. Thanks to advances in medical science, battlefield care and protective equipment, many of our fighting men and women are now recovering from injuries that used to be fatal.
While this is certainly a welcome development, it also means that many of these veterans are now facing huge new physical, mental and emotional challenges, and so are their families and caregivers. Given the sacrifices these veterans and their families have made for us, we cannot allow them to confront these challenges alone. Fortunately, efforts are being made to help our recovering warriors deal with their dramatically altered circumstances.
During a visit to recovering warrior facilities in Tampa, FL, I had a chance to see some of these efforts firsthand. One Army Green Beret I met really stood out. During the final week of his third combat tour in Afghanistan with the 7th Special Forces Group in 2008, Chief Warrant Officer 3 Romulo “Romy” Camargo volunteered to lead a medical team into an Afghan village on a humanitarian mission. The team was ambushed returning from the village and Romy was shot in the neck, the bullet shattering his C3 vertebrae and leaving him paralyzed from the neck down. I got a lump in my throat as he confidently told me, “The doctors said I would never breathe on my own again, but I do now. They said I would never walk again, but I will.”
Given the innovations in medical science, the advances in therapy and the determination displayed by both Romy and his wife, Gaby, he just might be right.
Three days after he was wounded, Romy arrived at Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington, D.C. It was Gaby’s birthday and despite Romy’s condition she said, “I believe it was the ultimate gift God could have given me; my husband was alive.” Romy, too, was grateful to be alive, even if the road ahead looked awfully steep. “The Lord, Jesus Christ, gave me another chance to live, to be with my wife and my children,” he said.
After 18 months of intensive inpatient care with Gaby at his side, Romy was able to leave the hospital. But he and Gaby refused to meekly accept the limits of quadriplegia. Romy petitioned the Army’s Surgeon General for permission to try an experimental procedure in Portugal, and in May 2011 he became the first active duty service member to have olfactory nerve cells from the base of his nose cavity transplanted into his spinal cord. As a result of the surgery, Romy has regained some feeling below the neck.
Outpatient care for Romy involved a drive twice a week from their home in Tampa, Fla., to a therapy facility in Orlando, two hours away. At Gaby’s suggestion, they decided to create a nonprofit facility in Tampa to provide a holistic approach to therapy for quadriplegics and paraplegics, both veterans and civilians, and their families. Without two-to-three hours of intensive exercise three-to-five days a week, the bodies of people with spinal cord injuries develop atrophy, adding to the challenges they already face. Thanks to the surgery and physical therapy, Romy has had almost no respiratory or lower urinary tract infections in recent years, which is remarkable given his situation.
Seeking to provide state-of-the-art equipment, trained therapists and counseling in a family-oriented facility, Romy and Gaby launched a 501(c)(3) foundation to build and operate the StayInStep Spinal Cord Injury Recovery Center. To date, they have raised about $400,000, which is enough to open the center and buy some equipment. Their goal is to raise a total of $750,000 to cover other necessary equipment and initial operating expenses. They have acquired a 5,000-square-foot facility and are in the process of renovating it. The grand opening is set for June 20. There are already 10 clients waiting for the center to open.
While the facility is located in Tampa, it is intended to be a national center. There are about 250,000 Americans with spinal cord injuries and approximately 11,000 injuries annually. The goal is to enable recovering veterans, civilians and their families to get back in the game.
Romy and Gaby are on a mission, arguably more difficult than any he faced in combat, but they are determined to prevail. As Gaby said, “I knew God wanted us to do more with [his life], which is why he spared Romy’s life.”
There are many ways to support our veterans, especially those recovering warriors and their families. You can donate money, time and expertise; and there are countless ways to motivate others to get involved. It’s the least we can do for those who’ve done so much for all of us. For information about Romy’s facility, go to www.stayinstep.org.
The Hiring Our Heroes program that I mentioned earlier is one example of people getting involved. It seeks to help combat unemployment and under-employment among transitioning military, veterans and their spouses. It does this through job fairs, a website that helps veterans create résumés that translate their military skills in ways that resonate with civilian employers, and searchable job offers posted on the site.
In March, Hiring Our Heroes held a job fair at Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton expressly for wounded warriors and their caregivers. Prospective employers were on hand to interview participants whose résumés they had reviewed and arranged to meet. Toyota recruiters conducted 10 interviews and four follow-up interviews. Three of those interviewed opted out because they had not yet been released from the military, while one caregiver was hired as a management trainee. I’m proud Toyota is getting involved.
Meanwhile, my daughter-in-law, Kim Downey Esmond, provided me with another example of people getting involved. In addition to working and raising delightful twin four-year-old girls with my son, Chris, she founded a nonprofit, The Infinite Smile Project, which works with children and parents to incorporate acts of service, compassion and kindness into their everyday lives.
Kim Downey Esmond, Sgt. Major Michael Mack of the Wounded Warrior Regiment; Don Esmond and Navy... [+]
In March, about 400 injured active-duty and veterans of the armed forces came to Camp Pendleton to compete in the annual military paralympics known as the Warrior Games. Kim’s group of volunteers came to set up concession booths for the athletes at the swimming and diving competition, and cheer them on.
As Kim recounted later, “One would think that it would be a tragic thing to watch so many young men take off their prosthetic legs and hop across the pool area towards their platform. I would certainly say it was far less tragic than it was inspiring.”
You, too, can be inspired. All it takes is a little effort, and the reward is huge. Ooh-rah!
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