A fitting tribute to Bob Hope for his enduring dedication to our troops!
It is truly amazing all of the men and women that served this country through the years and to see just how long Mr. Hope has been there for them. From before Pearl Harbor to Desert Storm. Even longer in our hearts and in our memories.
An absolute MUST SEE! Here is the 2011 West Virginia University marching band Armed Forces salute! As a parent whose daughter was in the band, I can’t imagine the amount of time that went into this monumentally patriotic display!
You are in the Al Anbar province conducting combat operations against enemy forces when an IED detonates and amputates your leg just below your right knee. You have also suffered severe shrapnel wounds, a compound fracture of your right arm, and you don’t even notice the complete hearing loss in your right ear. As you attempt to scramble for cover over to a nearby grapehouse, you discover that you are not making much progress doing your belly crawl. Only then do you discover that your right leg is a bloody mess. Your buddies grab you and get you to cover. Somebody applies a tourniquet. You ask where your weapon is so that you can return fire. Everything is going in slow motion. And then your vision fades to black, you are unconscious.
Fast forward six months. You have zero recollection of being stabilized in Afghanistan, several operations later somewhere in Germany called Landstuhl are a complete blur, and now you are back in the States clean, neat, squared away with three meals a day, a roof over your head being treated in one of the premier rehabilitation hospitals in the world.
Your family, your friends, and your country are soooooo proud of you. And let’s all be thankful you are alive!
But significant questions remain. How did I get here? How are my buddies? How did the attack go? Did anyone else get hurt…or worse? Where is my unit now? Are they OK without me? I was taken away. I’m guilty leaving my guys. I still have some unfinished business over there.
These and many more questions and thoughts haunt you every day.
Enter Rick Kell. Rick is a retired advertizing executive and was a volunteer at the Walter Reed Medical Center in D.C. He formed special relationships with many of the wounded warriors he dealt with. Almost all of the warriors had all the questions outlined above and Rick heard the same questions over and over again.
He knew that somehow all those questions needed to be answered. These wounded warriors needed to go back ‘in country’, get answers to all those questions, and then leave and “go back to the world” in control and under their own power, and not in a situation determined by the enemy.
Rick Kell promoted his idea to the Pentagon and it went nowhere. But some Army brass in Iraq got wind of the project and began to authorize Operation Proper Exit projects.
A typical trip allows these wounded warriors the opportunity to ‘go back’, to thank the medical staff that saved their life, to hopefully see that their injury was not in vain, and, if possible, to return to the site where they were wounded.
Many of you know that I specialize in critical incident management discussions and one of the key elements of any of those gathering is to systematically give people back some control over their lives that was often brutally taken away.
Operation Proper Exit does that and more.
There is no prouder moment for these wounded warriors than to pass through a cordon of military honor guards who are thanking them for their service as special honorees walk up the ramp of a C-130 going home on their own terms.
On 18 July 2011 Pfc. Josh Budd was on patrol in Afghanistan when an IED amputated his left leg, severely mutilated his right leg and left him with multiple shrapnel wounds. Once stabilized in Afghanistan, Josh was flown Germany for numerous operations before he was able to be flown to Washington, D.C. for additional operations and to begin the lengthy process of his rehabilitation.
28 July 2011, ten days after he was severely wounded, Josh Budd received the first supporting contribution made by Fathers Of The Brave. Josh was in the critical care unit at the Walter Reed Medical Center. Truth be told, Josh never knew. His was heavily sedated. But his parents, David and Barbara Budd, knew. And they were most appreciative that an organization they had never heard of, would reach out to them with some extra funding while they tried to settle in to a ‘new normal’ living in D.C.
On 13 October, the National Fallen Firefighters Foundation places a wreath on the plaza of The Tomb Of The Unknowns at Arlington National Cemetery. The wreath is placed every year in memory of all the men and women in the fire service that have died in the line of duty.
Based on his incredible rehabilitation to date and as former member of the Cheshire (CT) Fire Department, Josh was invited to attend the ceremony. Josh was placed front row center during the wreath placement ceremony and stood tall as fire service Honor Guards saluted the on-coming and off-going Tomb Guards as they rotated ‘their walk’.
Josh Budd is an incredible young man. His immediate desire is to “throw me in some BDUs, give me my weapon, and send me back over. I’ve got some unsettled business to care off.” Now whether that can happen remains to be seen, but Josh has every expectation of staying in the Army after passing his physical qualification fitrep.
His rehabilitation goal is to be standing on the tarmac in Alaska and saluting his unit when they return in May 2012. There is no doubt in my mind that goal will not only be met, but exceeded by an amazing young man, a patriot, and an American soldier.
