A few years ago at our Road To
Recovery Conference and Tribute in Orlando, my friend and former colleague Hank
Cox was present doing interviews with some of you for what became our book, Profiles in Character. He needed to
interview several of you and we figured that was an opportunity to catch
several of you in one place. Hank did some interviews over the phone but he
preferred person-to-person contact, as do I.
A week or two later Hank and I were
discussing progress on the book when he said, out of the blue, that he thought
some of our most memorable heroes were the wives of wounded warriors. He had
spent some time talking to the wives. They told about juggling jobs and
homemaking, taking care of the kids, and paying the bills while their husbands
were still coping with their mental and physical injuries. Hank was impressed,
indeed I might say humbled, at the dedication of these women who stood by their
men no matter what. We all see the bravery and dedication of women coping with
husbands who have lost legs and arms, sight or hearing, or bear severe burn
scars, but the sacrifices of dealing with post-traumatic stress disorder – it
seemed to him – were perhaps an even greater hurdle.
Of course, I had been working with
the wives – and a few husbands – of wounded warriors for years and knew well
the hard road they traveled. But Hank’s account put me to thinking that we were
overlooking a major issue that demanded attention. As you know, we have
addressed that issue foursquare with our Veteran’s Caregivers Alliance which
has brought in any number of other groups to support our new outreach program. The
Alliance is focused on spouses, family, and friends who give of their time and
resources to help wounded warriors. The support we provide varies greatly from
family to family based on need and our resources.
I can say with some pride that this
new program has touched the hearts of many of those who contribute to our work,
and even a few who were unaware of us before. At a time when the news rarely
reports injuries to our military personnel in harm’s way, this outreach on
behalf of caregivers fills a void in our appeals for support. In a short period
of time, it has become a key component of our program.
Unfortunately, it has not touched
the hearts of certain employees of the Veterans Administration who are
proceeding with plans to curtail VA’s support of caregiver programs such as
ours. We continue to press for a more enlightened approach, but thus far
without success.
And I don’t mind saying that this program brings overdue attention to some of our country’s bravest heroes – caregivers.
