An army of volunteers helps build home for disabled soldier's family
By JIM McCONVILLE • STAFF WRITER • December 14, 2009
UNION BEACH — Soon, Army Staff Sgt. Michael Minard finally will have his own bed to sleep in.
Minard, his wife, Lynda, and their two children will take ownership of their new house next week. The one-story, 2,400-square-foot ranch was built by Homes For Our Troops, with the help of countless volunteers around the state.
The four-bedroom house, now in the final touch-up stage for its grand opening, is a roughly four-month labor of love that began Aug. 18.
For Minard, it's been a long and painful two-year journey since he was injured in Iraq.
Minard was on his third tour in Iraq in October 2007 when his legs were severely injured by an improvised explosive device detonated in the Sadr City section of Baghdad by the Stryker armored vehicle he was riding in.
Minard eventually was transported to Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington, D.C. He awoke in the hospital to find that his legs had been amputated above the knee as a result of the explosion.
Now nearly two years later, Minard finds himself perpetually stunned by the kindness of volunteers, many of them strangers, who have donated their time or money to help build his house, which is completely handicapped accessible, inside and out.
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An army of volunteers helps build home for disabled soldier
Wednesday, December 16, 2009
An army of volunteers helps build home for disabled soldier's family
Now this kind of thing is what really shows them they are supported more than anything else a community can do!
Fort Bragg Special Forces soldiers to receive Silver Stars
Special Forces soldiers to receive Silver Stars
The Associated Press
Posted : Wednesday Dec 16, 2009 13:26:22 EST
FORT BRAGG, N.C. — Two Special Forces soldiers based in North Carolina will be awarded for repeatedly risking their lives to help their unit mates during battles in Afghanistan.
Master Sgt. Anthony Siriwardene and Staff Sgt. Lindsey W. Clarke will be awarded the Silver Star on Wednesday.
Clarke exposed himself to enemy fire to save his teammates during an ambush in 2009. Siriwardene flanked enemy machine guns repeatedly during a 56-hour gunfight in 2005.
Special Forces soldiers to receive Silver Stars
The Associated Press
Posted : Wednesday Dec 16, 2009 13:26:22 EST
FORT BRAGG, N.C. — Two Special Forces soldiers based in North Carolina will be awarded for repeatedly risking their lives to help their unit mates during battles in Afghanistan.
Master Sgt. Anthony Siriwardene and Staff Sgt. Lindsey W. Clarke will be awarded the Silver Star on Wednesday.
Clarke exposed himself to enemy fire to save his teammates during an ambush in 2009. Siriwardene flanked enemy machine guns repeatedly during a 56-hour gunfight in 2005.
Special Forces soldiers to receive Silver Stars
Grinch Steals Gifts From War Veteran
Grinch Steals Gifts From War Veteran
Army Sgt. David Frappier Just Back From Afghanistan When Burglar Takes Everything
Elizabeth Erwin
Reporter, KPHO.com
PHOENIX -- An Army veteran just back from overseas fell victim to a crime that left him scratching his head and his family scrambling for Christmas presents.
Sgt. 1st Class David Frappier was on leave from his third deployment to Afghanistan. The Army man decided to surprise his kids at a church function at the Thomas Road Baptist Church in Phoenix. He parked the family van under a well-lit carport, knowing what was inside was valuable.
read more here
http://www.kpho.com/news/21966660/detail.html
Army Sgt. David Frappier Just Back From Afghanistan When Burglar Takes Everything
Elizabeth Erwin
Reporter, KPHO.com
PHOENIX -- An Army veteran just back from overseas fell victim to a crime that left him scratching his head and his family scrambling for Christmas presents.
Sgt. 1st Class David Frappier was on leave from his third deployment to Afghanistan. The Army man decided to surprise his kids at a church function at the Thomas Road Baptist Church in Phoenix. He parked the family van under a well-lit carport, knowing what was inside was valuable.
read more here
http://www.kpho.com/news/21966660/detail.html
Jacksonville Home Donated to Disabled Veteran's Family
Jacksonville Home Donated to Disabled Veteran's Family
Roger Weeder Ann Butler
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. -- A local family found out what it means to live in a city that prides itself on being military-friendly.
The Shield Foundation Home for Veterans program selected Jacksonville and a Jacksonville family to receive a home.
Louis and Loyda Hamilton and their five children got the keys to their home on Myrtle Avenue during a presentation at City Hall.
The Shield Foundation is associated with Pinnacle Property Solutions, which specializes in the sale of foreclosed property. The home being donated is in foreclosure and was renovated for the Hamilton family.
read more here
Jacksonville Home Donated to Disabled Veteran
Roger Weeder Ann Butler
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. -- A local family found out what it means to live in a city that prides itself on being military-friendly.
The Shield Foundation Home for Veterans program selected Jacksonville and a Jacksonville family to receive a home.
Louis and Loyda Hamilton and their five children got the keys to their home on Myrtle Avenue during a presentation at City Hall.
The Shield Foundation is associated with Pinnacle Property Solutions, which specializes in the sale of foreclosed property. The home being donated is in foreclosure and was renovated for the Hamilton family.
read more here
Jacksonville Home Donated to Disabled Veteran
Heaven Knows They Need You
When someone in your family returns from war, what do you expect? Do you expect them to come home the same way they were when they left? Do you think to yourself, they are home and they are safe so there is no need to worry about them anymore?
Too many times what happens is they come home, cover the scars they carry easily while they are treated to their favorite meals, welcome home parties and spending time with the people in their lives they care about the most. Young soldiers want to hang out with their buddies. Servicemen/women want to spend time with their kids and spouses. They want to get back into the "normal" world they always knew. The problem is, for some, that normal world is feeling as foreign as the world they just left.
Sometimes it just takes time to recover but other times, time is not their friend. You may notice days, weeks or months after their return, they are doing things, saying things totally out of character for them. You may notice they seem to zone out while you are talking to them, they drink more, talk less and suffer from nightmares. Somehow we manage to forget where they were and what their lives were like away from us. So we make excuses.
Parents, after knowing them all their lives, being there since their first step, will look at their veteran son/daughter, and wonder why they are acting the way they are. They will see the changes and get angry, feeling frustrated, Jack and Jill came back from the "hill" with buckets filled with woes. They want them back the way they were but as they wait, as they get into arguments, if they are dealing with a PTSD veteran, that kind of response only adds to the problem.
A spouse has the same issue going on. They want them back the way they were. They wish, hope, wait, wonder what magic words to use to get their husband or wife to return to the way they were before. Time is now the enemy. Frustration builds. If the issue is PTSD, it is also time lost when they could be healing, waiting allows PTSD to gain more control over them.
If they come home with drastic changes in their personality, you will be the first to notice, but if you don't understand what PTSD is, you don't know what you're looking at.
You need to understand what they dealing with. The sooner they get help, the better. If you love them, if you don't want them to leave then help them heal. With any other illness, you'd make sure they go to the doctors for help. This is not just an illness, it is a wound. It is a wound to their soul and can claim every part of them. Fight for them. If you watch the following video and suspect they have PTSD, then get them to go for help. If you are wrong, you have one less thing to worry about but if you are right, you may have just saved their life. Understand that changes after trauma are something to worry about. Be their advocate as you have been with everything else in their life.
PTSD is a wound. They may wish to be the way they were before. You may wish they were the way they were before. All of what they were is still there behind a wall of pain searching for a way to come out from behind it. Help break that wall down so they can get out. Stop wanting and start doing. Learn what PTSD. Heaven knows they need you now!
Too many times what happens is they come home, cover the scars they carry easily while they are treated to their favorite meals, welcome home parties and spending time with the people in their lives they care about the most. Young soldiers want to hang out with their buddies. Servicemen/women want to spend time with their kids and spouses. They want to get back into the "normal" world they always knew. The problem is, for some, that normal world is feeling as foreign as the world they just left.
Sometimes it just takes time to recover but other times, time is not their friend. You may notice days, weeks or months after their return, they are doing things, saying things totally out of character for them. You may notice they seem to zone out while you are talking to them, they drink more, talk less and suffer from nightmares. Somehow we manage to forget where they were and what their lives were like away from us. So we make excuses.
Parents, after knowing them all their lives, being there since their first step, will look at their veteran son/daughter, and wonder why they are acting the way they are. They will see the changes and get angry, feeling frustrated, Jack and Jill came back from the "hill" with buckets filled with woes. They want them back the way they were but as they wait, as they get into arguments, if they are dealing with a PTSD veteran, that kind of response only adds to the problem.
A spouse has the same issue going on. They want them back the way they were. They wish, hope, wait, wonder what magic words to use to get their husband or wife to return to the way they were before. Time is now the enemy. Frustration builds. If the issue is PTSD, it is also time lost when they could be healing, waiting allows PTSD to gain more control over them.
If they come home with drastic changes in their personality, you will be the first to notice, but if you don't understand what PTSD is, you don't know what you're looking at.
Posted to Great Americans by NamGuardianAngel on December 14, 2009
You need to understand what they dealing with. The sooner they get help, the better. If you love them, if you don't want them to leave then help them heal. With any other illness, you'd make sure they go to the doctors for help. This is not just an illness, it is a wound. It is a wound to their soul and can claim every part of them. Fight for them. If you watch the following video and suspect they have PTSD, then get them to go for help. If you are wrong, you have one less thing to worry about but if you are right, you may have just saved their life. Understand that changes after trauma are something to worry about. Be their advocate as you have been with everything else in their life.
Posted to Great Americans by NamGuardianAngel on September 11, 2009
PTSD is a wound. They may wish to be the way they were before. You may wish they were the way they were before. All of what they were is still there behind a wall of pain searching for a way to come out from behind it. Help break that wall down so they can get out. Stop wanting and start doing. Learn what PTSD. Heaven knows they need you now!
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