BRAVE YOUNG WARRIORS

Virginian Pilot
Injured Navy corpsman receives Purple Heart
By Kate Wiltrout
The Virginian-Pilot
© August 4, 2010

PORTSMOUTH

Angelo Anderson likes taking care of patients - mothers and babies at Camp Lejeune, clients at the infectious disease clinic at Portsmouth Naval Medical Center, and more than anything, Marine infantry troops on duty in Afghanistan.

Last year, while stationed in Portsmouth, the Navy corpsman volunteered for a combat assignment. His first few weeks in Afghanistan were spent working at a battalion aid station, helping care for injured troops flown in on helicopters. But he yearned to do more - to go out on patrol with a small group of warriors, away from the security of a base.

He got his wish. Assigned to a rifle company of the 3rd Battalion, 6th Marines, the Atlanta native began going on missions in and around Marjah, a city in southern Afghanistan where U.S. forces are trying to assert control.

"When you're out with a foot patrol, it's just you and your medical bag," Anderson explained. He'd spend each patrol rehearsing medical scenarios in his head: What would he do if a buddy was shot right here, or a bomb exploded on Marines a few meters away?

He learned to almost disregard the sound of insurgents firing AK-47 rifles. The bigger fear was homemade bombs buried in the streets or fields they were walking.

"The sad thing is when you get to the point where you're really not worried about getting shot. You're worried about stepping on something that will end your life instantly," Anderson said matter-of-factly.

On July 2, the Marines of Lima Company were trying to make friends in a few Afghan villages. A fire team of about eight men walked ahead of Anderson; another team followed behind.

He had just jumped across an irrigation canal and started down a footpath toward some mud huts when he heard a three-round burst from an AK-47. One of the bullets tore through his right arm. A second barrage halted him as he ran for cover. This time, a bullet entered his thigh, shattering his right femur.

Suddenly, the 21-year-old was taking care of a new patient - himself.

He remembers thinking, what can I do to sustain myself until my Marines can get to me?
They dragged him to the side of the road, rolled him over to reach his medical bag and asked him for instructions.

"Doc, we need you now," one said. "You have to talk us through this."
They applied tourniquets and gauze to his wounds. Then, he talked them through taking his pulse - a vital sign the medical team coming by helicopter would need to know.

During the 15 or 20 minutes it took for a helicopter to arrive, Anderson took stock: of his situation and his life.

"I trusted in what I had told my Marines, that they would do all they could for me. And that even if what they did didn't help, if it was my time, it was my time."
He prayed, he said, harder than he had ever prayed in his life.

Then began a series of evacuation flights: first to Camp Dwyer in Afghanistan, then on to a U.S. military hospital in Landstuhl, Germany, and Andrews Air Force Base in Maryland. The final hop brought him back to a familiar place: Portsmouth, where he had spent more than year before deploying and where many of his closest friends worked.
Since then, he has occupied a room on 4G, the orthopedics ward. His room is decorated with posters and cards made by his fellow corpsmen, some he has known since entering boot camp in 2007.

They're adorned with pictures of a group of smiling twenty-somethings at the 2009 Corpsmen Ball.

"I call them my love circle," Anderson said. "If you can feel the love in here, that's them."
Tuesday afternoon, almost a dozen of them packed into his room to watch Anderson receive a Purple Heart from a three-star Marine general, Lt. Gen. Richard Natonski.
Natonski, head of the Norfolk-based Marine Corps Forces Command, commented on the crowd when he entered the room with his own retinue of uniformed supporters.
In addition to the Purple Heart, Natonski gave Anderson perhaps the highest praise a Marine can offer.

"It may say U.S. Navy on your ID card, but I will tell you, you are a Marine," Natonski said, as the hint of a smile passed over Anderson's face.

After a round of handshakes, the official party departed. A cluster of corpsmen and spouses lingered, taking pictures and examining the medal.

Anderson now has a titanium rod in his leg and a plate in his arm. He can't yet walk on his own, but he hopes to be playing basketball in a few months.

After that, his future is uncertain. He wants to stay in the Navy, maybe do another stint after his enlistment is up in 2012.

Eventually, he'd like to go to medical school.
He thinks he knows what field he'd specialize in: emergency medicine.

VETERANS DAY RACE

1st ANNUAL VETERANS DAY RACE

Wounded Warrior 5K Run

Sunday, November 7, 2010

9:30 a.m.

to benefit:

Syracuse VA Medical Center

IraQ and Afghanistan Veterans Fund

AWARDS

Presented to the overall top male and female runners, and the top finishers in the following age groups:

14 and under

15 to 19

20 to 24

25 to 29

30 to 34

35 to 39

40 to 44

45 to 49

50 to 54

55 to 59

60 to 64

65 to 69

70 to 74

75 to 79

80 to 84

85 and over

Awards will be presented at WAVES on 202 Bennet Road right across from the start/finish line.

REFRESHMENTS

Following the race, bagels, apples, oranges, and hot chocolate will be among some of the refreshments available for all runners/walkers.

FabNine Incorporated

PO Box 856

Syracuse, NY 13209

phone 315-882-5893

E-mail: tom@fabnine.com

www.fabnine.com/Run.html

ENTRIES

$15.00 registration fee for entries received prior to the race and $20.00 registration fee for race day entries.

Wounded Warrior T-Shirts to ALL race participants.

Prizes and Gift Certificates will be pesented after Awards.

Please make checks payable to: FabNine Incorporated.

Send entry form and payment to:

FabNine Incorporated

PO Box 856

Syracuse, NY 13209

TIMES

Packet Pickup:   

     Saturday November 6, 2010 from 11:30 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. at WAVES

on 202 Bennet Road, Camillus, NY 13031.

Race Day Registration and Packet Pickup:

Sunday November 7, 2010 from 7:00 a.m. to 9:00 a.m. at WAVES

on 202 Bennet Road, Camillus, NY 13031.

Start Time:

      5K Race......Starts @ 9:30 a.m. 

 

 

 

VAVS

Cuppa Joe? Volunteer Serving Coffee

— and Veterans — Since 1950

Lenora Munyon serves coffee and a smile to Veteran Bill Braidwood. 

She has been in the Salvation Army for more than 80 years.

When the Overton Brooks VA Medical Center opened in 1950, Lenora Munyon was quick to volunteer. So quick, in fact, she was the medical center's first volunteer. The amazing part? At 96, Munyon is still volunteering at the Shreveport, LA, facility today.

"It's the blessing of helping others," Munyon explains.

In 1950, Munyon, a social worker for the Salvation Army, was anxious to get the new hospital "up and going to help out the Veterans. Our hearts were always with the Veterans," she said.
When administrators at Overton Brooks VA Medical Center sent out a call for volunteers, they tapped the Salvation Army, one of the biggest community service agencies in the area.
Munyon rounded up a handful of Salvation Army volunteers and under the title of "Ladies Home League," the group of women zestfully began their assigned duty: serving coffee to Veterans and visitors.

Munyon still clearly remembers those days. She talks about the kitchen on the second floor and the huge, gleaming coffee urn on the counter. Once a week, the ladies brewed gallons of coffee and set off on a tour of the wards to visit with patients while handing out the steaming cups to grateful Vets and visitors alike.

"We called it 'charity work' back then," Munyon said. "One of the aims of the Salvation Army is to think of people other than ourselves, and that's just what we did."

Though Munyon is 96, she is still actively involved in the Voluntary Service office at Shreveport. She is the Salvation Army's Deputy Representative to the hospital, making sure there is a weekly team of volunteers to continue the coffee legacy every Thursday and arranging transportation for them to get to the hospital.

Munyon still travels to the Overton Brooks VA Medical Center to attend the quarterly VA Voluntary Service (VAVS) meeting, a gathering of the organizations supporting the programs and Voluntary Service goals for the hospital. She has been a key member of the VAVS committee since 1950.

"All the Vets love Ms. Munyon," says Esther Comb, Voluntary Service Specialist. "She just has a spirit of giving. She's said over and over that Veterans have a special place in her heart."
Munyon, a member of the Salvation Army for more than 80 years, was awarded a Lifetime Achievement Award by the medical center in 2000. In 2002, she was selected by the Salvation Army as the National Salvation Army VAVS Representative Volunteer of the Year.

The VAVS certificate of appreciation awarded to Munyon in 1955 for 100 hours of volunteer service now seems almost quaint after sixty years of service.

By now, she is used to recognition. As the hospital's first volunteer, how often is Munyon mentioned in its annual awards ceremony?

"Every year," she says wryly.

And, it seems, many more to come.