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Post honored for Wounded Warrior€™ outreach program
(by Kathryn A. Burger - February 06, 2008)
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PHOTO COURTESY OF
WOODCLIFF
LAKE
VFW POST #8946
Eleven members of Woodcliff Lake Veterans of Foreign Wars Post #8946 recently visited the Pentagon as the guests of Lt. General Raymond Johns, deputy chief of staff of the United States Air Force. Pictured at the Pentagon with Lt. Col. Susan Pietrykowski, are from left, Post #8946 Jr. Vice Commander Gerard DeCicco; Officer of the Day Faust Faustini; member Sergei Leoniuk; Quartermaster William Huston; Service Officer Joseph Poggi; member Raymond Johns; Chaplain James Horris; members Edward Powers and Peter Mauro; Commander Edward Halvey; and member Frederick Singer.
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The invitation to the Pentagon came as a surprise to members of VFW Post 8946. They were to be honored for their highly successful, “Wounded Warrior” program.
In 2007, a group of post members made four, one-day visits to service personnel recovering from injuries sustained in and . They went to
Walter
Reed
Army
Medical
Center in Washington, D.C., three times and once to
Bethesda
Naval
Medical
Center .
On each trip, they brought a variety of items to distribute to the patients. In addition, they brought an understanding that only combat veterans can share. All the post members who made the trips served in World War II and/or the Korean War. Post Quartermaster William Huston, who made all four trips, said, “They became comfortable with us knowing we were there for them. One soldier remarked, ‘It’s like being in a room full of grandfathers.’ ”
The bedside visits also included the distribution of “wish list” items the patients had asked for that were not provided by the medical centers. At the top of the men’s list were electric shavers. Many are on blood thinners and cannot shave with a razor. The post raised funds to finance the purchase of the shavers as well as other items and have acknowledged the generous support of the public in making their “missions” so successful.
The invitation to the Pentagon came from Lt. General Raymond Johns, deputy chief of staff, United States Air Force. A luncheon in their honor was held in the Executive Dining Room at the Pentagon, after which Lt. Colonel Susan Pietrykowski and Tech Sgt. Christopher Smith conducted an extensive tour of the Pentagon. “It was like walking through a living museum of military history of the past to the present,” Huston said. “We must have walked five miles.”
During the tour, they were introduced to a number of dignitaries while visiting the Department of the Air Force, Department of the Army and the Department of the Navy. They also visited the Offices of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and the Department of Defense. “We visited the sanctuary where the Medal of Honor is presented and the recipients’ names are enshrined. We also stood at the place where on 9/11, 184 people perished. There is now a chapel where all their names are engraved in marble,” Huston said.
Huston described one of the many highlights of their time at the Pentagon. “One surprise encounter of the day was meeting again some of the wounded servicemen and women, their family members, and staff we first met at
Walter
Reed
Army
Medical
Center . They had been brought to the Pentagon for a tour and it was great to be remembered by them.”
On their “Wounded Warrior” trips, post members had driven themselves. But they had another surprise. Huston said, “Robert Schroeder, CEO of API Industries [and a
Township of
Washington resident and councilman] made this trip to the Pentagon possible for us. When he learned of our invitation, he thought it was important that we go. He provided a bus to take us there and back. We thank him for caring and his generosity.”
As they have in the past, the post expressed its gratitude to the community for its support of the, “Wounded Warrior” program, which the post plans to continue. “We feel it has contributed to the well-being of our wounded servicemen and women. They are remarkable to say the least.”
And, so, too, are the members of VFW Post 8946 who served their country in combat and now provide friendship and support to today’s combat veterans.
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