Jan. 30, 2007 - 19:55 MST

THOSE WHO CARE

There is an article in The Rocky Mountain News this morning that puts a glow in my heart. It is by Michelle Roberts of The Associated Press and quoted in full here:

HELP FOR WOUNDED GIs 'AS LONG AS YOU NEED US'

SAN ANTONIO -- "Of the roughly 20,000 soldiers injured since the start of the Iraq war, more than 500 have lost a limb -- many of them in roadside bombings."

"On Monday, a $50 million high-tech rehabilitation center opened, designed to serve the growing number of soldiers who return from war as amputees or with severe burns."

"The 60,000-square-foot Center for the Intrepid will allow the Army to move its rehabilitation program out of the Brooke Army Medical center and into a separate facility."

"The Center for the Intrepid is going to let us keep advancing what we've been doing," said Maj. Stewart Camppbell, the officer-in-charge of rehabilitation at Brooke."

"The facility tells soldiers "we're going to take care of you for as long as you need us, to get you back to where you want to be," he said.

"Sens. Hilary Rodham Clinton and John McCain, both presidential hopefuls, joined military leaders and others Monday at a dedication ceremony for the center."

"During the event at Fort Sam Houston, Clinton and McCain thanked the wounded for their service. About 3,200 people were in attendance, including singer John Mellencamp and celebrities Rosie O'Donnell and Michelle Pfeiffer."

"Brooke's amputee program started two years ago and has about 50 patients, but the new center will allow it to expand and offer more advanced rehabilitation, Campbell said."

"Before the Iraq war, amputees generally were given acute care by the military and then turned over to the Department of Veterans Affairs, said retired Col. Rebecca Hooper, program manager for the center for the Intrepid. Since 2003, the military has kept those patients and made rehabilitation part of its mission."

"Amputee rehab programs are being run at Brooke, Walter Reed Medical Center and Bethesda Naval Medical Center."

" Because the Center for the Intrepid offers high-tech equipment and better facilities for the severly injured soldiers, Hooper expects it to become a magnet for advanced amputee rehabilitation."

The center was funded by private donations to the Intrepid Foundation, a charity that has built dozens of houses to shelter families of wounded soldiers while they undergo treatment."

"Staff Sgt. Jon Arnold-Garcia, who lost part of a leg in a grenade attack, got his first look at the rehab center on Sunday."

"This place is amazing, that the American people donated the money for this," said the 28-year-old from Sacramento, California."

"Arnold Garcia has been in rehabilitation at Brooke since May, but he said he was anxious to get to work at the center for the Intrepid, a four-story glass building."

"It doesn't look like a hospital," he said. "It's a place I can see myself getting up and being motivated instead of walking hospital hallways with doctors."

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I remember making deliveries to a VA hospital in our town. Employees overworked, facility understaffed and infrastructure going downhill. Made me sad that our veterans were more or less being warehoused in grody surroundings instead of being given some real incentive to have a life, in spite of their infirmities.

In a box in the article are the following:

"TRAINING AMENITIES

THE CENTER FOR THE INTREPID INCLUDES :

##ROCK CLIMBING WALL to develop upper arm strength

##WAVE POOL where soldiers can use wake boards to strengthen their backs and abdominal muscles

##A 360-degree virtual realilty sphere to help soldiers recover their balance and other basic skills

##QUARTERS FOR CARE GIVERS"

It would appear that every effort is being made to provide the care needed to truly rehabilitate our troops who have been sorely wounded in service to our country.

It is a wonderful thing to see that our veterans have behind them some of THOSE WHO CARE . . . . . . . . . . . .

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