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24 May 2008, 7:55 am / Other
4th Annual Ride for the Brave 2008 Sunday July 13th, rain date July 20th American Legion Post 85, River St, Woonsocket RI Ride sign up @ 9:30AM, BBQ @ 12:00 NoonBBQ Donation $15 per person ($5 less than previous years!) Mini Chopper Raffle ticket donation $5 each Good ladies and gentlemen, once again I am moved to thank you for all your generous support for the last three years in regard to our efforts to honor and raise funds for military persons returning home from the war in Iraq. Each year we select one or two different local Purple Heart winners, and throw them a welcome home party like they could have never imagined. This tends to serve two purposes- it lets our honorees and their families know that the community thanks and respects them, and we sometimes also “accidentally” raise some money for them to help with the type of things that the Veteran’s Administration doesn’t cover when families face the huge challenge of having a loved one come home from the war effort needing extensive post deployment help. For example, do you think that coverage is provided for a mom and dad’s home to be made handicapped accessible, so their disabled sons or daughters can visit them more easily? If you say yes, think again… The young men we’ve honored in the past continue to stay in touch with us and thank us for all of your support. You have contributed by buying raffle tickets, by attending the event, and by passing out flyers for it. I’ve gotten newspaper articles about the event published and web site advertisements posted as a result of you pitching in to help. I continue to be happily amazed to be living in an area with such terrific people. Everyone who has attended has told me they would like to again- we really have a great time. Our honorees are great kids, with huge potential, and I like to think our involvement with them is helping them in more ways than just providing a party, a check, and a thank you. If you could be so kind, please let me provide a very brief description of our past honorees, and our special guest for this year. 2005 - Marine Corporal James Crosby, of Winthrop MA. James’ injuries will confine him to a wheelchair and colostomy bag for life. He is currently 24 years old. He, like our other honorees, was not confident in his future or of our communities understanding of his situation upon his return from the war. Since he was honored in 2005, he continues to stay in touch with us. He is attending college courses. He is now employed by the State of Massachusetts as the Outreach Coordinator for the Disabled Veteran’s Administration (DAV), leading the outreach effort made by individual DAV field case workers. 2006 - Marine Lance Corporal Zachary O’Grady, of Walpole MA. Zak lost use of his lower left leg and was badly burned in Iraq. Members of his family needed counseling to deal with the shock of it, a condition not covered by his father’s medical insurance or by the VA. Of note, his father is a foreman in the Massachusetts Construction Worker Laborer’s Union, a hard working man and a good citizen. Besides his physical injuries, Zak has severe Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), finding himself being one of only a few of his brother marines in his unit to survive the second Battle of Fallujah, which his Company was one of the first to lead the invasion of. Zak is still under treatment, but he and his family are in touch with us and thank us and you continually for giving him (and them) the belief that the community supports them. We are optimistic about his recovery but Zak has a lot to overcome. It will take considerable time to know the result of our (and more especially his) efforts, but we are there to support him and his family. 2007 – This last year we had two honorees, because of the large number of deployments from our area and the simple fact that we could not choose between candidates to honor. Army Private First Class (PFC) John Shurick of Millville MA. PFC Shurick has damage to his right foot which does and will cause him continual pain for the rest of his life, but this is the least of his worries. He has permanent brain damage, as a result of being too close to the blast area of no less than 14 different Improvised Explosive Devices (IED’s) he encountered during his deployment. John was one of the first of a great many Iraq war veterans to experience this phenomenon, similar to “shaken baby syndrome”. In fact, John’s condition was not recognized by the VA when it was originally experienced, and his condition was attributed to and treated as PTSD. Many households in his family spent all they had on private treatment to properly diagnose his condition and put him on the path to the best recovery possible- and it was only recently that his condition was officially recognized, due to the large amount of similar cases being presented to the VA. Marine Corporal Patrick Murray, of North Kingstown RI. Patrick is an exceptional young man. He lost his lower right leg as a result of an encounter with an IED. He remains optimistic about his future, and he has learned to use his prosthetic leg effectively. He is currently working as a construction engineer for a major firm in Bethesda, MD, and taking college courses to further his career. His father was a Firefighter in the town of Newport Rhode Island for over 25 years. This family has dedicated their lives to community service, for all of our benefit. 2008: Ladies and gentlemen, let me introduce you to our honoree for this year- Army Private Vincent Mannion. Vincent is only 20 years old. His was involved with clearing the city of Tikrit, which included going house to house to search for suspected insurgents and foreign miltants. Vincent didn’t see the “trip wire”, and got caught in the blast of a delayed fuse explosive device made from two large mortar shells. Besides the shrapnel wounds he received, he suffers from TBI (Traumatic Brain Injury), on a scale much larger than John Shurick’s. Vincent can walk a few hundred feet at a time, and he is learning to feed himself again. He was unable to talk until very recently, where small breakthroughs are occurring. He is completely cognizant, understanding everything going on around him, including conversation. He can communicate through a system of eye blinks, if the person he is talking with is trained on how to pose questions in a way where his responses can be effective. Vincent’s situation is so severe and so complex that the Veteran’s Administration admitted they do not have the expertise to handle it appropriately, and Vincent is being treated privately at the Spaulding Rehabilitation Facility in Boston. You really should meet this young man. We believe he is so determined, that he will some day find a way to live a productive and independent life- but he will need many years of treatment. You can meet Vincent by attending our party for him! As well, at the time of this writing we believe that both James Crosby and John Shurick will be attending too! Come meet these young men and their families and let them know you support them, or just say thanks to them, have a great meal with us all, and enjoy the music and entertainment. Last year we had close to 600 in attendance, with 300 or so motorcyclists participating in the police escorted ride throughout the beautiful northern Rhode Island area. We are ready to accommodate 1000 or more this year. We have “biker games” too, where we entertain the audience with a “slow race”, and other events. There will be a live band performing classic rock, southern rock, and blues favorites. There is a shaded dining area where we will serve “grilled chicken and fixin’s” to over 200 guests at a time, with plenty for all. There will be raffles, and a “best bike” contest (judged by Vincent) There is ample free and secure parking for both motorcycles of all types and “cagers” too. This venue is perfect for this type of event. Riders and non-riders are welcome- there is never any trouble, because this is for our young service people- and there is a great sense of community felt by all who attend. Please consider joining us this year. If you can’t attend, please consider purchasing a raffle ticket for the “mini-chopper” we are offering as a prize. We hope to see you there. All respect.oldhvymetal
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