Program reaches out to vets in need / Golf outing, barbecue planned to aid in localizing Wounded Warrior Project

Program reaches out to vets in need / Golf outing, barbecue planned to aid in localizing Wounded Warrior Project

by Chelsia Marcius

Reporter

Three days after surviving a suicide car bomb attack Sept. 14, 2005, in Baghdad, Stow resident Joe Gross awoke at Brooke Army Medical Center in Fort Sam Houston, Texas, without the lower half of his right leg.

Among the crowd of bustling surgeons, he said, was Wounded Warrior Project representative Brian Newman at his side and waiting to help.

"Realizing that there was an organization out there that stands by the beds of gentlemen when they are just getting done having the worst day of their lives," Gross, a U.S. Army soldier, said, "is something I knew that I wanted to stand for."

As part of a national objective to localize the Wounded Warrior Project, Gross, 31, will host a golf outing and barbecue as an area outreach coordinator at Stow's Leisure Time Recreation Center July 20. Aiming to educate community members on the organization's assistance of injured soldiers returning from Iraq and Afghanistan, he continues the project's effort to reach what the groups considers Middle America.

"At first the WWP focused on [servicing] hospitals because that was where [the wounded] were," he said. "But now that [soldiers are] being released from the Army and going through rehab, WWP did not have the manpower to reach everyone. It's not like World War II where you have a few buddies in the area. The soldiers from Operation Iraqi Freedom and the War on Terror are very spread out."

To forge a camaraderie among the wounded, the organization has launched a joint program with Cracker Barrel Old Country Store and Restaurant called "Building a New Front Porch," an idea taken from a group of World War II veterans in Alabama who had gathered each night to exchange their stories of battle.

"What these vets didn't realize was that they were healing themselves," said Gross. "Just by talking about things, it helped whatever stresses they had, whatever problems they had and then knowing that there were people out there [experiencing] the same [things]."

These problems, he explained, can extend beyond visible physical damage. Traumatic brain injuries, caused by the impact of explosion shock waves through the body often result in short-term memory loss and speech impairments while Post Traumatic Stress Disorder commonly affects those who have witnessed combat.

"In Iraq, I had to sleep with my boots and pants on and a knife at my side with my gear in a certain place so that when [things] started blowing up I could get out, grab all my gear at the same time, and throw my back against the wall to protect from what was coming in my direction," he said. "Now, my house is set up like a patrol base and we've done rehearsals of what would happen if someone entered the home with a weapon. These are some of my defense mechanisms, part of the PTSD."

Loud noises like fireworks, Gross said, also trigger a series of bodily reactions, a consequence of the disorder.

"I can't go to the July 4 [celebrations], it's just impossible," he said. "I would probably start crying, shaking and sweating. These are the small things all [soldiers] go through."

Driven to inform the community and inspire other soldiers, Gross uses the Wounded Warriors Project philosophy to explain the struggle with life after war.

"The concept behind the WWP is that at one point in your life you're going to be carried off the battlefield and another point you'll be the one carrying others," he said. "We want to make these guys feel alive again."

Registration forms to attend the July golf outing are available at Leisure Time Recreation Center, 4561 Darrow Road in Stow. Space is limited to 88 participants. For more information on the event, call Leisure Time at 330-688-4162. To learn more about the Wounded Warrior Project, visit www.woundedwarriorproject.org

E-mail: cmarcius@recordpub.com

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