Military Officer - May 2007 - (Page 54)

wait until they are in crisis to call us. We want to reach them before they start to fall through cracks,” Shafer says. “We make it a priority to follow up with each and every one of them, even if it is through a family member, to ﬁnd out if they are doing OK and if we can provide some assistance.” Sgt. Tony Martin, USMC, served in Afghanistan but says he now has the best job in the Marine Corps. He is the NCO in charge of the M4L program’s South Central District Injured Support services. Based in Houston, he provides support to every medically retired Marine in his district. “It is very humbling to leave the Corps and become just a citizen. It Monday, 6 p.m. sponses from 30 of them who wanted to spend time with this young man, to really form a relationship, and to help relieve his mom.” hometown a disabled civilian with little family support available. “Here was a good young man who left our community to defend our freedom, and he was returning broken and bent. … We owed him something,” says Conklin. So he gathered a group of local business and community leaders. A local developer offered an apartment rentfree, UPS offered a full-time job, and an elderly woman who could no longer drive donated her car. Others Vigilant assistance The father of three sons currently serving in the Army, Mike Conklin wanted to help a severely injured soldier who as a little boy had played with his own sons. After months in a military treatment facility, the soldier was preparing to return to his Monday, 7 p.m. is a hard transition, especially if you hadn’t planned on it. When they do come back to their communities, we want them to feel surrounded by their brothers.” Martin has a network of retired Marines who do just that. “I had a mom of an injured Marine call me recently. She had to quit her job to provide full-time care for her son, who had TBI as a result of an attack while on duty in Iraq. She had been caring for him for the past 18 months, and she was exhausted physically and emotionally. “We talked about her needing to take regular breaks. I put an e-mail out to about 800 retired Marines in the Houston area. Within the ﬁrst two hours of sending it, I had re54 MILITARY OFFICER M AY 2 0 0 7 Monday, 10 p.m.

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Military Officer - May 2007

Military Officer - May 2007 Contents From the Editor From the President Your Views MOAA Directory Rapid Fire Washington Scene Financial Forum Ask the Doctor Chapter Activities Cover Story: Back Home Capt. David Porter, Pirate Hunter Where Valor Rests Emblems of Courage MOAA Member Services Pages of History Information Exchange Advertising Index Member Books MOAA Calendar MOAA Scholarship Donors Sounding Taps Encore

Military Officer - May 2007

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