Military Officer - October 2008 - (Page 66) ON O CT. 2 0, 2 0 06, A N IM PROV I S E D EX P LOS IV E D EV IC E (I E D) exploded near Army Staff Sgt. Brian K. Pearce’s Humvee, sending more than 30 pieces of shrapnel into his vehicle. One piece penetrated his skull, causing a traumatic brain injury (TBI) that left him nearly blind and deaf. I Pearce’s wife, Angie, enlisted a friend to care for the couple’s two children so she could fly to Washington, D.C., to be by her husband’s side as he received treatment at Walter Reed Army Medical Center (WRAMC). In December 2006, Brian was moved to the Hunter Holmes McGuire VA Medical Center in Richmond, Va., one of four VA polytrauma centers that care for veterans and servicemembers with multiple traumatic injuries. Money was tight, and Angie was wondering what would happen when their children came to Richmond for Christmas. Then MOAA Richmond Chapter member Capt. Bill Haneke, USA-Ret., president of the Families of the Wounded Fund, gave the couple $3,000 from the fund — no strings attached. A month later, thanks to some generous holiday donations, the family received another $2,000 from the Families of the Wounded Fund. “I know I could contact them any time day or night and say, ‘Hey, I’m up against it. Can you help me?’ And they would say ‘sure,’ ” says Angie. Recipients now receive $6,000, which is used to cover lodging, meals, transportation, and other expenses families incur when they come to Richmond to support their loved ones. Richmond Chapter members support the Families of the Wounded Fund through personal donations and by participating in fundraising events. Recently, the chapter donated $1,000 to the organization. Several chapter members also serve on the board of directors, including Cmdr. Paul Galanti, USN-Ret. A Vietnam veteran, Galanti was wounded in his neck before being captured and held as a POW in the “Hanoi Hilton.” “The Families of the Wounded [Fund] is the best thing I’ve ever been involved with,” says Galanti. “It’s the kind of thing MOAA gets behind big time, and I suspect the chapter here will continue contributing to the organization any way it can.” In addition to financial assistance, the Families of the Wounded Fund gives injured servicemembers and their families hope for the future by putting them in contact with veterans such as Galanti and Haneke who also have suffered emotional and physical wounds. In 1968, Haneke sustained devastating injuries from a command-detonated mine. “Bill Haneke is an inspiration to me,” says Galanti. “He comes walking in to talk to these guys, and he’s missing an eye. His head is covered by a plastic plate, and he’s missing one leg and half of the other leg. He was where they were — two years at [WRAMC], two years at McGuire — but then he went out and got two master’s degrees and wound up running two huge hospitals. The doctor goes in and tells them they’ll be OK, and they look at [the doctor], and he looks great. Then Bill comes in on his hand crutches and tells them, ‘Keep your chin up, pal. It’s going to be a Paying it forward In 2005, Haneke and a group of fellow Vietnam veterans founded the Families of the Wounded Fund, a 501(c)3 charity that uses 100 percent of the donations it receives to help wounded and injured servicemembers’ families and caregivers. 66 MILITARY OFFICER OCTOBER 2008
For optimal viewing of this digital publication, please enable JavaScript and then refresh the page. If you would like to try to load the digital publication without using Flash Player detection, please click here.