Air Warrior Courage Foundation

MAY 2005--- AWCF donated $4600 to paint the exterior of the two Fisher Houses at BAMC.*** The buildings were 13 years old and in dire need of painting. The San Antonio Pack added an additional $671 to buy the paint. Local River Rat volunteers painted the detached structures. The exterior of the main buildings was painted by a contractor. The results were excellent and wounded soldiers and their families are now residing in an aesthetically pleasing facility.

JUNE 2005--- AWCF began contributing BX Gift Certificates to the Fort Sam Houston Family Assistance Center and to the Gift Coordinator for BAMC Inpatient Services. To date, the gifts have totaled $3,000. Many family members rush to BAMC when their wounded warrior arrives for medical treatment. They quite often come from poor circumstances and arrive with only the clothes they have on. The gift certificates have filled a vital need in providing these people clothing and toiletries. In addition many wounded soldiers arrive with only the hospital gown they are wearing. The gift certificates provide them with essential clothing items and toiletries while they wait for their pay and possessions to catch up with them. This project is ongoing.

JUNE 2005--- AWCF joined with Operation Comfort to sponsor participation by 15 amputees in the Endeavor Games at Edmond, Oklahoma. American Airlines donated airline tickets and AWCF contributed $3000 to cover food, lodging, and incidental expenses. This project was a big success and the BAMC warriors won many medals in the competition. This venture also served as the prototype for subsequent projects designed to get the wounded soldiers out of the hospital environment and engaged in challenging and enjoyable athletic activity. Sponsorship of the Endeavor Games was picked up by another organization this year which is a tribute to last year’s success story.

AUGUST 2005--- AWCF began a project to help family members of wounded warriors who have medical emergencies while here visiting their soldier. To date AWCF has paid 8 medical bills totaling $761.09. Each of these emergencies has involved a single parent mother with no health insurance. For a small investment AWCF has relieved a lot of pain and suffering for women who desperately needed a helping hand. Carole Thompson of the San Antonio Pack has also enlisted the help of a dentist who will do pro bono work on any family members who have dental emergencies. This project is ongoing.

AUGUST 2005--- The San Antonio Pack has organized two golf outings for the wounded. Randolph Oaks Golf Course waved green fees for the soldiers. San Antonio Pack golfers provided golf carts and goodie bags. AWCF provided on course refreshments and lunch for the participants. AWCF contribute $304.50 to support the two golf outings that have taken place.

SEPTEMBER 2005/2006--- The Fisher House at BAMC holds an open house and BBQ in September to kick off their annual drive to capture contributions through the Combined Federal Campaign. AWCF has contributed $1000 each year for food and beverage for this event. This is a good example of how a small investment can contribute to a large dividend that keeps the BAMC Fisher House running at no cost to wounded soldiers and their families. The need will increase next January when two new units with 44 rooms will augment the existing 15 rooms.

SEPTEMBER 2005--- AWCF joined forces with Operation Comfort to sponsor the MS-150 “Run to the Beach”. The MS-150 is a two day bicycle ride from San Antonio to Corpus Christi. Blade Sports in San Antonio provided adaptive bikes for amputees. Even soldiers who have lost both legs can participate by using hand cranked bicycles. Tents and food are provided for the riders who bed down at the halfway point. AWCF contributed $2,500 to the project which paid for lodging and food in Corpus Christie. The ride was very successful and a much bigger turnout is expected this year. Fortunately a local radio station has been fund raising for this event and the San Antonio Pack is in standby to provide logistical support to transport tents, bikes, and personal gear. This is another example of a success from the past year creating enough interest to get other people involved.

SEPTEMBER 2005--- Disaster struck a one two blow when Hurricane Katrina hit the Gulf Coast followed shortly by Hurricane Rita. Active duty and retired military personnel all along the Gulf Coast were forced to evacuate. Many of these people sought refuge at Randolph AFB and Lackland AFB. The Red River Valley Fighter Pilots Association provided a grant to AWCF to assist the refugees. Carole Thompson ran the operation for the San Antonio Pack. She spent $11,000 for gift certificates for the base exchanges, commissaries, restaurants and entertainment venues. This assistance was distribute to a lot of folks who where in dire straights and in need of a helping hand. AWCF also stepped up to help a wounded soldier at BAMC who had been particularly hard hit by Rita and other events. He was partially paralyzed for Iraqi war wounds. While being treated at BAMC he found out his daughter had leukemia. When it looked like things couldn’t get much worse Hurricane Rita came along and forced the wife and daughter to abandon the family home in Lake Charles, LA. AWCF assisted the family with a cash grants totaling $2,500. This assistance made a huge difference in the lives of this family.

OCTOBER 2005--- The Fisher House has a play area for the children staying there with their parents. When we were painting the Fisher House in May we noticed that the play area was mainly a restroom for stray cats. The Fisher House was able to get the Army to pour a concrete slab and embed riding animals on springs in the concrete. The AWCF donated $4308 to install a high quality Astro-Play pad that now provides a safe play surface for the children. The pad is maintenance free and will serve the needs of the Fisher House for many years to come.

DECEMBER 2005--- AWCF again joined with Operation Comfort to sponsor a ski trip to Lake Tahoe. AWCF contributed $3,000 to this project. Ski trips are extremely popular with the soldiers. Operation Comfort paid the majority share of this trip and our combined resources got 10 wounded soldiers to the ski slopes.

DECEMBER 2005--- AWCF initiated a special program to seek out and help needy soldiers during the Christmas Holiday. We were allocated $2,500 for this project and the process was an emotional experience not soon to be forgotten. We found a soldier with five children and no money to provide a Christmas for them. We fixed that with a cash grants. We even found coalition soldiers from El Salvador being treated for wounds received in Iraq who did not have enough money to buy food. In all we provide cash grants to 9 soldiers and made Christmas a lot better for them and their families.

DECEMBER 2005--- The San Antonio Pack found out about a young Marine who had suffered a horrific leg wound in Iraq. The wound became infected during an operation to repair the damage and there was a very real possibility that he would lose the leg. AWCF teamed with the BAMC Family Assistance Center to bring the soldier’s mother and sister to San Antonio to be with him during the Christmas Holiday. AWCF provided $1040 for billeting and subsistence during the two weeks the mother and daughter were here. This story had a happy ending. The Marine Lance Corporal did not lose his leg and he is well on the way to recovery. We think the morale boost of having his family with him during a very dark time play a big role in his recovery.

JANUARY 2006--- AWCF joined forces with Operation Comfort and Wood River Ability Program to provide 7 soldiers and 3 family members a very memorable ski trip to Sun Valley, Idaho. AWCF contributed $5,000 to this joint venture. Wood River is run by Marc Mast. He and the residents of Sun Valley went to extraordinary lengths to make this a great adventure for some very deserving soldiers.

JANUARY 2006--- Tom Baber, a San Antonio River Rat, is an executive with Apple Computer. He was able to obtain 8 laptop computers for the Fisher House. In addition, an Apple technician, Mark Eubanks, who is also a Texas Air National Guard member with two tours in Iraq under his belt, is providing the technical assistance to keep the computers running. He also installed a wireless system in each Fisher House and the residents can now check out computers and use them anywhere in the two buildings. Tom Baber is working to obtain additional laptops for the 44 new rooms that will be coming on line in January 2007.

FEBUARY 2006--- Carole Thompson’s son Bob, who is also a member of the San Antonio Pack, set up a scuba diving class for the wounded at BAMC. Bob arranged a partnership with Duggan Diving in Universal City, Texas. AWCF put up $1400 to buy equipment and defray expenses. This project was a labor of love for Bob Thompson and he produced 6 certified divers. Plans are being made to start another class in October of 2007.

MARCH 2007--- White Sands New Mexico has a commemorative event each year to remember the Bataan Death March. We were approached by soldiers at BAMC who wanted to participate in the commemorative event. The program included a 26 mile marathon. AWCF pitched in $2,000 which allowed five soldiers to rent a van and cover expenses for the drive to and from White Sands. It was a successful event for one wounded soldiers in particular. Sgt. Vena Sele from American Samoa was slated for a medical retirement because of wounds and burns he had received in Iraq. Vena walked the entire 26 miles in his native Samoan sandals. He had a lot of blisters but his performance was so impressive that the Army is now reconsidering the decision to medically retire him.

APRIL 2006--- AWCF again joined forces with Operation Comfort to sponsor a special trip to Galveston Island. The AWCF contribution to the venture was $3,500. A party of 35 that included wounded soldiers, family members, and BAMC medical personnel departed San Antonio in a convoy of POVs. The convoy was greeted at the Galveston city limits by a convoy of police who escorted our convoy through the center of town with lights flashing and sirens blaring. The convoy was met at the hotel by a huge crowd that included the mayor pro tem and just about everyone in Galveston who had a uniform. A lot of moving speeches were made and each soldier was presented a gift bag. The trip included the VIP tour of all VIP tours at NASA, a black drum fishing tournament, and a visit to Moody Gardens. The only word to describe the trip is “Grand”. The hospitality of the people at NASA was extraordinary and the kindness they showed to our soldiers is something I will always remember.

APRIL 2006--- A Marine Lance Corporal who had suffered burns in Iraq was visiting his Pueblo Indian Tribe in New Mexico when he contracted an infection. He was flown back to BAMC and his mother drove to San Antonio to be with him. AWCF paid $1027 travel expenses, lodging, and subsistence during her two week stay at Fort Sam Houston.

MAY 2006--- During May and June there were three situations where family members needed financial assistance with their billeting bills. We also had a discharged wounded reservist return to BAMC seeking medical help. AWCF paid billeting bills totaling $558.71 for these people.

MAY 2006--- A special situation developed that involved a sailor who had been injured by an explosive device in Iraq. After his release back to reservist status he started having dizzy spell and blackouts that prevented him from working. He had five children and the situation was grim for the family. The good folks at BAMC began a project to return him to active duty for treatment and also provide him with a paycheck. This process took a month. AWCF provided the family with $1100 in cash assistance to keep food on the table and pay essential bills. Additional cash assistance was provided by Operation Comfort and other organizations. The sailor is now receiving medical treatment at BAMC and the family was saved from a financial disaster.

MAY 2006--- The Red River Valley Fighter Pilots Association Board of Directors issued an invitation for a wounded soldier from BAMC to be the guest of the association at the National Convention in Tucson. The San Antonio Pack selected MSgt. Tom Carpenter and his wife Connie. Tom is an Army Ranger and he had lost both legs in Iraq. Tom spoke eloquently at the banquet in Tucson about what AWCF projects at BAMC had meant to him. He and Connie received a very warm and emotional welcome from the RATS in Tucson. The association spent approximately $850 for airfare and expenses for this trip.

JUNE 2006--- A soldier was scheduled to receive a purple heart at BAMC. His mother could not fly to San Antonio due to complications from terminal cancer. She felt she could make the trip from Phoenix by car. The Family Assistance Center, operating within their regulations, paid for food and lodging during the trip but could not buy the gasoline need to get her to San Antonio. AWCF stepped up to the plate and paid the $207 fuel bill.

JULY 2006--- When the Fisher Houses were being painted in May of 2005 it was noted that some of the porch support posts were rotting away at the bottom. AWCF paid a contractor $465.50 to repair the damaged posts.

JULY 2006--- AWCF teamed up with Operation Comfort to send 12 wounded soldiers to the Middle Fork Lodge in Idaho. The lodge is located on the pristine Middle Fork of the Salmon River. The soldiers were welcomed at the Boise Airport by the Governor of Idaho and his wife. They enjoyed five days of trout fishing, hiking, horseback riding, trap shooting, swimming, and sightseeing. The accommodations were provided at a fraction of the nominal cost. This was a splendid trip for some very deserving soldiers. AWCF put $5,000 into this project.

AUGUST 2006--- AWCF joined Operation Comfort in sponsoring the most ambitious adventure yet undertaken. The idea came from a wounded soldier at BAMC who wanted to learn how to surf. We located a world class surfer at Pismo Beach named Rodney Roller. Rodney had lost a leg in an industrial accident and he went on to become director of “Amp-Surf”. Through Rodney’s effort the community at Pismo Beach agreed to host the BAMC soldiers by providing food, surfing lessons, equipment, and other recreational opportunities. AWCF put up $9,000 that was applied to airfare and lodging. Thirteen wounded soldiers went on this adventure and had the experience of a lifetime.

AUGUST 2006--- Schlitterbahn Water Park is the most popular water park in Texas. They have a policy against giving away free passes because they get far more request for passes than they can fill. The wife of a San Antonio Rats is a personal friend of the owner of Schlitterbahn Water Park. She contacted the owner and he gave the San Antonio Pack 30 tickets exclusively for the use of wounded soldiers and their families.

The tickets sell for around $40 each. The free passes were the most coveted item at BAMC in August and we will get more when the water park opens next spring.

SEPTEMBER 2006--- The wife of a San Antonio River Rats who does volunteer work at the BAMC Family Assistance Center came in contact with a nurse at the burn ward at BAMC. The nurse identified a need that wasn’t being filled at the burn center. The wounded soldiers arrive from the combat zone with just the hospital gown they have own. It takes time for their pay and possessions to catch up with them. When they go ambulatory it is embarrassing for them to walk around with their rear ends exposed. The nurse identified a need for loose fitting athletic garments, flip flops, and underwear. AWCF made a delivery of enough clothing to take care of 15 soldiers. The cost was $448.70.

*** BAMC - Brooke Army Medical Center is a modern state-of-the-art, 450-bed health care facility that provides level-one trauma and graduate medical education. The physical appearance and the efficiency of space throughout the hospital creates a user-friendly, high quality health care environment for patients, their families and health care providers.

The multi-storied medical treatment facility is the primary structure in the medical complex. It has 1.5 million square feet of operational space and a normal bed capacity of 450, of which 48 are ICU beds and 40 are dedicated to the Institute of Surgical Research Burn Unit. The hospital is capable of expanding to 653 beds if needed to support a wartime mobilization.