Posted on 07/06/2006 5:07:49 PM PDT by SandRat
HANAU, Germany (Army News Service, July 6, 2006) – Coping with the carnage of war is challenging in the best of circumstances. Arriving at a hospital in a foreign land weak, injured and separated from one’s friends or fellow Soldiers only increases the trauma.
Members of the Soldiers’ Angels make it their mission to help service members being treated for injuries suffered in Iraq and Afghanistan at the Army’s Landstuhl Regional Medical Center, as well as other military hospitals. They offer friendship, visits and donations ranging from clothes to backpacks.
Founded by Patti Patton-Bader, the mother of a Soldier who had deployed to Iraq, Soldiers’ Angels attracts support from people from all over the world who are interested in helping American service members, according to Wilhelmine Aufmkolk, a long-time member of the Wiesbaden Kontakt Club and supporter of the Soldiers’ Angels organization.
“There are about 40,000 people involved, with about 60 people in Europe, who regularly support Soldiers’ Angels,” she said. “In 2004 we realized there was an extreme need for backpacks, underwear, hygiene items, something to read, homemade blankets – anything to make the Soldiers’ lives easier when recovering in the hospital.”
Aufmkolk and her husband, Rudi, both German citizens, got involved with Soldiers’ Angels after an American friend from Wiesbaden deployed to Iraq in 2003.
“We began by sending packages to Soldiers in Iraq. There was a program where you could adopt a Soldier. At that time it was much different in Iraq. Soldiers didn’t have much,” she said.
In 2003, they had a chance to visit the Landstuhl hospital. There they discovered the Soldiers’ Angels organization, a non-profit, volunteer organization whose mission is to provide aid and comfort to service members and their families.
Through Soldiers’ Angels and Fisher House, Aufmkolk was able to regularly take items to the hospital and Kaiserslautern’s Kleber Kaserne, where service members recover from injuries suffered in Operations Iraqi and Enduring Freedom.
“The impression I got was that they were happy that someone was there in Germany to care about them. One could see from their faces a sense of relief that someone besides the doctors and nurses came to visit and show concern,” said Aufmkolk.
“In 2004 we met a man who had lost a leg and was in a wheelchair. He took the gift we had brought, but he wouldn’t look at me, as if he were embarrassed about his injury,” she said. “I ran into him again later in the Landstuhl hospital and invited him to have a cup of coffee with me. After talking for a little while his face finally opened up, and it was as if he came back to life. It’s the small things, like conversation and someone showing he or she cares, that make a difference.”
“Quite often troops are flown here right off the battlefield and arrive clothed only in the skin they were born in,” said Maj. Douglas J. Harvey, senior Army National Guard adviser at Landstuhl Regional Medical Center. “The items that Willie (Aufmkolk) provides are a visible show of appreciation for their efforts to advance the cause of freedom in the world.
“The backpacks allow newly arrived patients to clean up and get changed and to feel more comfortable and human again,” he said, adding that members of the Soldier’s Angels also arrive with Christmas stockings during the holidays, help the service members write letters home and provide other motivational support.
“She and her organization provide an absolutely vital service in the process of changing a wounded warrior from aerial cargo to valued hero – a contribution that speeds healing and increases retention,” said Harvey. “All Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen and Marines benefit from the generosity of the folks back home and the efforts of Soldiers’ Angels.”
Aufmkolk said her interest in German-American friendship is part of what inspires her participation with Soldiers’ Angels.
“I think it’s great to help our friends. If it wasn’t for what the Americans did in Germany after World War II, we wouldn’t be able to live the way we do today. The Americans brought us freedom and they helped us to rebuild our country,” she said.
For more information about the work of Soldiers’ Angels or to get involved visit www.soldiersangels.org.
(Editor’s note: Karl Weisel is editor for the Herald Union in Hessen, Germany.)
A great charity indeed!
That "thump" is the sound of my jaw hitting the floor. What a wonderful surprise to find someone who not only recognizes what we did in and after WWII, but also wants to return the favor by aiding our wounded heros. Many thanks to these great folks.
The Lord God shall reward these fine people both in this life and the next.
We just got the name of our soldier last week. We are sending her (in Afghanistan) a BIG box tomorrow. Actually, several medium boxes.
I can't do enough for these soldiers. They mean so much to our family.
God bless these angels!
Thank you for all you do, angel!
How very cool of you. It's really our family's pleasure to participate. I think we get so much out of it...we are quite lucky.
Thanks!
I've been on the receiving end of those random acts of love, and they really do mean a lot to deployed military personnel!
GREAT story about a great bunch of folks!! Thanks for the ping, SandRat!!
Bump
Amen!
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