Posted on 06/29/2007 1:13:34 PM PDT by Jimmy Valentine's brother
Michael Sparling spent a recent afternoon helping an injured soldier around Walter Reed Army Medical Center. It was a gesture he has performed many times in the past year and a half since his son also arrived at the hospital to recover from war injuries received in Iraq, but one that may soon be coming to an end.
"When my son leaves, I don't know if I'll be able to," said Mr. Sparling who also volunteers his time, expertise and energy to help other families navigate the paperwork and stress he has faced during his son's recovery.
His son, Joshua, 25, a paratrooper for the Army's 82nd Airborne, is receiving medical treatment at the D.C. hospital for severe injuries from a bomb that hit him while he was pursuing insurgents in Iraq.
SNIP
"Very few [families] have everything together when they get here, and I want to show them someone cares," Mr. Sparling said. "When these soldiers are injured, families need to be able to take care of their sons and daughters first."
Mr. Sparling quit his job as a marketing director and drove more than 550 miles from Port Huron, Mich., to Walter Reed after receiving the call telling him his son was severely wounded.
Walter Reed's Malone House already has a support group of volunteers, known as Soldiers' Angels, that works daily with the families. But Lynette Frascella, director of the group's Wounded Soldiers Program, still tells families to go see Mr. Sparling.
(Excerpt) Read more at washingtontimes.com ...
Been a**holes and elbows all day. Just spotted this so I thought I’d post and ping the DC Chapter list so they can read about a DC Chapter FRiend and the good work he’s doing for our brave troops.
Thanks for the ping, JVB! Mike and his son are great Americans!
thanks for the ping! God bless them!
I wish I could do this.
Thanks JVB...just the kind of encouragement I needed as I start the rainy, long drive to WRAMC in a few minutes.
Anyone who can stop the all day rain we have had is welcome to try! You can bet we will be there anyway. The temperature is warm.
Maybe Mr. Sparling will come outside tonight. I have only been there a few times when he has appeared. I remember once was back at the time of the State of the Union speech.
I think he always wears a big brimmed hat in the photos I have seen, am I right?
See you soon, I promise no more “green” cigars! LOL
Thanks for all you do representing all of us!
Thanks for the flag. Michael and Josh are great patriots. God bless them.
:-)
We are so Blessed to have so many good and dedicated men and women looking out for us and each other.
Thank you, JVb, for pinging me to this thread.
Thanks for the ping but a tissue alert might have helped my keyboard ;-)
Josh’s Dad is a Hero too, now we see where this fine Soldier got it.
Josh and Mike are also starting a charity that helps wounded soldiers with the stuff they need that falls between the gaps on federal provisions. That is, getting wheelchairs for those who need them, but some pencil pusher decided the government wouldn’t supply it.
They are indeed great Americans. They don’t thump their chests about it either.
BTW brought a fine gift of cigars to give you at WRAMC but folks said you wouldn’t be able to make it for the next two weeks. I was worried that they would dry out so I gave them to cindy-true-supporter for proper disposition in your name.
Yep, Mike wear one of them American Western hats. If you click on the link there’s a picture of him.
Mike spent a lot of time learning the system and how to work it. All large organizations, private or public will send you through the maze. Mike knows the short path and is showing other folks the way.
The charity is discussed in the article. If you clink on the link, you can read about it and more about Josh and Mike.
No need for thanks as we all do what we can.
Friday nights at WRAMC is a great way to start the weekend. We get to meet outstanding young men and women. Folks from around the country.
Last night I had my picture taken with three beautiful Privates, so watch for the after action report next week.
It’s for the better.
Wonderful post, JVB; thank you! Glad the WashTimes is giving credit to someone who has done so much for so many.
Another good deed Mike Sparling does is that he organized cookouts all last summer for the families on the back lawn, and plans are percolating for this year as well. The wounded whose families and children are in long-term recovery could go outside and socialize and eat grilled meat and fixings rather than the messhall dinner, and the children could run around on the lawn instead of being confined to the room or the indoor hallways.
Mike also distributes many of the “any soldier” gift donations to those who really need them, are too wounded to visit the donation area, and/or have no family with them at WRAMC. Especially when publicity by Sean Hannity and others resulted in thousands of gifts sent to his son Josh, Josh and Mike shared those gifts far and wide among the other wounded, with Mike doing the organizing and delivery as Josh was bedridden.
Mike is a remarkable person in every way, a father of (if I recall correctly) seven grown children, with several in the military.
I saw the girls running across the street toward you.
Do you think that new shirt is a BABE-MAGNET? LOL
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