Speaking of good deeds, stuff like this really gets my attention...
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http://www.dcmilitary.com/army/stri...es/26806-1.html
December 19, 2003
Steak out:
Vietnam veterans treat troops to night out, mouth-watering therapy
Two Vietnam War veterans are going above and beyond their duties to treat today‘s returning wounded with the respect and appreciation the country didn‘t give them 30 years ago.
On Walter Reed‘s Ward 57, Jim M. Mayer is known as the "Milkshake Man." As a volunteer here, the bilateral below-the-knee amputee from the Vietnam War is known as an amputee peer visitor.
"I kind of become their friend when they‘re on the ward," Mayer said of the amputees. "I‘ve made some life-long friends."
He started visiting amputees at Walter Reed in 1991 during Desert Storm. He‘s made more than 100 visits to see Operation Enduring and Iraqi Freedom patients since the first OIF patients arrived here April 22.
Mayer said he‘s seen times when his visits with wounded Soldiers have helped speed their recovery, so he does his best to encourage them. "One of the things I tell the guys is that I‘ve been an amputee for 34 years. I‘ve had a good life. I have fun, and I have a family. There‘s hope."
Working downtown at the Department of Veterans Affairs, Mayer, the executive director for leadership, met Fran O‘Brien‘s Stadium Steakhouse co-owner, Hal Koster about three years ago and "instantly became friends," he said. "Probably because of our Vietnam service."
Familiar with Mayer‘s visits to see OIF patients, in September Koster told him to invite them down for a free steak dinner.
The idea was "if they need a place to get away from Walter Reed and have dinner, that‘s what we want to do for them," Koster said.
"We started with two patients. It grew to seven the next week," Mayer added, and they‘ve had as many as 11 patients, three family members and three medical staff on one occasion.
"The guys always seem to enjoy the food. It‘s interesting and enjoyable to watch the young men come down, and see the difference from week to week. They usually make two, sometimes three weeks and then they rotate out," Koster said. "There seems to be dramatic improvements every week. I don‘t know that it had anything to do with the restaurant, but they seem to have fun down here."
"I‘m overwhelmed by the generosity of the owners. It‘s a nice treat during this holiday season to be a part of something like this," said Steven Clark, Company C, 1st Battalion, 27th Field Artillery, part of Task Force Bullet, responsible for identifying and securing Iraqi munitions. An Oct. 12, explosion claimed his right arm above the elbow.
"I can‘t remember when I had a meal that was that delicious," Clark told Koster. "The food was outstanding."
But there was more to it than that. "I feel like they rolled out the red carpet for us and treated us to a world-class meal. I had a great time. This evening was a great departure from sitting in the hotel on post -- a great opportunity to get out and have fun."
The nights out to the steakhouse are a morale booster for the patients, as well as a good way to help them get used to going out again, said Cpl. Michael Cain, who made his final visit Dec. 12, before going home to Berlin, Wisc., Tuesday. A truck driver in the 299th Engineer Battalion from Fort Hood, Texas, Cain was nearly killed Aug. 10 in Tikrit, Iraq, when his vehicle ran over an anti-tank land mine that exploded under him.
The explosion took his right leg below the knee and inflicted a long list of other injuries, including a broken left hip, femur, ankle, and all his toes. "I had my left buttocks muscle cut out because of all the shrapnel, broke my left thumb, fractured my right ulna and broke my knee on my right leg," he added. "I was in a coma for five days. I got messed up."
Despite all the injuries though, he‘s been in good spirits throughout his stay here. "I have to be," he said. "Making fun of the accident has helped. It helps to laugh at it."
Still, going out in public was a little difficult at first, he said. "It was a little weird. I wanted to have that [prosthetic leg] on. I felt like everybody was looking at first. Some of them you can tell, they‘re looking at you like, ‘Oh, that must have been terrible.‘ A few of them are like just staring because they‘re arrogant. Some are just curious."
Going with a group of OIF veterans, though, made him feel more comfortable, he said.
One of the first patients to visit O‘Brien‘s, Sgt. Michael Kahn, who has had 14 surgeries on one leg returned to Walter Reed last week and joined the patients again. "It‘s done a lot for us," Kahn said of the dinners. "Getting out, talking with other vets, Soldiers talking about what happened to them, it‘s helped a lot. It‘s increased our morale, made a bunch of people happy."
"I certainly want to do anything I can for the guys who have served this country. For Jim and I, it‘s good fun," Koster said. The two have also taken the Soldiers to the Veterans of Foreign Wars post on a few Saturday nights to shoot pool.
Koster said he hopes to continue the weekly event "as long as there are guys who want to come down. I would just as soon not do it -- I‘d just as soon the war was over and there was nobody at Walter Reed, but that‘s not reality.
"I‘ve been talking with some of our vendors and they‘re going to provide some free food to us that will help offset the cost we‘ve been incurring," he explained. "We‘re a small business and it‘s costing us about $1,000 a week, that‘s a little bit more that we can afford. But at the same time, I don‘t want to ask for donations and I don‘t want any publicity. We‘re not doing this for publicity.
"It‘s our honor to serve them," Koster said. "I know they enjoy the steak dinners, so it certainly isn‘t hurting them, and that‘s all that matters to me. They‘ve served their country well and it‘s the least we can do, is to try to give them back a little bit."
Good luck and go for it. CHEERS
