Another morning, another phone call…
The military advocate who called this morning was at first hesitant as she shared her story. Perhaps she doubted that we would be able to help, despite a mutual contact who urged her to call…The story she shared was of a retired decorated soldier who sustained serious injuries in Iraq when a grenade bounced off his tank and fell into the turret, killing one soldier and wounding him and two others. After extensive treatment for his injuries which included traumatic brain injury and PTSD, our soldier opted to leave the military and embark upon a civilian life. By all accounts, things were reasonably stable, despite the long-standing effects of his injuries…until now. Recently his personal life began to fall apart (not an unusual result of such serious war injuries) and our contact reported that this retired soldier had no heat in his home. With an outstanding balance owed the fuel company and limited funds it looked as if he would spend the snowy Western winter without heat. When we called the fuel company they promised that if the new delivery was paid for, they would deliver today to insure a warm Thanksgiving holiday for the family. Thanks to our generous donors the Good People Fund was able to cover the cost of a new tank of propane which should provide four months of heat for this dedicated veteran.