thedrifter
01-29-08, 12:42 PM
Marine League raises $75K for 3 wounded in action
By Donna Porstner
Staff Writer
January 29, 2008
STAMFORD - The local Marine Corps League has raised $75,000 to defray transportation and medical expenses for troops wounded in Iraq.
Members presented $25,000 checks to each of three U.S. Marines at a fundraising dinner at the Knights of Columbus Hall in Shippan on Saturday night. More than 300 people attended.
"When we presented the check, there wasn't like a dry eye in the house," said John Rubino, senior vice commandant of the league's Lock City detachment in Stamford. "We could have raised the money and sent them a check, but we wanted to fill the room. We wanted to have a large crowd to show them the community supports them."
The donations this year surpassed the $10,000 the group typically raises at the annual dinner, now in its fourth year. Participants were generous and made donations on the spot after meeting the beneficiaries, Rubino said.
State Attorney General Richard Blumenthal of Greenwich, who was a Marine sergeant, served as honorary chairman of this year's event.
The money was divided equally among Cpl. Ryan Dion, 23, of Manchester, who had his right leg amputated at the knee after he was hit by a missile in Fallujah in April; Staff Sgt. Terry Rathbun, 36, of Norwich, who was shot in the arm and face; and Sgt. Eddie Ryan, 24, of Ellenville, N.Y., who suffered a severe brain injury after he was shot twice in the head.
Dion, who receives physical therapy five days a week at Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington, D.C., said he planned to use the money to travel between his home in Manchester and the hospital. His medical expenses are covered while he's on active duty, but the military does not pay for airfare or gas and tolls when he visit friends and family between treatments, Dion said.
"When you're wounded, I think it's important to see your family a lot," he said.
Dion has been walking with the help of a prosthetic leg since late August and plans to continue the therapy.
Rathbun, who has had four surgical procedures on his jaw, said the fundraiser is a huge help because the military covers only a portion of his expenses.
"It's a nightmare," he said. "There are literally guys losing their homes."
Rubino said he expected the beneficiaries to use the money to build ramps, purchase wheelchair-accessible vans and other items.
Ellie
By Donna Porstner
Staff Writer
January 29, 2008
STAMFORD - The local Marine Corps League has raised $75,000 to defray transportation and medical expenses for troops wounded in Iraq.
Members presented $25,000 checks to each of three U.S. Marines at a fundraising dinner at the Knights of Columbus Hall in Shippan on Saturday night. More than 300 people attended.
"When we presented the check, there wasn't like a dry eye in the house," said John Rubino, senior vice commandant of the league's Lock City detachment in Stamford. "We could have raised the money and sent them a check, but we wanted to fill the room. We wanted to have a large crowd to show them the community supports them."
The donations this year surpassed the $10,000 the group typically raises at the annual dinner, now in its fourth year. Participants were generous and made donations on the spot after meeting the beneficiaries, Rubino said.
State Attorney General Richard Blumenthal of Greenwich, who was a Marine sergeant, served as honorary chairman of this year's event.
The money was divided equally among Cpl. Ryan Dion, 23, of Manchester, who had his right leg amputated at the knee after he was hit by a missile in Fallujah in April; Staff Sgt. Terry Rathbun, 36, of Norwich, who was shot in the arm and face; and Sgt. Eddie Ryan, 24, of Ellenville, N.Y., who suffered a severe brain injury after he was shot twice in the head.
Dion, who receives physical therapy five days a week at Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington, D.C., said he planned to use the money to travel between his home in Manchester and the hospital. His medical expenses are covered while he's on active duty, but the military does not pay for airfare or gas and tolls when he visit friends and family between treatments, Dion said.
"When you're wounded, I think it's important to see your family a lot," he said.
Dion has been walking with the help of a prosthetic leg since late August and plans to continue the therapy.
Rathbun, who has had four surgical procedures on his jaw, said the fundraiser is a huge help because the military covers only a portion of his expenses.
"It's a nightmare," he said. "There are literally guys losing their homes."
Rubino said he expected the beneficiaries to use the money to build ramps, purchase wheelchair-accessible vans and other items.
Ellie