PDA

View Full Version : Fisher House will fill void



thedrifter
06-28-08, 07:22 AM
Fisher House will fill void

Help for families of the wounded
June 28, 2008 - 12:03AM
JENNIFER HLAD
DAILY NEWS STAFF

Staff Sgt. Dan Valenti spent three straight months in the hospital after he was "blown up" in Iraq last August.

Moving his family up from Florida to stay with him while he recovered was no easy task, Valenti said. But having them there to help him through the healing process was invaluable.

"There's no bigger help than to have your family with you," he said.

Soon, the families of Camp Lejeune's Wounded Warriors will have a free place to stay while their loved one recuperates. Military and civilian officials turned over ceremonial shovels of dirt Friday to mark the beginning of construction of a Fisher House - the first to be built at a Marine Corps base.

The Fisher House is a free, temporary place for families of injured service members to stay while their loved one is receiving care. Camp Lejeune's will eventually be part of a Wounded Warrior complex that also will include a barracks for injured Marines and sailors and a Wounded Warrior Hope and Care Center.

Having the Fisher House and other facilities just a few hundred yards from the Camp Lejeune Naval Hospital will help the families and the warriors, who will not have to rely on duty drivers to take them for appointments, Valenti said.

As of Friday morning, 1,045 Marines and sailors had died in the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, and eight to 10 times that number had been wounded, said Lt. Gen. Keith Stalder, commanding general of II Marine Expeditionary Force.

For those service members, the Fisher House program is "a godsend," he said.

Ken Fisher, chairman and chief executive officer of the Fisher House foundation, said each of the 38 Fisher Houses is special, but the Camp Lejeune house is unique because it is the first on a Marine Corps base.

He said he hoped the facility would give wounded warriors and their families hope and serve as "an oasis in the middle of a very, very stressful time."

Standing in front of a group of local dignitaries, high-ranking military officials and members of the Wounded Warriors Battalion, Fisher extended his thanks.

"Let me say thank you ... for the sacrifices that you and your families make every day to keep me and my family safe," he said.

The new Fisher House will fill a void, said Col. Gregory Boyle, commanding officer of the Wounded Warrior Regiment.

"Our Marines, sailors and their families have made some very significant sacrifices," Boyle said. "They made a commitment to the Marine Corps and we have a commitment to them."

Giving families the ability to stay near their loved ones without worrying about the extra cost of housing will be a tremendous help, Boyle said.

"The Marines and sailors are going to recover faster when they're with their families," he said.

Crews are expected to finish roadway and utility site work in December, and the tentative completion date for the Fisher House is September 2009. The new Wounded Warrior barracks is tentatively scheduled for completion in December 2010.

Contact interactive content editor Jennifer Hlad at jhlad@freedomenc.com or 910-219-8467. Visit www.jdnews.com to comment on this report.

Ellie