Fund has generated more than $6 million for wounded Marines

[thedrifter]

Fund has generated more than $6 million for wounded Marines

By Linda McIntosh
TODAY'S LOCAL NEWS

November 1, 2006

CAMP PENDLETON – It wasn't so long ago that Karen Guenther and a handful of Marine wives sat around her kitchen table and tried to figure out a way to help injured Marines returning from Iraq.

Their husbands were all deployed, and Guenther saw the wounded coming into Naval Hospital Camp Pendleton, where she was a nurse.

Guenther remembered the day she first saw a MedEvac flight come in with a Marine.

“His wife was watching as they wheeled him over, and I saw her knees buckle,” Guenther said. “I knew we had to do something.”

The women put together welcome-home bags, often digging into their own pockets to buy things a mother would buy, such as phone cards, sweat shirts and toothbrushes.

Later, they each put in $100 to start a fund to help families from across the country get to their wounded Marines.

“We knew the families needed to be at the bedside but couldn't always afford to do that,” said Wendy Lethin, one of the wives at the first meeting around Guenther's table.

“You know the outcome is better if the family is there,” said Sarah Dalke, the fund's finance director.

Now 2 years later, the Injured Marine Semper Fi Fund has given more than $6 million to help Marines and their families.

The fund received donations from community groups, individuals and businesses.

“We just did what we had to do, and our biggest hope is to keep doing it,” said Guenther, the fund's founder.

“It's not just about helping during two weeks in the hospital. We're working with families on long-term rehabilitation, which can take years,” Guenther said.

Long-term rehabilitation costs could be substantial since wheelchair-accessible vans and home modifications are sometimes required.

“We're there to help them get through,” Guenther said.

Outreach goes far beyond Camp Pendleton to injured Marines at major military hospitals around the country and in Germany.

For Lethin, the fund's business director, there are definite benefits to being near the Marines as they recover.

“When you talk to the guys and listen to their stories, you can't help want to do more,” Lethin said.

Linda McIntosh, (760) 752-6756; linda.mcintosh@tlnews.net

Ellie