Some friends and I, long aware of the "benefits" available for soldiers wounded or killed in combat, established a charity about 6 months ago to give financial grants to military families on a case-by-case basis. One of our recipients, Specialist Gabe Garriga, volunteered photos of his injuries to us because he'd like to help raise awareness of just how much damage a war can do.
Warning - Graphic Images:
http://www.forthefallen.org/photos/garriga.aspx
There's good news here:
- His recovery has gone better than expected.
- My charity, For The Fallen, is around if his family is in any kind of additional financial pinch while they take care of him.
Specialist Garriga and our board hope that you'll visit the rest of the site (
http://www.forthefallen.org) and consider giving a helping hand. We're of course looking for donations, but helping spread the word is also valuable, so please forward the link to friends, family and any military personnel or military families you know.
Typically, the benefits for wounded soldiers get their benefits, but not until 2 or 3 months after their discharge, leaving a huge gap in income. A lot of our cases have involved providing some financial relief during this period.
We intitially started off with a focus on Chicago-area soldiers and families, but our reach has quickly become national as word has spread through the military community. If you know someone in your area that needs some help, a soldier that's been wounded in Iraq or Afghanistan or the family of a soldier either killed or wounded, please give them our info, and thanks.