Silver Star Families of America in Germany

18February2008

wounded warrior Valentines concert (follow up)

Posted by darkblue under: holidays.

here are some photos…  the band was great… my camera went dead after a while and guess who forgot to take some spare batteries? duh !

more here

3February2008

wounded warrior Valentines benefice concert

Posted by darkblue under: announcement.

well, we are all set (I hope) - the band is a go and we finally managed to secure a ROOM !! The event will kick off on February 16th at 18:00 at the Ramstein Community Center. Lets Rock !!

here is our info flyer with more details: valentines-concert.pdf

25December2007

Christmas at Landstuhl

Posted by darkblue under: Landstuhl events; holidays.

Well according to our flyer ( christmas_invite.pdf ) we were ready for an interesting day and thats exactly what we had…  it started off at the gate outside the hospital, thats where we met COLONEL BRIAN C. LEIN and his wife (wearing Christmas hats), they stopped by to wish all German security guards on duty a Merry Christmas and passed out Christmas cookies… I think that was a wonderful gesture…

… unloading was a bit of a challenge, but thanks to the help of David it ended up being bearable…  Karolina and David  took care of the set up and all the decorating, while me and Janine took over the pots and cooking…  here are some impressions…

 

well the food was ready, our guests started to arrive and kept coming in over the next couple of hours, everyone received his plate of Szegediner goulash (Czech meal) and a filled stocking… a group of Marines were most entertaining and kept us all laughing… the mood in general was pretty cheery and all in the holiday spirit… it was nice to see so much undying support all around, decorations, stockings and cookies everywhere - it didn’t seem like anyone had to go without this Christmas season…

… it was getting late, time to pack up and visit the wards. We packed all our boxed goodies onto some empty wheel chairs which needed to be returned to the hospital wards and went on to distribute everything by going room to room, left extras for incoming troops at the front desks and the chaplains office…

… here are Janine and Karolina on the way to the wards

I would like to dedicate this day to my grandfather, he was a very well known cook back home (Czech Republic), deported by the Nazis in WWII for his cooking abilities, he passed away on Christmas day in Pardubice, Czech Republic a few a years ago…   RIP

 

23December2007

Christmas preparations

Posted by darkblue under: Landstuhl events; holidays.

time to stuff some stockings, Karolina and David came up to help and thanks to some generous donations we were able to come up with like 60 big stockings… wow

a box of warm hats, thanks to a donation by a German company: BHG Langen- lonsheim

 

a big assortment of Haribo licorice and gummy fruit candies straight from the factory outlet, thanks to the help of a German company

more goodies thanks to the generosity of church organizations, Pam Jones from Cottonborro Farm, Georgeine Marbeiter from SSFOA, Diane and Steve Newton/ SSFOA National

a box full of calling cards thanks to VFW Operation Uplink

all ready to go

 

 

18December2007

Evacuated Soldiers Now Get Immediate Combat Injury Pay

Posted by darkblue under: worth noting.

WASHINGTON (Army News Service, Dec. 17, 2007) — When Soldiers are evacuated from a combat zone due to a combat-related injury, they no longer need to wait 30 days to begin receiving their Combat-Related Injury Rehabilitation Pay.

Now, CIP kicks in immediately, ensuring troops continue to receive an additional $430 dollars a month, even while they are recovering in a military hospital. The change is more in line with what Congress envisioned when the program was created, said Craig Taylor, Combat Injury Pay program coordinator.   …..more

10December2007

German hospitals help GIs with specialty care

Posted by darkblue under: LRMC in the news.

With specialization often impractical at Landstuhl

LANDSTUHL, Germany - After suffering severe injuries from a roadside bomb blast in Iraq on Nov. 9, Army Staff Sgt. Jonathon L. Martin died on Thanksgiving. The 33-year-old soldier, husband and father of three passed away at a university hospital in Regensburg, Germany, almost a four-hour drive east of Landstuhl Regional Medical Center.

Nearly all U.S. soldiers wounded in Iraq and Afghanistan are treated at Landstuhl, the largest American hospital outside the U.S., before being flown to the States. But some of them are treated at German hospitals when highly specialized care is required.

Martin suffered a punctured lung, lost his left leg, and broke his pelvis, arm, and nose from the explosion, according to a Toledo, Ohio, TV station. Martin initially was treated at Landstuhl but was transferred to Regensburg because he was on a device called the Novalung, developed at the Regensburg hospital.   …….more

8December2007

Christmas update

Posted by darkblue under: Landstuhl events; holidays.

SSFOA Germany will be holding a Christmas event at Landstuhl - click on our flyer for details: christmas_invite.pdf

6December2007

Family at bedside of wounded soldier

Posted by darkblue under: LRMC in the news.

Shrapnel in brain keeps him in coma

The Cheektowaga parents of a soldier wounded in Iraq have arrived in Germany to be close to their critically wounded son, family members said Wednesday.

Army Spc. Michael D. Hauser, 23, is in a medically induced coma and has a piece shrapnel in his brain that cannot be removed because the surgery could cause more brain damage, according to an e-mail from Hauser’s father to relatives back home.

“It’s a possibility that Michael may or may not come out of the coma. Time will tell. One day at a time,” Ray Hauser wrote in the e-mail.

The shrapnel, the size of a ball bearing, pierced the young man’s skull about an inch above his right eye and below his helmet, said Sandra Hauser, an aunt of the soldier.    ………more

18November2007

Thanksgiving

Posted by darkblue under: Landstuhl events; holidays.

 here is a coy of our flyer: Thanksgiving (click here for full image)

All in all we had a great turn out, the food was thankfully received and so were our Advent calendars…  it was a busy afternoon filled with making sandwiches (cutting up cheese and meats), heating sausages, sauerkraut and serving… followed by a round table of laughter and interesting conversations…

9November2007

Marines at Landstuhl celebrate Corps’ birthday

Posted by darkblue under: LRMC in the news.

LANDSTUHL, Germany - When U.S. Marines host a birthday party, they don’t celebrate with silly confetti, plastic noisemakers or cardboard hats.They show a video narrated by the distinctive coarse drawl of actor Sam Elliott, highlighting the Corps’ famous World War I battle at Belleau Wood, France.

They cut a cake with a sword.

They shout out guttural “Ooh-rahs.”

On Thursday, a handful of Marines from Landstuhl Regional Medical Center’s Marine Liaison Team and Stuttgart’s U.S. Marine Corps Forces Europe celebrated the Corps’ upcoming 232nd birthday with a ceremonial cake cutting. The Marine Corps traces its beginnings back to Nov. 10, 1775, when the Second Continental Congress resolved to raise two battalions of Continental Marines.  ……more