the marine wives trip to landstuhl today was wonderful...there were 6 marines in the hospital today, and of those, one wounded in combat...the wounded marine is doing well...while i cannot be specific about the wounded or the reasons for the other 5 being there, i can tell you for myself and as the liason office explained, they are just as sorely in need of attention and good will...this was never more clear than after our visits...walking the wards and up and down the halls seeing young men and women my son and daughter's age was difficult...it was hard not to go to each and every one of them to hug them and kiss them on the head and fetch their favorite beverage and a nice warm blanket from the dryer, or whatever they wanted, you know like a mom does for a sick child no matter how old they are...
it was more exhausting having to pass by wounded than it was to stop and hang out with someone for a bit...but we didn't have nearly enough time and all of them had checkups and cleanups and whatnot, and that meant visitors had to go either for that moment or until another time...
all of the marines, from the liason's office to the patients, were happy to have us there passing out goodies, magazines, books, and toiletries...we visited each marine by introducing ourselves, swapping hometowns, learning about each marine's background, and having them go through the bags of stuff to get what they wanted and needed...they all, younger and older alike lit up like children when the bags were opened for them...it was both heartening and distressing to see how much of a difference a little thing like a magazine or a hershey's bar can make in someone's life...
quite a few marines had shipped out earlier for the states so there weren't as many marines there today as would be on another day...this is why the wives will be visiting them again and again...
as of yesterday's post office check there was no mail on this end (meaning my p.o. box), but mail from the states can take anywhere from a week and a half to two weeks, and packages as much as three weeks to get here which is why i specifically requested a seat on the october 7th visit...i don't have pictures from today's visit because the bag with my camera, water, and lunch didn't make it to the van...
i will make sure the camera goes all the way to landstuhl on the 7th
the liason office knows i will be there on the 7th and that i will be bringing things from marine moms from all over the united states...they were very excited to hear this; a few grew quite soft in the face at the mention of marine mothers responding so quickly and generously to the request...several assured me that they personally would be there when i arrived with the other wives to help get the donations to the everyone...
the marine corps liason's office at landstuhl has a unique and impressive system for tracking their marines...when a plane lands, all wounded are regarded as soldiers on the manifest...the marines from the liason's office go through the plane and find out just which ones are marines and make sure they are marked by clothing and followed all the way from the plane to treatment to their hospital room...the roster is updated daily and rechecked frequently so that there is no crack for any of the marines to fall through...
the marines we visited today were very grateful for the visit...they were talkative and excited about having stuff to read, view, and listen to on the cd players...
the number of donations coming into the marine liason's office doubles every couple of weeks...groups from all walks of life have responded to the request for donations, and this has directly and postively affected the quality of the stay for each of the wounded...when dvd players, cd players, and game systems (like x-box) are donated, these are made available to all wounded, not just marines...
between the marines themselves and the liason's office we compiled a list of things that they are in special need of at this time but first a little info before i proceed with the requests...
-when the wounded fly into landstuhl, they are often wearing an army undershirt...while this might not seem like a big deal in the grand scheme of things, it is a very big deal to marines...if able, they tell the liason that they want to take the army shirt off...the liason team will often have a few non-army shirts available and will cut the other shirt off if tubes or ties are in the way...while there are other shirts for them to wear, the marines prefer a marine undershirt or a marine t-shirt...they don't like sitting up in their beds or making their way around in a shirt that marks them as anything other than marines...
-when hands, fingers, arms and/or shoulders are wounded, fine motor skills suffer (the ability to hold a pen or thread a needle)...occupational therapy plays a big role in helping the wounded regain and strengthen these skills...among the more popular ways to do this is modeling -- car models, airplane models, etc...both snap-tite and traditional modeling kits allow them to redevelop their strength...
-those who are newly learning to get along with one arm or hand or whose injury limits their use to one arm or hand are unable to floss their teeth with conventional floss...floss handles like the one shown here allows these individuals a form of independence and cleanliness that they thought was lost to them...
-while dvd's are pouring in from all over, music cd's from all genres are in short supply...
-while there is more toothpaste available than you could shake a stick at, toothbrushes and floss are in short supply...
with that, i submit the following list of requests from the both the liason's office and the marines themselves...
*car, airplane, etc modeling kits and accessories (both snap-tite and traditional)...
*cd's -- all genres and/or concert dvd's...
*plain grey t-shirts with black lettering saying USMC or other marine corps t-shirts and undershirts -- all sizes (this is something that can be acquired by those who are near a marine corps exchange or are able to shop online at a marine corps clothing site)
*toothbrushes
*floss (see above link for reference)
these are items they are in special need of at this time, but of course they are most grateful for all the cards and letters and the donations of candy, magazines, books, dvd's, and anything else you think they might like...
as i post, it is about 1:30 east coast time...it's about 7:30pm here in germany...
while it was a long and emotionally exhausting day, i'm very glad i went and i very much look forward to going again...i'm going to go hug my children and husband, call my daughter in ca to tell her how much i love her, and then hopefully i will be in a better frame of mind to take a nap...