Radio Station KNPR in Las Vegas, Nevada featured a program on January 12, 2006 entitled "Beyond the Bumper Sticker." Dave Berns, the host of the program, asked, "We hear a lot of rhetoric and see a lot of bumper stickers about 'supporting the troops,' but what kind of practical support do military personnel and their families actually experience from society and government?"

When the program was finished being aired, I couldn’t help but think back to the fall of 1991 when I was undergoing radiation and chemotherapy for cancer after being medevaced from the Gulf War where I served on board USS WISCONSIN (BB 64). Joe Paterno, the head coach of the Penn State Football Team, and his wife, Sue, invited me to be their guest in a comfortable stadium box at a Penn State home game. This gesture of generosity and concern was very similar to what occurred more recently at the Army-Navy game in Philadelphia.

Bennett Levin, a wealthy Philadelphian, is the owner of two locomotives and three luxury rail cars. One car carried John F. Kennedy to the Army-Navy game in 1961 and '62. It later carried Bobby Kennedy's body to Washington, D.C. for burial. Like Joe and Sue Paterno, so too did Bennett Levin and his wife, Vivian, want to show their support for military personnel wounded in Iraq and Afghanistan.

After getting a "thumbs-up" from military medical commanders at Walter Reed and Bethesda to transport wounded personnel to the Army-Navy game, Levin contacted the owners of 15 other luxury rail cars to loan their vehicles for the trip. Amtrak volunteered to transport the cars; Conrail offered to service "The Liberty Limited" in the stations; and SEPTA provided buses and drivers to transport the troops from the train to the stadium. An anonymous benefactor from the Army War College purchased 100 seats on the 50-yard line including lunch in a hospitality suite. Corporate donors included Wal-Mart, Woolrich, Nikon, and others that provided items such as digital cameras, stadium blankets, and field glasses for the wounded troops.

Some GIs were missing limbs while others were wheelchair-bound or accompanied by medical personnel. One of many memorable moments for the Levins was when 11 Marines hugged them goodbye and sang the Marine Corps hymn on the platform of Union Station. Even though the Levins were not looking to be recognized for their generosity in caring for the troops, they were appreciative to have received a thank you note from a wounded serviceman who wrote, "The fond memories generated last Saturday will sustain us all – whatever the future may bring."

Not long after the early December Army-Navy game, Mr. Merrill Worcester, the owner of the Worcester Wreath Company of Harrington, Maine, was seeing to the assembly of 5,000 wreaths for placement during the holiday season at graves in Arlington National Cemetery. Mr. Worcester has provided wreaths and paid for their transportation since 1992. Maine school kids have also combined an educational trip to DC over the years to help place the wreaths on the graves.

In response to the Radio Station host's question about what is being done to "support the troops," there is a lot of generosity that often goes unnoticed. While one service member may go to a Dunkin Donuts shop and is pleased to receive a 15 percent discount, another person may discover that a ski resort is offering discounts to military personnel and their family members. Whether it be in the form of a discount or simply a comment, "Thank you for your service to our country," it is nice to know that one’s sacrifices are not taken for granted but deeply appreciated by a number of fellow Americans.

Gene-Thomas Gomulka – “A voice for military families”
Columnist and author of The Survival Guide for Marriage in the Military available at www.plaintec.net

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