My Uncle Tommy has been in the news recently for his work with injured soldiers. Check out these accounts if you're into feel-good stories, the military, or my family. If you're not into any of those things, then you're a pinko who hates the troops.
Local vet going the distance to help out
WASHINGTON TWP. Thomas Bowe has no relatives recovering in the Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington, D.C.
But that's not stopping him from paying the soldiers a visit.
Bowe, a local veteran and a freight driver, is collecting comfort supplies for about 40 soldiers recovering from injuries sustained in Iraq and Afghanistan.
When he collects enough to fill a 28-foot trailer, he plans to drive them down to Washington and deliver them to the soldiers.
Bowe's employer, Yellow Transportation in Ben Salem, Penn., is soliciting donations from its locations across the county.
Sweat pants, sweat shirts, jackets, sneakers, razors, stamps, and stationary are some of the items needed, Bowe said.
"These wounded soldiers a lot of them are long terms," Bowe said. "Some are double or triple amputees who have a long rehab ahead of them. We kind of forget about them when they come home."
Bowe, who served with the 82nd Airborne Division of the Army in the 1980s, was injured during a training exercise when a piece of shrapnel hit his neck.
"I have a special place in my heart for these guys that get injured," Bowe said.
He's been trying to visit the soldiers since October. Since he doesn't have any immediate family there, the visitation appointment kept getting pushed back.
In the meantime, he asked the hospital what he could do to help the soldiers, and they gave him a laundry list of items these patients need.
"At first I was angry they needed those supplies," Bowe said. "They shouldn't need anything when they get back from that. They should be taken care of."
So Bowe reached out to the Red Cross chapter in Ben Salem and has also received help from his union, Teamsters Local 107.
"We haven't really gotten too much yet," Bowe said. "It's kind of a grassroots effort. We're trying to do our part to help them."
Local residents can drop off items at the Family and Community Services office in the township municipal building at 523 Egg Harbor Road.
Donations will be accepted until March 15. For more information, call Thomas Bowe at (856) 246-6496.
Another story: Township Man to Truck Goods to Washington
posted by tpotdomescandal @ 10:56 AM
1 Comments:
Kudos to your Uncle Tommy for doing what the government seems incapable of doing. Let's hope there are more people out there like him.
(On a strictly pedantic note, what local writer doesn't know that "Bensalem" is one word? Perhaps Ms. Beym assumed the town was named in honor of a Jewish man, like another city did for that famous Italian Phil Adelphia.)
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