Bryan Anderson and Valour-IT

SGT Bryan Anderson, early Valour-IT Laptop recipient.

It was the last day of Valour-IT's first Veterans Day (2005) fundraiser, when I was still stunned by its success and thrilled Valour-IT was now a viable project. Amid that emotion, arrived an email requesting a laptop for Bryan, then just two weeks into his recovery. I shared it anonymously here: "If I have to think enough to comment on it, I will end up on the floor in a puddle of tears, and I don't have time to cry today," I wrote. The email read:

...He has a long road ahead of him. His mother said that they are doing everything for him and it is getting very frustrating for him. He wants to talk to his friends but he just is not ready to do it yet. With this laptop he will be able to communicate with family and friends and will be able to do it without the help of anyone. This is going to be the first step in showing him that he will be able to do things on his own.

When I told her about project Valour-IT, she almost cried. She couldn't stop thanking us for this wonderful gift and opportunity that you are giving to B. She says that B is a fighter and that he will be getting prosthetic legs. She also said that he will be water skiing again in the future. She is so upbeat and positive over all of this.

Thank you so much for this project. This project Valour-IT is an amazing project...

Less than four months later, in February 2006, Bryan was walking. The same correspondent shared:

B came in town for a benefit dinner to help raise funds for his family. He walked into the room with his prosthetic legs, he was smiling and overwhelmed at the support he and his family received. No one was aware that B was going to be there. I do not think there was a dry eye in the room. He still has therapy but his spirit is strong. He has an amazing support group of family and friends.

The laptop was the first step to the road to recovery. It proved that he was going to be able to do all the things that he did before.

I was once again overwhelmed.

And today, out of the blue, I found him on the cover of Esquire. As my correspondent predicted, he did do all the things he'd done before... and so much more:

I've been wakeboarding, water-skiing, jet-skiing, tubing, rock climbing, snow skiing, playing catch with my brother. I try to do the same things. I'm not going to let it stop me. We did a 110-mile bike ride from Gettysburg to Washington, D. C. Sixty miles the first day, fifty miles the second day. Hand cycle, three wheels. I ended up ripping the glove, breaking the hand, breaking the whole socket. I might do it a little differently, but I'm still going to do it...

He knows who he is:

This doesn't define me. It may be how I look on the outside, but it's not who I am. I guess you could remember me easily as being a triple amputee, but it's not who I am, has nothing to do with who I am. I've always been the same person...

His spirit is indomitable:

You have two options once this happens: Roll over and die or move on. I chose to move on. I'm still me. I'm just 75 percent off. Get a deal on Bryan Andersons this week. You know who actually told me that the first time? My mom. We were in Vegas, talking about T-shirts we should make, and she said "75 percent off." She said, "You should get a shirt showing off your personality."

I keep thinking back to that line: "The laptop was the first step to the road to recovery." I'm stunned, I'm touched, I'm humbled, I'm... I don't have words for what I am feeling. I don't think the right ones exist in the English language...

These are the kinds of people donations to Valour-IT are helping. Just... wow.

More Recipients

Chuck Ziegenfuss, whose wounds inspired Valour-IT, was back prowling the halls of Walter Reed a week ago in preparation for yet another surgery. Each time he goes back, he literally searches the wards for people who need Valour-IT.

This time he found three amazing men in Ward 57 who have given him permission to share their stories. Here's one:

Bruce...was pretty excited about the Valour-IT laptops, and really excited about this post and picture, because as he put it: “I hope the enemy does read your blog. They’ll see me and it’ll be a great big “Up yours! You missed, you failed, I’m still here!”

Wounded, bedridden, and still trying to take the fight to the enemy.

Chuck also has the stories of a generous medic named Stephen , and a courageous lieutenant being tended by his brother. All are going to need Valour-IT laptops.

You can read their stories here.

More Valour-IT in Action

Soldiers' Angels/Valour-IT has recently received more thank you notes from laptop recipients. First, from a female soldier (somewhat of a rarity among the wounded we serve):

To Soldiers' Angels,

I wanted to express my gratitude for the computer I was given by all of you. Words cannot convey how very much this means to me. I have never had a laptop before, and being an E-4 I would not have been able to afford one for some time to come. All of you are Godsends. Thank you so much. I wish there was some way I could repay you for this. Thank you again.
Most Sincerely,
Specialist W
U.S.Army

And this, from another type of soldier who is somewhat rare among the lists of wounded:

Thank you for the computer donated that I picked up at [the hospital] today. Organizations like Soldiers' Angels that reach out to service members are never forgotten and are always in our hearts.

Our jobs as service members are just like anybody else's jobs. We are proud of what we do as servicemembers, but we never see the real reality of our jobs until we go to war. We never wanted to see the reality because if we are lucky we come back normal or the other.

My injuries during my deployment to Iraq, which consist of burns and other injuries, I have finally accepted. And with the generosity of your organization, it brings a lot of comfort to my recovery.

When I was in the burn ward I was probably the first senior-ranking person as a patient. When I was recovering with therapy with the other servicemembers, they thought I was one of the lower ranking personnel. When I told the servicemember I was a master sergeant, he was really surprised and shook my hand and said," Only lower-ranking people get hurt or killed!" He felt good that at least someone in a leadership position cares! His statement brings back to [mind] your organization, an organization that cares and reaches out. Thank you again, from myself and my family, and the servicemembers and their families.

MSG A

Just two more of the great people Valour-IT is helping, thanks to our wonderful donors and volunteers...

Valour-IT on MediaShift

Mark Glaser, freelance writer and author of PBS blog MediaShift, has once again spotlighted Valour-IT. This time he has written an in-depth post. Here's how he introduces it, via email:

Hi all,
Just a note to let you know that my latest in-depth post just went up at PBS MediaShift, this time a look at Valour-IT, an ad hoc charity organization that has given out hundreds of laptops with voice-recognition software to injured soldiers. It started last year when Army Captain Chuck Ziegenfuss injured both his hands and wanted to get back to blogging. His blog readers pitched in for Dragon Naturally Speaking software, and he and another blogger, FbL, put together Valour-IT and have raised more than $330,000 with two online Veteran's Day fundraisers fueled by milbloggers.

Key quote:
"We made our goal [to raise] $24,000 for the 10 days leading up to Veteran's Day [in 2005]. To my utter shock, we raised $100,000. I thought, 'Holy cow, what did I get myself involved in?' The VA [Veterans Affairs] and Military Order of the Purple Heart heard about us and the Undersecretary of the VA invited us to come out to visit one of the trauma units and deliver the laptops there...This year, we raised almost $230,000 in the two weeks leading up to Veteran's Day. We've delivered almost 700 laptops now. I figured this time around, with more media connections, I decided to think big and shoot for $180,000 and we blew right through that to $230,000." -- FbL, co-founder of Valour-IT

It's a real old fashioned holiday story, refashioned for the new media age...

Enjoy,
Mark

Mark has a very interesting blog, and he did a wonderful job telling the whole story of Valour-IT in a post born of thorough research and multiple interviews. It's definitely among the best media coverage Valour-IT has received so far. Check it out at MediaShift.

[Cross-posted at Fuzzilicious Thinking]