Shannon

The state of the art new Center for the Intrepid rehabilitation facility, and two more Fisher House living centers for injured soldiers' families, opened yesterday at Brooke Army Medical Center (BAMC) here in San Antonio, Texas. The facilities serve the burn and amputee populations returning from Iraq and Afghanistan (more).

A young soldier, Ty Ziegel, that my parents' neighbor (a BAMC nurse) worked with during his extensive 18-month recovery at BAMC is photographed in two of the Express-News photos from Monday's dedication ceremonies. The first photo (#3), shows him seated next to Senator John McKain and Senator Hillary Clinton, the other (#15) shows him seated with his wife. Their story was featured several months ago by both Time Magazine and the Oprah Winfrey Show (the Time article's worth seeking out; the Oprah coverage was minimal and seemed out-of-place.)

The new facilities were privately funded by citizens through the Intrepid Fallen Heroes Fund and Fisher House Foundation, and corporate sponsors such as San Antonio's own Randolph-Brooks Federal Credit Union and USAA. Upon completion of construction, the U.S. government, through the Army and the Veteran's Administration, runs the facilities.

The Center For the Intrepid facility offers our injured soldiers state-of-the-art rehabilitiation, including: a full size rock climbing wall (for rebuilding upper body strength, and confidence), a wave pool (for therapeutic value, recreation, etc.,) and a 360-degree Virtual Reality (VR) area for working on balance and other skills.

Sadly, there is already talk of when we will need another such center to handle the never-ending flow of newly injured amputees and burn victims -- most of them casualties from Iraq's prevalent IEDs.

Read more on CNN.com about the Center For the Intrepid opening.

CNN.com also offers more photos from the grand opening.

God Bless our Troops!

__________________
- Shannon Moore
Your Host @ WildTexas.com