SAN DIEGO -- During a pre-Christmas event, a woman asked a group of wounded servicemembers what they wanted or needed the most for the holidays. A simple reply of personal digital assistants was the majority response.

Two years later, the Wounded Warrior Foundation has done more than purchased PDAs for the more than 100 injured servicemembers at Naval Medical Center San Diego. They have raised enough money from donations to have families flown in from around the country to be at the bedside of their wounded sons and daughters.

"The mission of the Wounded Warrior Foundation is to assist and honor warriors who have been sent to Balboa hospital because of injuries sustained in Iraq or Afghanistan," said Sandy Lehmkuhler, the brain-power behind the project. "The project (assists servicemembers) by providing support for the family, so when they arrive at Balboa they can worry about getting their son or daughter back on their feet and not worry about bills."

The foundation provides everything from plane tickets to San Diego and rental cars to paying for bills that may arise from being away from home for extended periods of time while assisting in the servicemembers recovery.

The first Wounded Warrior luncheon, held Nov. 9, raised more than $8,000 for the non-profit group based at NMCSD.

"The donation from the American Society for Industrial Security will help send our heroes home for the holidays," Lehmkuhler added. "Theses warriors deserve to go home and see their family and friends without worrying about the cost."

According to Lehmkuhler, the foundation assists more than just those servicemembers whose injuries leave visible scars.

"We have what we call our 'blast warriors,'" she said. "We donate the PDAs to them to help in their recovery from brain injuries. These organizers help them remember to take their medications and other daily necessities."

Staff Sgt. Shawn Cheney, staff noncommissioned officer-in-charge, Marine Corps Liaison, NMCSD, gave a slide show during the luncheon, giving donators a rare glimpse at some of the life-changing injuries sustained by servicemembers in Iraq and Afghanistan.

"Part of being a Marine is taking care of Marines," Cheney said. "This has been an extremely beneficial program for the Marines at Balboa."

Rick Roberts, host of a local talk-radio show, partnered with Lehmkuhler to begin the project.
"Sandy called into my show and told me she wanted to raise enough money to buy 40 PDAs," Roberts said. "Instead, we were able to raise more than $36,000 in the first 28-minutes of the show.

"It is our obligation and duty to support these men and women and every penny raised will go to helping these warriors," he added. "This will continue until every man and woman returns from harms way."