Celebration of Alive Days
Sponsors and Staff of Fairfax Memorial welcomed and greeted the injured service members and their families as they arrived for dinner at the Washington Golf & Country Club on Friday, June 20, 2012. Thank you so much for a wonderful evening!
Tom Porter's 60th Alive Day – July 18th
We celebrated Tom, a Korean War Veteran injured in 1952 and a double amputee, 60th Alive Day at tonite’s “Friday Night Dinner.” El nursed Tom back to health during his recovery from his wounds and they were married a couple of years later. They are wonderful, caring people that have been a blessing to the newly injured since the war began. Tom has spent many days at Walter Reed giving hope to the newly injured amputees as they begin their long journey of recovery. Lt. Col. Paul Pasquina, Chief of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation at WRAMC, said that Tom is as “decent and genuine as they come….he has an easy way with the wounded warriors. Tom gives them hope...that they might be able to walk again.”
Emmer Zapanta injured in 2007 joined us for dinner to celebrate his 5th Alive Day! While Emmer was recovering at Walter Reed Army Medical Center, he and his family attended several Aleethia Friday Night Dinners. Now, Emmer and his family live and work in Virginia. It was great to see everyone again.
Marlene Hall, Assistant Director of The American Legion’s Heroes to Hometown program “H2H.” Marlene spoke about the resources and benefits available through this program. H2H is a transition program for severely injured service members returning from OEF/OIF. The H2H program establishes a support network and coordinates resources for service members. In 2011, the program assisted over 1,100 veterans.
