It was December 1975. A relatively young organization called Help Hospitalized Veterans had been quietly delivering arts & crafts kits to VA and military hospitals for over four years and was about to reach a milestone – distribution of its 1,000,000th craft kit. Bob Hope, legendary actor, golfer and advocate for veterans presented the kit to Vietnam veteran Eugene Gardner.
“The popularity of the kits back then was as undeniable as it is today,” said Mike Lynch, President & CEO of Help Hospitalized Veterans (HHV). “These guys just beam when they’re handed a new kit by a therapist, because it gives them something creative to do – something which also serves as a distraction from emotional troubles. Their bodies are in the present, but mentally many are still on the battlefield.”
Nearly 30 years later, HHV reached another milestone – 20 million arts & crafts kits delivered to wounded and injured veterans. Former VA Secretary Anthony J. Principi delivered the symbolic kit to Operation Iraqi Freedom veteran Jason Wittling at the San Diego VA medical center.
Wittling, who suffered nearly total paralysis in May 2003 when his vehicle rolled during the destruction of Iraqi ordnance, thinks the kits are invaluable. He told HHV, “The craft kits are awesome. They get you moving parts that, being disabled, you think you can’t use. They build up your confidence and dexterity.”
And now, in 2009, HHV’s 25 millionth craft kit was presented to 29 year old Iraq war veteran Kortney Clemons by the Honorable Eric K. Shinseki, Secretary of Veterans Affairs at the VA medical center in San Diego. Clemons, an Army combat medic, was tending to a fallen comrade when a bomb exploded, killing three of his fellow medics and blowing away Clemons’ right leg above the knee.
“It was days before I realized I had lost my leg. I felt my dreams of competing in sports slipping away,” said Clemons. Then he saw an amputee veteran running at a nearby training facility and thought, “this is for me.” After being fitted with a prosthetic leg, he began the slow journey of learning how to walk and then run once again.