Research - Rehabilitation - Re-Employment

Sgt. Shaft 10/25/2004

Dear Sgt Shaft,
My name is Tonia Sargent. I am the wife of a Marine Injured in Iraq. My husband, GySgt Kenneth W. Sargent (that’s right our last name is Sargent!) is thirty-six years old. He has been a Marine for 17 ½ years. He had wanted to do thirty years of service. Kenneth and I were high school sweethearts, married at seventeen and eighteen. We have two teenage daughters, fifteen and seventeen.

My husband’s dreams were altered on August 5, 2004. He sustained a shrapnel injury to his head from an IED explosion after volunteering for a mission in Iraq. The Marine Corps rushed me to his bedside at the National Naval Medical Center. We were supported at Bethesda by the Marine Liaison office with the utmost respect and warmth. . We had visits from the Secretary of Defense, Assistant Secretary of Defense, the President’s physician, several Congressmen, the Commandant and Assistant Commandant of the Marine Corps, the Sergeant Major of the Marine Corps and many Marine Corps League members. It was a proud moment for both my husband and me.

Kenneth is now at a VA hospital in Palo Alto, California and will be in a rehab program for a year or more. He misses his Marines but he is humbled that every Sunday they line up in Iraq to call him on the telephone. I am sharing our story with you because you have been instrumental in spreading the word about the Injured Marine Semper Fi Fund (IMSFF). This Fund has assisted my family twice with financial assistance. There was no red tape, they just helped. Had it not been for the Injured Marine Semper Fi Fund, I would not have been able to pay my bills for the last three months nor stay at my husband’s bedside.

Contributions to this organization are a tax deductible for caring individuals who would like to do something easy while making an enormous impact on the lives of struggling families in their time of need. I don’t represent anyone, just my family but I have passed the information on the IMSFF to every other injured Marine family I have come in contact with. All of them have been assisted with quick turn-around times, sometimes less than forty-eight hours.

The Injured Marine Semper Fi Fund is the only organization I have found that will assist active duty families. All others I have researched can only assist if my Marine has been discharged or is dead. I am asking for all of your readers to help. It has been a relief to me that I have had assistance from the Semper Fi Fund. The Fund was founded in May of this year by a small group of Marine Corps spouses, and this summer General Al Gray, the 29th Commandant of the Marine Corps joined their Board of Directors.

Everyone can make a difference; a contribution to this Fund will help other families like mine. I pray that more people will send donations so that the Fund can continue to live up to its title. Semper Fi” is the US Marine Corps motto and it means “always faithful”.

Each day is a blessing to my husband. He has taught me to be strong and he is my hero. He represents our freedom. My family has sacrificed for this country and we wouldn’t change a thing. My Gunny has been given a second chance at life and we feel responsible to help the next family, to make their situation better than ours. We can all make a difference and I’m asking your readers to help me do that by contributing to the Injured Marine Semper Fi Fund. God bless all of us. Thank you for your prayers and support.

Sincerely,
Tonia Sargent

The address for tax-deductible donations is:

Injured Marine Semper Fi Fund
825 College Blvd. Suite 102
PMB 609
Oceanside, CA 92057

Dear Tonia,
Thank you and your husband for the great sacrifice you have made to our Country. I am sure the following poignant words of fellow Nam combat vet, George Skypeck will give solace to your husband and his fellow warriors.

"I was that which others did not want to be. I went where others feared to go and did what others failed to do. I asked nothing from those who gave nothing, and reluctantly accepted the thought of eternal loneliness ... should I fail. I have seen the face of terror, felt the stinging cold of fear, and enjoyed the sweet taste of a moment's love. I have cried, pained, and hoped ... but most of all, I have lived times others would say were best forgotten. At least someday I will be able to say that I was proud of what I was ... a soldier."

I urge all my fellow vets, their families, and Shaft readers to get behind our troops and also contribute to this wonderful program, the injured Marine’s Semper Fi Fund. And by the way reflect on your gift of citizenship get off your butt and vote

Shaft Notes
The Sarge was happy to participate in marking the one-year anniversary of Fran O’Brien’s Stadium Steakhouse providing free weekly dinners to service members treated at Walter Reed Army Medical Center and National Naval Medical Center for injuries sustained during Operation Iraqi Freedom and Operation Enduring Freedom.

Guest speakers included Deputy Secretary of Defense Paul Wolfowitz and, Humaila Akrawyan, an Iraqi citizen representing a group of Iraqis.

Attendees included 70-plus troops wounded in the Middle East ant their families.

Send letters to Sgt. Shaft, c/o John Fales, P.O. Box 65900, Washington, D.C. 20035-5900; fax to 301-622-3330; call 202-462-4430 or email sgtshaft@bavf.org.

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