Steak Night for Vets
When was the last time ya heard about any of the 'We support the troops but not the War' types doing anything like this?
Steak Night Treats Vets' Toughest Injuries
American Forces Press Service | By Paul X. Rutz | May 02, 2006
For the past two and a half years, veterans of wars past have been helping heal the latest generation of wounded troops every Friday in a basement steakhouse here.
Fran O'Brien's, a low-lit, sports-themed place with red leather chairs, wood paneling and hundreds of signed photos lining the walls, has become a source of healing for many troops as they convalesce in nearby military hospitals. The restaurant closed this weekend, but its owners, Hal Koster and Marty O'Brien, have vowed to keep putting on their free steak dinners at other locations.
Some troops have been coming to steak night since it began in October 2003. "We call them seniors," said Koster, a Vietnam veteran. "They're mentors to the newly injured; they have a job other than just drinking all my beer."
Army Staff Sgt. Chris Bain, another of the "seniors," suffered severe arm injuries in April 2004. He said he comes to steak night every week and does his best to pass his good attitude on to the new guys: "I still can't cut my food, so you know what? I purposely sit next to somebody who doesn't have legs. You know why? Because I'm all, look, you got two great arms and great hands. ... You cut my steak. I'll get your food. That's what it's all about."
For the next month, the dinners will be held at a hotel in downtown Washington, except on May 19, when the Italian embassy will take a turn. "I think the troops would enjoy that," Koster said. "We're trying to set up something nice for them, and if they like it, great. If they don't, we'll change it because the dinners are for them."
"What we're trying to do is get the new guys that aren't that comfortable with their amputations or their face disfigurations or whatever their injury is, and they don't have the strength necessarily to get out and go to a regular place," he said. "First time out of the hospital, they're not strong yet, but they're determined, and that's important."
Full Story Here.
Steak Night Treats Vets' Toughest Injuries
American Forces Press Service | By Paul X. Rutz | May 02, 2006
For the past two and a half years, veterans of wars past have been helping heal the latest generation of wounded troops every Friday in a basement steakhouse here.
Fran O'Brien's, a low-lit, sports-themed place with red leather chairs, wood paneling and hundreds of signed photos lining the walls, has become a source of healing for many troops as they convalesce in nearby military hospitals. The restaurant closed this weekend, but its owners, Hal Koster and Marty O'Brien, have vowed to keep putting on their free steak dinners at other locations.
Some troops have been coming to steak night since it began in October 2003. "We call them seniors," said Koster, a Vietnam veteran. "They're mentors to the newly injured; they have a job other than just drinking all my beer."
Army Staff Sgt. Chris Bain, another of the "seniors," suffered severe arm injuries in April 2004. He said he comes to steak night every week and does his best to pass his good attitude on to the new guys: "I still can't cut my food, so you know what? I purposely sit next to somebody who doesn't have legs. You know why? Because I'm all, look, you got two great arms and great hands. ... You cut my steak. I'll get your food. That's what it's all about."
For the next month, the dinners will be held at a hotel in downtown Washington, except on May 19, when the Italian embassy will take a turn. "I think the troops would enjoy that," Koster said. "We're trying to set up something nice for them, and if they like it, great. If they don't, we'll change it because the dinners are for them."
"What we're trying to do is get the new guys that aren't that comfortable with their amputations or their face disfigurations or whatever their injury is, and they don't have the strength necessarily to get out and go to a regular place," he said. "First time out of the hospital, they're not strong yet, but they're determined, and that's important."
Full Story Here.
posted by Hujonwi at 01:39
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