Sunday, May 15, 2011

Soldier Aids Wounded Warriors

By Army Capt. Ozzie Santiago Smith III
25th Combat Aviation Brigade Public Affairs
NORTH SHORE, Hawaii, May 12, 2011 - People run grueling 26-mile marathons for all kinds of reasons -- for a personal challenge, because they're competitive, or maybe because it's just a great way to stay physically fit.
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Army Staff Sgt. Marc Dibernardo, E Company, 2nd Assault Helicopter Battalion, 25th Aviation Regiment, 25th Combat Aviation Brigade, who wears a gas mask when he runs for soldiers wounded in combat, participates in the North Shore Marathon with assistance from members of Team Red, White, and Blue at North Shore, Hawaii, May 1, 2011. U.S. Army photo by Capt. Michael Linnington 
However, Army Staff Sgt. Marc Dibernardo pounds pavement because he wants to honor the service of his fallen comrades and to support the nation's wounded warriors.
A member of E Company, 2-25th Assault Helicopter Battalion, 25th Combat Aviation Brigade, Dibernardo runs to raise cash for the support and recovery of wounded warriors, and he's been running donned in shorts, shoes, t-shirt -- and gas mask -- since 2003.
While he runs for all wounded warriors -- sailors, airmen, Marines and soldiers -- Dibernardo's participation in the North Shore Marathon on May 1, 2011, was in memory of 10 friends he'd lost in Afghanistan and those comrades who'd succumbed to their combat wounds when they'd returned stateside for advanced medical treatment.
After crossing the finish line, Dibernardo was unofficially informed he'd finished the course in 3 hours, 49 minutes and 42 seconds, breaking the previous world record by five minutes for an individual running a marathon in a gas mask.
Sponsored by Team Red, White and Blue, a non-profit organization that aids wounded warriors by sponsoring extreme athletes, Dibernardo helps the team with a unique support system for veterans, families and friends recovering from injuries received during combat operations.
Donations raised by the team are used to fund the reintegration of wounded warriors back into civilian society.
"The fallen and wounded warriors are the heroes. I'm not a hero. They're heroes," Dibernardo said. "This is the best way I know how to let the world know about the sacrifices being made by our soldiers."
Members of Dibernardo's chain of command rally behind him.
"I'm very proud of him. It's an outstanding thing what he's doing and a great reason why he's doing it," said Army 1st Sgt. Henry Wood.
"I'm really proud of him it's incredible what he is doing running a marathon and in a gas mask, said Army Capt. Lindsay Maples, Dibernardo's company commander. "We let him do his own training during physical fitness time."  

Eye Clinic Restores Sight, Hope for Malawians


By Donna Miles
American Forces Press Service
LILONGWE, Malawi, May 12, 2011 – Few memories from a medical exercise that wraps up here today stand out so vividly for a team of Army ophthalmologists than the moment when an elderly cataract-surgery patient danced with joy when the bandages were removed from her face.
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Army Lt. Col. (Dr.) Darrell “Casey” Carlton, an eye surgeon based at Womack Army Medical Center at Fort Bragg, N.C., right; and Army Maj. (Dr.) Charles Redger, an anesthesiologist from Madigan Army Medical Center at Fort Lewis, Wash., prepare 78-year-old Valentino Kachindamoto for cataract surgery at an eye clinic in Lilongwe, Malawi, May 11, 2011. DOD photo by Donna Miles  
It was a high point among almost two weeks of high points, said Army Lt. Col. (Dr.) Darrell “Casey” Carlton, assistant officer-in-charge for the eye clinic at the Lions Sight First Eye Hospital here.
“There is nothing quite so gratifying as that moment when the bandages come off and the patients realize they can see,” Carlton said. “It’s a life-changing change for them.”
Life-changing events like this became the norm during a medical readiness education and training exercise conducted here in tandem with U.S. Army Africa’s MEDREACH 11 mission. That mission, featuring medical training exchanges between U.S. and Malawi Defense Force members, included three medical and dental outreach clinics that delivered care to the Malawian people.
The eye clinic was a smaller effort, conducted by the only active-duty military members among about 100 U.S. MEDREACH participants. But for the 308 patients who received cataract surgery as of yesterday, and as many as 50 expected to have surgeries today, the impact was beyond words.
Cataract surgery candidates in Malawi aren’t like those in the United States, where patients tend to see an eye doctor at the onset of a problem, Carlton explained. In Lilongwe, he said, many Malawian patients have advanced cataracts, with the lenses of their eyes clouded over almost to the point of blindness.
Larry Grandorff, a civilian Defense Department nurse here from Madigan Army Medical Center at Fort Lewis, Wash., made a rundown of the patients the eye team had treated. One-third had only light perception. One-third could discern nothing more than a hand waving in front of their faces. And only one-third could count the number of fingers held up before them.
Treating these patients with advanced cataracts is a relatively simple procedure that averages about 30 minutes, start to finish, said Army Col. (Dr.) Bill Wilson, a Walter Reed Army Medical Center ophthalmologist serving as officer-in-charge of the eye clinic here.
Using a “tunneled” procedure that reduces the need for post-operative care, doctors achieve extraordinary successes without the need for a lot of high-tech equipment, he said.
Carlton, who noted he might conduct seven or eight cataract surgeries on a particularly busy day at Womack Army Medical Center at Fort Bragg, N.C., marveled at the team’s efficiency and output.
“We’re averaging 50 patients a day,” he said. “You can compare that to a busy civilian practice that might have a little more than 20 a day.”
Among yesterday’s patients was 78-year-old Valentino Kachindamoto. He climbed up onto the table as Army Maj. (Dr.) Charles Redger, an anesthesiologist from Madigan Army Medical Center at Fort Lewis, Wash., numbed the area for surgery. With advanced cataracts in both eyes that enabled him to see little more than hand motion, Kachindamoto was scheduled for two surgeries: one yesterday and one today.
“I can’t tell you how unbelievably fulfilling it is to be part of a team like this, with everyone doing whatever needs to be done to help these people,” Redger said. “Some of these patients have never seen their own grandchildren, and what we are doing is going to allow them to enjoy their grandchildren in a whole new way.”
“I get goose bumps just talking about it,” said Army Maj. (Dr.) Travis Frazier, another Madigan doctor screening candidates for cataract surgery. “Seeing them smile and dance -- it feels great knowing what a huge difference this is going to make. The impact that this is going to have on their lives is really hard to measure.” 
Related Sites:
Photo Essay: U.S. Troops Participate in Africom MEDREACH 2011
U.S. Africa Command
U.S. Army Africa
CIA Factbook: Malawi

Army Maj. (Dr.) Travis Frazier, an ophthalmologist at Madigan Army Medical Center at Fort Lewis, Wash., screens a potential candidate for cataract surgery at an eye clinic in Lilongwe, Malawi, May 11, 2011. DOD photo by Donna Miles  
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Dr. Keith Dahlhauser, a former physician at Madigan Army Medical Center at Fort Lewis, Wash., who now volunteers his time to support humanitarian outreach missions, performs cataract surgery on 78-year-old Valentino Kachindamoto with a Malawian medical assistant at his side at an eye clinic in Lilongwe, Malawi, May 11, 2011. DOD photo by Donna Miles  
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Patients recovering after receiving cataract surgery at an eye clinic in Lilongwe, Malawi, give their thumbs up as their vision and hope is restored on May 11, 2011. DOD photo by Donna Miles  
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