Before the show Friday, Toby Keith gave a retired Marine corporal who lost both legs in Afghanistan an all-terrain wheelchair.
It's not the first time Toby Keith has made such a gesture. Last month, he and the Independence Fund presented wounded veteran Christian "Chris" Fleming with a wheelchair at Keith's concert in Highland Heights, Kentucky.
In 2010, Brandon Rumbaugh was carrying a fellow Marine to safety when he stepped on an IED.
Brandon Rumbaugh
U.S. Marine Corps
Served for November 11,2007 to September 29,2012 Lives in Fayette County Pa.
Brandon lost both his legs from IED just moments after his buddy was hit with one. Brandon was trying to save his buddy.
Marine Corporal Brandon Rumbaugh was on his second deployment when he lost both of his legs in an improvised explosive device (IED) blast in Helmand Province, Afghanistan on Nov. 29, 2010.
Cpl Rumbaugh had just returned to an outpost from a combat patrol with the 1st Battalion, 8th Marines, and was responding to the scene of an IED blast involving one of his good friends outside the compound. Carrying a stretcher, and rushing with his team to aid the injured Marine, Brandon stepped on a second IED resulting in the traumatic amputations of his right leg at the hip and his left leg below the knee.
Medically evacuated by helicopter, Cpl Rumbaugh was treated at Camp Bastion before being airlifted to Landstuhl, Germany. Next he was transferred to Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington, DC in Bethesda, Maryland, spending a total of 18 months receiving treatments and therapies. Cpl Rumbaugh is currently pursuing a college education to obtain his business degree at Penn State.
He’s able to walk with prosthetic legs, but he says this type of wheelchair will let him be more active outdoors and play with his 6-month-old daughter.
https://www.facebook.com/TheIndependenceFund/
https://www.facebook.com/TheIndependenceFund/posts/2502308686517958
https://www.wafb.com/2019/09/30/toby-keith-gives-all-terrain-wheelchair-marine-who-lost-legs-afghanistan
https://www.easttexasmatters.com/entertainment-news/toby-keith-helps-veteran-with-all-terrain-wheelchair
https://www.cnn.com/2019/09/29/us/toby-keith-brandon-rumbaugh-wheelchair-trnd/index.html
I'm big supporter of cybernetics (Praise the Omnissiah!) but not for some "super powers" or blades hidden in arms on some wacko Wolverine style. I want to see those men and womens, wounded in combat or accidents with prosthetics limbs that give them ability to live theirs lives as before accident/wound. Those organizations do a lot's of good things but damn! there should not be a single reason for them to exist, they do something that country should do instead.
ReplyDeleteCountries are only run by the mega rich. The rich do not get into the military as it's low paying, high labor. Since the mega rich don't share the loss of life and limb in the military they use as a tool to soak up military offenses, and punish the military of other countries, they do not see the country as an asset to spend on fixing the military wounded.
DeleteIn the USA, there was a riot of vets in Washington DC after WW1, as the vets had been promised a bonus for extending their enlistments until the end of the war. The govt reneged. Then used the military against the vets.
Also, plenty of other horrible history. Kent State, May 4th, 1970. The March to Selma. The labor day riots of San Fransisco... etc etc.
It's only recently that tech has been able to make some really great prosthetic hands and legs
Yes, I read those stories, memories of vets from 'Nam and many from more modern times. Being a vet in US is in many cases a nightmare. It is so different from the tapping in the chest and full of pathos declarations how "we support the troops" and "thank you for service"... that clapping at the airports videos. Nice show, reality is so much more bleak.
DeleteWith huge progress in prosthetic technology and cybernetics I just hope that one day in every "service" contract there will be clause that in case of lost limb you will get a prosthetic and support of it to the rest of your live. That would be much better "thank you for your service" then clapping...
I know that this is an idealism and maybe even naivety, and you are perfectly right about rich don't give a damn. But I want to believe that we are capable of doing such things, not only throwing peoples away when they are "broken".
that contract clause is a genius idea!
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