Ordnance can pack a punch even while it is being disassembled.
Retired Marine Staff Sgt. David Crouse is proof of that.
In January of 2013, Crouse was part of an explosive ordnance team that was teaching members of the Cambodian military how to disassemble bombs when an accidental detonation o caused him to lose his left hand and eye.
“I kind of had a bad day at the office while disassembling some explosives,” he said.
A couple of Crouses’ colleagues were also injured in the explosion. He would spend the next two years recovering at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center in Bethesda, Maryland.
“I kind of went through a period of a few months where I didn’t realize I was struggling with some things,” he explained.
Crouse said at that time, he didn’t feel or act like his usual outgoing self as he coped with the ending of his military career and the uncertainty of his future as a civilian.
“I was kind of processing this stuff or not processing this stuff and heard about this organization, this group of pilots that would fly folks out to baseball games,” he said.
That organization is PALS – Patient Airlift Services -- which arranges free air transportation for those requiring treatment for medical conditions and to morale-boosting events such as trips to baseball games for service members and their families through the PALS for Patriots Program.
Initially, Crouse didn’t want to participate in the PALS program because he felt he didn’t deserve to.
“I’m here because I screwed up on something,” he said of his time in the hospital. “I’m not a hero and I’ve got all these organizations looking to help me out. I’d rather not accept that.”
Leadership from a Marine detachment in New England was, however, able to convince Crouse to take a PALS Flight to a Boston Red Sox game at Fenway Stadium.
“That trip really ended up changing the course of my recovery and in a lot of ways of changing my life and my perception of what my future was going to look like,” he said.
Crouse said while in the hospital he was continually thinking about everything that led him to be there. Attending the baseball game renewed his spirits and gave him his vigor back.
“For the first time since I got hurt, I went two or three days without being focused on the state of my recovery, without being distracted by my injuries,” he said. “We were just a bunch of guys hanging out at a baseball game, enjoying each other's company without viewing everything through this lens of physical and mental recovery.”
Retired Air Force Lt. Col. Phil Soucy is one of the volunteer pilots who fly vets like Crouse on behalf of PALS.
“I’ve been very fortunate in my time in the Air Force and experiences I had with flying and types of airplanes I flew,” he said.
Soucy, who retired in 1993 was a navigator and has been a PALS pilot for five years.
“It’s a part of giving back, to help people get to a medical treatment facility,” Soucy added. “For me, it allows me to share my love of flying with other folks.”
Soucy has averaged about one PALS flight a month during his time as a volunteer pilot.
“Probably half of the flights I’ve done, probably half of them have been a child and a parent,” he said. “I’ve been very fortunate, my two daughters have been healthy, but not every family has been as fortunate.”
Three of Soucy’s friends also serve as volunteer pilots for the organization.
“I get way more out of it than I give,” Soucy said. “It’s not just going out with a buddy and getting a hamburger or something. It’s actually accomplishing something.”
PALS also partners with the Department of Veterans Affairs to transport vets to therapeutic experiences and to camp experiences held by the Travis Mills Foundation in Maine.
“They gave me the opportunity to have a very fulfilling, satisfying and fun time at a period of time in my life where I was really questioning if I’d ever be able to get that enjoyment out of something,” said Crouse.
Veteran organizations to volunteer with during the holidays
For 60 years, this Marne has been spreading holiday cheer through Toys for Tots
Reach Julia LeDoux: Julia@connectingvets.com
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