The anti-tank bomb exploded under Sgt. Dave Glenn, blowing away his right leg. It was his third deployment. He had left for Iraq two weeks after marrying his North Carolina sweetheart.
Sentinels of Freedom Web site
Robin Glenn was used to military separation by then. She met her Special Forces soldier on a blind date. They had gone together for a month, then he was off to war. Two months later, he returned and proposed. They married in the fall, and then he was back to the war zone. The explosion took more than that leg. At Walter Reed, when retired Maj. Gen. Sidney Shachnow first met him, Glenn's dented head was swathed in bandages. His left hand was crumpled. His left leg had been amputated. He would need prosthetic limbs from the knees down. Months or years of treatment and recovery lay ahead.
Recently, in Pinehurst, Shachnow introduced Glenn and his wife to an all-star crowd of community leaders at the Pinehurst Member's Club. They had gathered at the invitation of Martha and Peyton Gentry to launch the Moore County Chapter of Sentinels for Freedom -- a scholarship plan that helps Americans badly wounded in the nation's wars take the steps into productive civilian life.
"Having been shot on two occasions myself, I can tell you that sometimes it can be painful," Shachnow said. "But you know what? They put you on morphine. And after they put me on morphine -- I felt good. But there is no morphine for the spouse: only anxiety and stress dealing with this whole situation. So, please, honor our hero Robin." Rising from his seat, Glenn strode to the microphone confidently, betraying no hint that he wore prosthetic limbs from his knees to his shoes. The depressed scars of battle could be seen on his forehead. His left hand did not work as well as it used to. His smile was bright and confident. He described his wounds simply. "Left hand, jaw, a little gray matter, two legs," he said. "Took two years to recover, then got back to Fort Bragg to work.
Now I am changing jobs to SOCOM (Special Operations Command) taking care of wounded. I have eight to 12 years more military before retirement." Glenn was in full uniform, a Green Beret soldier who has returned to duty and still planning a lifetime of military service. "I don't need any help," he said. "But others do." Glenn was there at Shachnow's request to help raise money for those others. "Every fourth or fifth individual coming back from Iraq or Afghanistan will have full stress-related syndrome," Shachnow said. "Out of Iraq and Afghanistan, we have 180,000 disabled veterans. Now most of those will not want, or need, help from the Sentinels of Freedom."
Sentinel scholarships are for the few who really need this help. "For a few, once all the ribbons and the medals have been pinned on and the service hands them an honorable discharge, a medical discharge, and the umbilical cord has been cut -- they are left at a fork in the road," Shachnow said. "One direction enters life's mainstream. Another direction leads down an unpredictable, treacherous road.
That is where Sentinels of Freedom comes in. We help this individual on his first four years to find his way on life's mainstream." 'Really Heartwarming' Sentinels for Freedom captured the hearts of the Gentrys, husband-and-wife Realtors, after they heard about it at a real estate meeting. They committed themselves to start a chapter here. This fundraiser capped a year of planning by a carefully selected startup team they'd organized to launch the Moore County chapter. "No one turned me down when I called to ask, and it was really heartwarming," Martha Gentry said. "We are so lucky in Moore County. FirstHealth sent us a letter of support. Ray Ogden of Partners in Progress has a list of nine companies so far that will have employment opportunities. "This is a scholarship program. We don't know who will choose us, whether it will be an individual, a family, or a family with children. I am really proud to be part of this program."
The simple idea of Sentinels is a four-year "scholarship" to help a badly wounded service member resume a normal life after wartime service. It takes $100,000 to bring the first Sentinel to Moore County -- but Gentry found this county has a wealth of people eager to reach into their pockets for those who had given so much themselves. "Everybody wants to help our military," she said. "But what can you do? Now, here is something that says, 'Here is what you can do.' And it's wonderful." She took the idea to Shachnow, who surprised her by raising the goal: Moore County will be home to not one, but three Sentinels in its first year. "That's what he did," she said with a laugh. "This man can really make it happen. I am so impressed with him. I told him that if I had read his book before I called him, I would never have had the nerve to call him." Shachnow's autobiography "Faith and Honor" traces his life from a 7-year-old Jewish boy in a Nazi concentration camp to American citizen and Green Beret commander. The general has no doubts about the area's ability to bring several Sentinel families here. "I think we can be responsible for three families," Shachnow said. "I think by September, October, we should have a good feel for it. It's a community effort.
This is a good place to have a family, raise your children." 'A Helping Hand' Former Gov. Jim Holshouser and John Dempsey, president of Sandhills Community College, were greeting people at the door. Both are on the Gentrys' team and enthusiasts for Sentinels. "To be honest with you, I am a veteran and have heard people say you've got to support the troops regardless of where you are on the issues," Dempsey said. "I thought, 'This is an opportunity for us to do just that.' You can actually do it. In black and white, you can actually do something and see the troops you are supporting and have a meaningful difference in a vet's life." Holshouser glimpses his country's historic national character in the program. "To me, this is such a good example of American ingenuity and American values -- and I use that term advisedly," Holshouser said. "Values. They come floating to the top when all the bad things around can be happening. This is just the best thing to be doing. It isn't the government doing this. It is just individuals and organizations around the country stepping up and doing something that is going to make a huge amount of difference in the lives of these folks." Holshouser calls Sentinels of Freedom a gift to communities themselves, to every community that welcomes the Sentinels -- a benefit for Moore County that residents will be very happy to hear about. "It's real easy to respond to this kind of program, I think," Holshouser said. ""You know -- the American people -- when you show them a good idea, will always rise to the occasion. And it didn't take but -- this long -- to see what a good idea this is. "We have a lot of people who have gone overseas and won't come back alive. There is not much we can do about that, but there is a lot we can do for those who did come back and need a little help. We are not talking about a handout here. We are talking about a helping hand as a partner that is going to put these folks on the road to success in life, which is what this country owes them, and what we should be joining in. "I think it is the kind of thing that every community that has the opportunity ought to just jump at the chance. This will make us a better place to live and a better community in our own county." Nobody here, and nobody in the national office, decides which recovering veteran will be a Moore County Sentinel. Sentinels do the choosing. "We don't pick," Martha Gentry said. "Somebody else does the picking. When we get our money ready, and notify the national committee that Moore County is ready, we go on a list. A Sentinel then looks at that list and picks us. We feel like people with ties to North Carolina will be more likely to choose us." 'Arms Wide Open' Entirely by calling and asking people they know, early members of the local team have raised $60,000 in cash. That is now safely in the bank, Peyton Gentry said. The team doesn't count promises or pledges, but there are many now and more every day. "We are working on our chapter's (tax-exampt) status with the IRS," he said. "It is coming, but it takes time. In the meantime, our national office has agreed to accept tax-deductible donations and hold them for use by our chapter -- so there is no need to wait." Giving money is easy. Donations can be dropped off at any First Bank branch. "Just walk in the door and say you want to give," Martha Gentry said. "We are interested in people all over the county having a chance to get in on this." Institutions and businesses are part of the plan. Patrick Coughlin, president and CEO of the Moore County Chamber of Commerce, said the business organization fully supports the effort. "Sentinels of Freedom brings all aspects of the community together -- business, housing, heath care, community development and charitable giving," Coughlin said. "That is why it is going to be a success. Sentinels gives people not only a chance to donate money and see how they make a difference in a wounded soldier's life -- it also gives businesses an opportunity to provide employment opportunities for these soldiers. Our local business community will be very supportive in finding places where wounded soldiers can contribute in meaningful ways." Not only soldiers bear the burdens of battle, Coughlin said. "When you employ that soldier, you make sure a kid has a bed to sleep in, a spouse has a roof overhead," he said. "Sentinels of Freedom is about giving a hand up to the family as a whole, get them on their feet. Get them back safely into the private sector. "Arms wide open -- that's what this is about."
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