CNNpresents Wounded Warriors

Karen Karen M. Myers, U.S. Army Retired VA/DoD Coordinator Seamless Transition Program Coordinator NF/SG Veterans Health System Acting VISN 8 OIF/OEF POC 1601 SW Archer Road (00A3) Gainesville, FL 32606 PHONE: 352-379-4190 CELL: 352-316-2546 PAGER: 352-380-1353 FAX: 352-374-6116 Subject: CNN TV SPECIAL "Wounded Warriors" 27 & 28 May 8PM and 11PM (EDT) (UNCLASSIFIED) Please join us in watching a very special hour of award-winning journalism. We extend our invitation to you and your staffs... and the entire military community and their families to watch CNN PRESENTS: "WOUNDED WARRIORS" on Saturday and Sunday, May 27TH and 28th at 8pm and 11pm eastern. Please share this invitation with all your service members and their families. CNN PRESENTS: WOUNDED WARRIORS (airing Memorial Day weekend May 27th & 28th) Americans trust, if their sons, daughters, husbands or wives are sent to Iraq, that the military will take care of their loved ones and bring them home quickly should they be injured. On a very special documentary CNN PRESENTS: "WOUNDED WARRIORS" we will show you exactly how that happens. from the point of injury on the battlefield. all the way home. CNN Correspondent Alex Quade follows the medical care our troops receive in Iraq at each "level of care": from the time they are wounded, through "the golden hour" with buddy care and helicopter medevac, to field hospitals, and then aeromedical evacuation to Landstuhl, Germany, where these wounded warriors have more treatment before returning to Walter Reed and other facilities in the U.S. Ms.Quade follows a number of these warriors as they receive stateside treatment and make hard decisions about their futures. For more than 18-months, Ms.Quade has been documenting the stories of these battlefield heroes. not only those who have been wounded but those who are providing medical care. She also came across what could become a brand new level of care for all branches of the military: the first "Wounded Warriors Barracks" in America, an experiment conceived by one of the injured Marines Quade has covered from the moment he was wounded near Iskandiriyah, Iraq. It is unprecedented coverage. An inside look that civilians have not seen. Alex Quade traveled to Iraq on several occasions to embed with units in all branches of the military. not only with combat medical teams, but also field hospitals and air medevac units on the frontlines. She was given permission from the injured, and their families, to share their personal stories. And, for the very first time, to show their faces. The footage was shot carefully and respectfully. Quade's initial "Wounded Warriors" stories on CNN garnered an overwhelming response from across all branches of the military, as well as families of servicemen and women. Several U.S. military units are now using copies of it as part of their training for troops about to deploy to Iraq. And now with brand new follow-ups 18-months into the recovery of the wounded... this has become a very special one hour documentary for the award-winning CNN PRESENTS unit. Maj. Gen. Don Shepperd, USAF (ret.), CNN military analyst has this to say about CNN PRESENTS: "WOUNDED WARRIORS"... "The piece is one of the best and most powerful pieces of TV journalism you will ever see. You cannot view it without a lump in your throat and mist in your eyes - the strength of our troops, the strength, expertise and kindness of those who care for them and the strength of the families will make you feel inadequate." GySgt.Mel Greer, USMC, one of the wounded warriors Quade followed for 18-months, from Ramadi, Iraq to Camp Pendleton, California, has this to say about this CNN PRESENTS special: "You do not get shot and get home and everything is fine, as Hollywood would like you to believe. It is a long process. Recovery takes time, for some people, it takes years. And by showing viewers this, they will see the truth and it will help their families and other servicemen and women going through the process." A final word from Gen.Don Shepperd (USAF, ret.): "We are well to remember that there are those who also serve in danger in addition to our troops; however, Alex's piece is a tribute to our military and to America." Thank you.