Operation Helmet

Post 1463 recently presented a check for $1,000 to Operation Helmet to purchase replacement kits to make helmets more comfortable for our troops. Details can be found in the article below:



L to R: Jr. Vice Commander Barry Diem, Past Commander Dick Getz, Commander Joel Ellis presenting $1000.00 checkto Anne Hohenwarter of Acadia Inc.; and Past Commander Bob Antes

Operation Helmet Gives Troops Some Comfort
by Stephanie Weaver, Staff Writer, Intelligencer Jpurnal/Lancaster New Era

As Anne Hohenwarter helped her son prepare for his deployment to Iraq this month, she wanted to do everything possible to make sure he would be protected.

While talking with other parents, Hohenwarter learned of a helmet-upgrade kit from Operation Helmet, a donation-based organization.
" I was surprised that there would be a need for a helmet upgrade because I would have thought... they would have the best protection available," Hohenwarter said. "The fact is they don't."

The standard-issue helmets are sufficient to protect, but Hohenwarter said they are extremely uncomfortable, comparing them to "a row of bricks surrounding your head."

The discomfort leads to distracting headaches, Hohenwarter said, causing many soldiers to poke holes in the lining or take the helmets off completely.

The linings in the standard-issue helmets also are highly flammable, leading to a significant increase in head burns among troops.
Retired Navy Captain Dr. Robert Meaders created Operation Helmet in 2004 to give troops up-graded linings, free of charge. Soldiers remove the original lining and replace it with the upgraded lining, -which helps increase the helmet's protection, comfort and stability.

Hohenwarter decided to raise funds to give each soldier in her son's 40-man platoon an upgrade, which cost $34 a kit.

When she contacted Meaders, he sent the kits to her immediately funded by previous donations to the organization.

Since then, Meaders has received a request for 290 kits from a Marine company in Afghanistan's Helmand province.

While she always planned to cover the cost of the upgrades for her son's platoon, Hohenwarter felt called to help the troops on the front lines, and she organized a fundraiser with Acadia Inc., where she serves as a cognitive therapist and behavioral specialist.

" Those guys right there are begging for them," Hohenwarter said. 'That's my hope, that some of the money we raise will end up on the heads of guys out there right now."

Acadia, a post-acute brain injury rehabilitation center, will be holding a "Hot Dog Lunch" on Wednesday and on Aug. 21 at the High Pavilion, 1853 William Penn Way.