As many of you may know, I was a paramedic in Monterey County, CA for 11 years. During the last 4-5 years of that time, my partner was an awesome woman named Terri. We were, and still remain great friends to this day. We went through a lot of hairy-assed calls together, all over that county. She was always a partner I could count on to take care of her side of things without fail. After I left, she remained on the rig for another decade, finally leaving after 18 years of service to the community when she married an equally incredible guy named Randy. (With whom I also became good friends.)

Terri followed Randy (who is an officer in the US Navy) first to Norfolk and then to Guam. While in Guam, she learned to scuba dive and went as far as to earn her master diver certification. She sent me some incredible photos, and even made a book of her pictures of Guam, which I keep on my coffee table to this day.

Unfortunately, she suffered a dive accident (DCS) which led to a string of problems, through which she has been struggling. She is now being treated at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center, where she has come into contact with many of the young men and women injured while serving our country. A fiercely independent and self-sufficient lady who now has to struggle with incredible pain on a daily basis as she pushes through her therapy to regain her mobility, she has come to appreciate and understand the difficulties that our wounded soldiers face day in, and day out, as they too fight to regain the independence that they sacrificed in service of our nation. She has also come to appreciate the work done by the Wounded Warrior Program, as well as the various therapy dog services.

I ask all of you to visit the Wounded Warrior website, and to do what you can to help. These fine people need our support. A small donation, the purchase of a T-shirt…it all helps.

It is the least that we can do.