David
Walker '81 reviews hundreds of appeals from charities each year
as vice president for marketing of the National Association of
Manufacturers in Washington, D.C. But when a letter from a new
charity crossed his desk two years ago, it stirred him like a
wake-up call. "We saw its value not as charity so much as duty,"
he says.
The appeal was from the Coalition to Salute America's Heroes,
which had been organized in response to the 9/11 terrorist attacks
and the military operations in Afghanistan and Iraq. Politically
neutral, the coalition provides financial aid and other assistance
to U.S. military veterans who have been injured physically or
emotionally while fighting in those two nations.
Coalition subsidies help severely injured veterans obtain housing
that is specially designed for paraplegics or quadriplegics. The
tax-exempt organization also provides a variety of counseling
and rehabilitation programs for military personnel who have trouble
readjusting to civilian life because of injuries or for other
reasons. Some dependents of these veterans also can receive counseling.
"It's amazing how the government falls down on the job with
these vets," Walker says. "Modern medicine and battlefield technologies
allow badly injured soldiers to survive attacks, but they come
home, and then what? In many cases, spouses must quit jobs in
order to care for them. Lives are turned upside down. The American
Dream they once cherished flames out."
The association of manufacturers -- which has 13,000 members
-- signed on as a sponsor of the coalition. Walker is the liaison
between the two organizations.
"I'm ashamed to admit that it took a work assignment to get
me to focus on what the sacrifices of war really are," he says.
Once focused, however, he has been a loyal worker on behalf of
the men and women who have made the sacrifices. He spends up to
10 hours weekly on publicity and promotions, helping the coalition
gain momentum.
"I don't think anyone in corporate America is personally more
committed," says Roger Chapin, founder and volunteer president
of the coalition. He gave Walker much of the credit for "the tremendous
boost we've gotten from industry rallying behind us." Chapin,
a wealthy San Diego developer and businessman, has started numerous
charities to help veterans, the elderly and disadvantaged youth.
Walker was in Orlando, Florida, last December for the coalition's
first Salute America's Heroes Road to Recovery Conference and
Tribute, and he came away even more committed to the effort. "Seeing
some of the soldiers who are involved leaves everyone in awe,
not because of their wounds or lost limbs but because of their
heart and spirit," he says. "What's more is the power of the cross
working in their lives. Their faith is strong and unwavering despite
the challenges that have been thrust on them."
Four service members from among the 300 veterans who attended
the conference learned that they were receiving coalition subsidies
of up to $200,000 each toward the purchase of handicapped-accessible
homes. One of them was Army Reserve Staff Sergeant Tracy Jones,
who became a quadriplegic when the truck he was driving was hit
by an Iraqi water tanker.
Money for the homes and the coalition's other programs has come
largely from corporate donors. But this spring a fund-raising
project was getting off the ground that Chapin believes will make
the charity less dependent upon monetary donations. With the help
of Walker and industry, the coalition is collecting used toner
cartridges from office printers. The cartridges will be refilled
and resold, creating cash flow for the coalition.
Walker says as the coalition becomes better known, the service
members who are referred for assistance -- mostly by military
hospitals -- are growing in number and complexity of problems.
The challenge of offering them help comes simultaneously with
what he calls "a creeping indifference" to the fighting in Iraq.
His goal is to "make sure the harsh realities of the war do not
become far removed from our daily lives."
He has been inspired, he says, by the unselfishness of the service
people "who put so much on the line for the sake of the rest of
us." When asked by coalition clients why he is so committed, Walker
responds with a line that Demi Moore's character delivers in the
movie A Few Good Men. She defends Marines, she says,
"Because they stand on a wall and say, 'Nothing is going to hurt
you tonight. Not on my watch.'"
A service member who has made public appearances to promote
the coalition is former Notre Dame basketball star Danielle Green
'99, who lost her left hand and part of her arm while serving
in Baghdad. "She is a delight and inspiration," Walker says.
His assistance to the coalition "fits in with the 'God, Country,
Notre Dame' initiative of the Alumni Association," he says. "I
am reminded also of when, as a government major, I did volunteer
work at a juvenile detention center in South Bend." Community
and public service, he says, "were imprinted on my mind at Notre
Dame."
Jim Raper is a freelance writer based in Norfolk, Virginia.
(Coalition to Salute America's Heroes has headquarters at
1360 Beverly Road, Suite 300, McLean, Virginia 22101. More information
is available at www.saluteheroes.org.)
