On Dec. 17, 2009, Commander Bill Hunt of Johnston Memorial Post 154 toured the Active Duty Rehabilitation Unit at the Charlie Norwood V.A. Medical Center in Augusta, Ga.

Commander Hunt had the opportunity to meet with a few of our wounded warriors who were there going through their daily rehab program. He also met with Mr. Doug Mitchell who is the Active Duty Rehab Unit Therapy manager. Mr. Mitchell explained how the program worked with each specific rehab need of each soldier.

He also took Commander Hunt on a tour of the rehab apartments located on site that are used to retrain these wounded warriors on the aspects of day-to-day living—things which we all take for granted each day, such as preparing a simple meal of scrambled eggs and toast, washing dishes, making beds and even taking a bath on their own.

Commander Hunt presented Mr. Mitchell with $290 worth of gift cards for the soldiers to use in their rehab training. Mr. Mitchell explained that they use the gift cards to take the soldiers on shopping trips to purchase items they will need in the apartment—for instance, food, cleaning supplies, bedding and laundry supplies. They have each soldier take a certain amount of gift card, locate the Wal-Mart they will be shopping at and give directions to the counselor who accompanies them on their shopping trip. The V.A. apartments are set up with all the amenities needed for day-to-day living.

We at Johnston Memorial Post 154 would like to thank all members who gave so graciously to the Wounded Warrior Program. We are planning to present gift cards on a quarterly basis as there is a constant influx of wounded warriors.

If you or your organization would like to help with this program of giving back to those who have given so much, you may send donations and gift cards to: Johnston Memorial Post 154, P.O. Box 327,, Johnston, SC 29832. Attn: Wounded Warriors. They only use gift cards from Wal-Mart and Target. Remember that freedom is not free!