FISHER HOUSE - HELPING MILITARY FAMILIES

Share This Page

The Fisher House Organization has become well-known over the past decade of war, and in hindsight, its founding in 1990 turned out to be a stroke of fortune for the military a decade later.

As 101st Airborne Division Commander Maj. Gen. James McConville said, the job of providing a 'home away from home' for wounded warriors in the manner the Fisher House provides, "is something we can't do in the military the way we'd like to."

Fisher House, funded totally by private donations, does it for them. There are now 55 Fisher Houses near VA hospitals and on military installations across the nation, with a 56th about to open.

On Saturday, at the Fort Campbell Fisher House, staff, past and current residents, and post and local dignitaries gathered for a little party to honor late founder Zachary Fisher's 101st birthday. However, they were celebrating more than that. They were celebrating a great idea made into reality.

Zachary Fisher

When Pearl Harbor was attacked by the Japanese on Dec. 7, 1941, Zachary Fisher, like millions of other Americans, wanted nothing more than to join the U.S. military. He couldn't, because of a construction injury suffered as a young man, so instead he served the country by building coastal artillery fortifications.

His desire to do more for men and women in uniform led eventually to the creation of the Zachary and Elizabeth Fisher Armed Forces Foundation in 1988.

The Foundation began giving payments to the families of servicemembers killed in the line of duty and then expanded to offering scholarships for military dependents.

The first Fisher House, a home for recuperating injured military personnel and their families, opened a few years later, and when Zachary Fisher died in 1999, the Foundation continued to expand the Fisher House program.

Fisher house Angels

Regina Urbanski of Soldier's Angels told of how Fisher House had been there for her and her husband, a soldier who had suffered a traumatic brain injury in combat.

"I'm honored to be a part of it and grateful to them for taking care of me, my husband and my family."

Urbanski's Soldier's Angels group provided the red, white and blue-frosted cake for the party.

The food for the party came from Walmart, another big supporter, and the drinks were courtesy of Ajax Distributors.

Wendy Carlton, who rose up through the ranks from housekeeper to director of Fort Campbell's Fisher House, explained that the donations from businesses like Walmart and Ajax are what keeps the pantries full at the home. However, it is a combination of big and small donations from all over the country that ultimately keep the doors open.

Recently, the Patriot Guard Riders donated $18,000 from their "Some Gave All Rally." Other motorcycle clubs in the area regularly hold Poker Runs and other fundraisers for the Fisher House.

"Fort Campbell and the surrounding communities are just awesome," Carlton said. "The families here have very, very few out-of-pocket expenses."

Eight families at a time can stay at the home, which opened its doors on the 60th anniversary of D-Day in 2004.

In the large kitchen inside the home, Joyce Mount, a member of the Tennessee Fisher House Board of Directors, talked about a new Fisher House about to break ground in Murfreesboro.

As the conversation went on, it turned out that her first experience with the organization came about as a result of an injury to her son, Warrant Officer Judson Mount. She stayed with him at the San Antonio Fisher House until he unfortunately passed away from his injuries after five months of fighting.

Joyce Mount dealt with the pain by reaching outside of herself to help others. It is a common story here.

Fisher House stories

Keith Hale, a Tennessee Army National Guard wounded warrior with the 278th Armored Cavalry Regiment, has been recuperating at the facility with his wife, Tianna, while his mother watches their children.

Said Hale's mother, Judy Stickney of Nashville, "This gave my kids a safe haven. He didn't have to be in the barracks, and they were able to stay together."

Tianna Hale called Fisher house director Wendy Carlton a "second mother."

Standing in the lobby near a statue of Zachary and Elizabeth Fisher, Staff Sgt. Jeffery Redman was appreciative of the Fisher House being there for him as he endured an incredible 191 surgeries. Redman wants to remain in the Army and is currently a soldier at the Warrior Transition Unit.

Wounded in Iraq in 2006 as two mortar rounds struck within 5 to 10 feet of him, Redman still attends support groups at the facility.

Outside on the lawn, country artist Stephen Cochran was doing his thing, performing for the troops. He was there at the request of a Fisher House volunteer who contacted him on Facebook.

Cochran was happy to oblige. He is, after all, a wounded warrior himself.

As a member of the Marine Corps, Cochran was severely injured in an explosion in Afghanistan, breaking his back in five places and causing his legs to be paralyzed. As he fought back against an initially hopeless diagnosis, his mother spent five months at the Bethesda Naval Hospital Fisher House in order to be near him and keep his spirits up.

Eventually a new procedure was tried on Cochran by a surgeon in Nashville and he regained the ability to walk. He thanks God, his mother, the doctor and Fisher House.

And Fisher House is thankful to have added Cochran to its ever-growing list of friends who help to keep Zachary Fisher's vision alive.

Share This Page