State Police host special event for injured military
Gary McWhorter answers the question without a blink of hesitation.
"November 28th, 1971," said the former New Jersey State trooper.
That was the day he was shot in the chest during a routine stop along the New Jersey Turnpike.
John Loosen answers just as fast.
"Dec. 29, 1967." That was the day he lost half of his left leg in a mortar attack in Vietnam.
McWhorter was 27 and returned to duty. Loosen was 19 and obviously could not.
The ex-trooper and former soldier didn't meet until 2008, strictly by chance, at the Peking Pavilion restaurant in Manalapan. They were introduced by a mutual friend, Joe "The Leg" Jannuzeli, also a Vietnam veteran amputee.
The conversation turned toward disabled veterans, as Loosen was very deeply involved with the Wounded Warriors Project. McWhorter wanted to help and, from that meeting,Troopers Assisting Troops was born.
"He invited me to go down to Walter Reed (Army Medical Center) with him," McWhorter said. "And what we saw brought tears to my eyes. I'm not embarrassed to say I got choked up. I remember seeing this guy coming toward us in a wheelchair and,as he turned the corner, we saw a little girl by his side, holding his hand. I just lost it."
In the therapy rooms at Walter Reed, they met dozens of men and women with missing limbs and traumatic brain injuries.
"To a man, all of them said they would return to their unit if they could," McWhorter said.
He understood. He returned to duty soon after being shot during especially dangerous times for the state police. McWhorter and his partner, George Ayers, were wounded that day. The suspects ran to a nearby school in Woodbridge, where a shootout ensued. The man who shot the troopers was killed by one of his accomplices.
Two years later, Trooper Werner Foerster was killed and Trooper James Harper was wounded in a shootout with JoAnne Chesimard and two other members of the Black Liberation Army along the Turnpike in East Brunswick.
"Jimmy Harper had just relieved me," said McWhorter, who raced back to duty and was one of the troopers who apprehended Clark Edward Squire, one of Chesimard's accomplices. The other was killed in the shootout.
"We (military and police) share the 'warrior ethos,' " said Loosen, 66, who lives in Matawan. "We understand one another."
On that first trooper trip to Walter Reed, McWhorter, and Lt. Col. Drew Lieb and Capt. Joe Sarnecky arrived with state police hats and shirts.
"They thanked us and I just said, 'We should be thanking you,' " McWhorter said. Lieb came away realizing, "All they wanted was to be treated as normal."
Within a year of that trip, "Troopers Assisting Troops" (www.troopersassistingtroops.org) was launched. Each year since, in mid-September, state police host injured active duty military members and veterans for a weekend of "R & R" at the Sea Girt barracks.
It's a full weekend of entertainment that includes deep sea fishing, barbecues, concerts and other shows, lunches at the Belmar Fishing Club and Manasquan Elks, State Police demonstrations, motivational speakers and "a chance to talk," said McWhorter, 72, who lives in Millstone.
"I think they just like to get away, relax and talk to people who appreciate what they've sacrificed and can somehow relate to their service," he said.
For the first few years, the soldiers came from the medical transitional unit at Fort Dix, which has since closed. Now, that unit is at Fort Drum, N.Y., not far from shores of Lake Ontario where it flows into the St. Lawrence River.
Still, the troopers arrange for the 373-mile bus trip and State Police escorts in New York, Pennsylvania and New Jersey.
The soldiers begin with a welcoming lunch at Scarborough Fair in Manasquan, donated by owner Mike Fotinos.
"No matter how many guys come he gives it to us 'on the arm,' " McWhorter said.
From there, they are driven to downtown Manasquan and, when the bus turns onto Broad Street, they are greeted by every student from the town elementary school and regional high school. The marching band plays and majorettes swirl their flags. Many of the kids hold up signs, thanking them for their service.
"It's a surprise for them, and they really enjoy it," McWhorter said.
This year was no different. The weather was perfect last Friday as the soldiers walked up Broad Street. One was on crutches. One had a service dog named Trooper, a black lab given to him by the troopers.
The dogs are a big part of the state troopers' mission. They have raised funds to provide 14 service dogs, at about $15,000 each, mostly through the K9 For Warriors Project of Ponte Vedra, Fla.
Jeremy Hardy was given Trooper more than a year ago and says the dog helps him with the "social anxiety" he feels due to brain injuries and post-traumatic stress disorder. He was hurt in a rocket attack in Iraq in 2006, which also caused shrapnel tears to his liver and intestines.
Hardy, 38, lives in Niceville, Fla., now, but the troopers fly him up for the event and give him other support.
"They really took me under their wing," he said. "I definitely feel a brotherhood with them."
James Brererton agrees. The 47-year-old former soldier was "blown out of a Humvee" in Baghdad in 2006, and has brain injuries and suffers from PTSD. He lives locally now and has been coming to the event for eight years to help with the more recent war-torn.
"The troopers do a great thing here," he said. "The vets feel very comfortable talking to them. We can relate to each other. Like us, they're out there every day, putting their lives on the line."
Mark Di Ionno may be reached at mdiionno@starledger.com. Follow The Star-Ledger on Twitter @StarLedger and find us on Facebook.