Old Forge hosts National Wounded Warrior Project committee

Frank Logalbo of Jacksonville, FL, the National Service Director for the Wounded Warrior Project (WWP) and Mike Kiser of Seattle, WA, Senior Benefits Liaison for WWP, were welcomed to Old Forge on Tuesday, June 26 at the American Legion Post #893.

They were in town to meet with 12 other members of the National Committee from around the country for a training session.

The meeting was originally scheduled to be held at Fort Drum, where they planned to meet with soldiers on the base, “but they just got back from deployment and their Commander gave them leave, so we came directly here to Old Forge,” said Logalbo.

Logalbo, a former Navy Corpsman who grew up in the Utica area, has been involved with the Veterans Benefits program and the Wounded Warrior Project for 18 years.

“We make a difference every day and each of the Warriors and veterans can be helped through our Benefits Claims Assistance. Right now with mental health issues, there’s a huge number of Warriors with Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) after serving in combat,” he said.

“We have a Combat Recovery Team that reaches out to warriors to make sure they’re insured and they’re successful with our Project Odyssey,” he added.

Project Odyssey is a program guided by trained staff that helps Wounded Warriors adjust to life back home and to come to terms with their most extreme military experiences—to make the transition from the battlefield to civilian life.

The program logo, Logalbo said, illustrates one Warrior carrying another Warrior “through each of their challenges to become well adjusted, so they can put the pieces of their lives back together and become successful.”

Kiser said of Logalbo, “This guy is the leader of a great team and we have taken what he’s said to heart—to honor and empower America’s newest heroes and to utilize many different programs to make that happen.”

Logalbo and his team were invited as special guests to the Legion’s Scholarship Dinner held at the post on Thursday, June 28th.

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