Banner image: Staff Sergeant Victor Bachand, Sandy Lehmkuhler, and Sergeant Chad Robert Carter

The Warrior Foundation
The men and women of the United States military aren’t the complaining types. Even when they’ve been grievously injured fighting a war in a faraway land, they don’t ask for much. Most of them just want to get back to their lives. Sandy Lehmkuhler, a Navy wife and mom, calls them warriors.

"You can’t call them heroes," she explains. "They’ll say they were just doing their jobs."

Lehmkuhler says she’d get out on the front lines and fight if they’d let her. But since that’s not a possibility, the big-hearted civilian got involved in other ways. She began visiting the wounded military sent home from overseas to medical and rehabilitation facilities in San Diego, and realized that these warriors had some special needs that weren’t being met.

A modest Christmas request led Lehmkuhler to Rick Roberts, the host of the popular Rick Roberts Show on 760 KFMB talk radio in San Diego. In December of 2004, she contacted Roberts and explained that there were 300 young men at the Balboa Naval Medical Center who could benefit from a special Norelco razor that dispenses lotion and can be used in or out of the shower — perfect for those with upper body injuries or confined to a bed. The cost per unit was more than $100.

Roberts went on-air with the request, and within 35 minutes, his listeners had donated enough money to cover the entire purchase. When Norelco agreed to provide the razors at cost, the leftover money was used by Roberts to create the Warrior Foundation, a nonprofit organization that assists San Diego’s wounded and disabled military between the ages of 18 and 35.

Since then, the Warrior Foundation — partnered with the San Diego Council of the Navy League — has gone on to raise $2.1 million in grants, cash donations, and gifts in kind. Roberts, Lehmkuhler, and their cadre of volunteers are tireless in their efforts, and together with the generosity of local individuals and businesses, have been able to provide everything from leather jackets and Palm Pilots to airfare for trips home, temporary housing for visiting families, and a minibus and golf carts for transportation.

Most recently, La Jolla-based philanthropic women’s organization Las Patronas awarded the Warrior Foundation a grant to cover the purchase of motorized scooters — a huge help to immobilized warriors trying to navigate the hospital grounds. Lehmkuhler’s original projection covered four scooters. She was able to procure six, as well as two crank bikes, which are pedaled by arm, not leg.

Sergeant Chad Robert Carter, a 27-year-old Marine from Iowa, recently rode a similar crank bike in San Diego’s Rock ’n’ Roll Marathon and finished 26.2 miles in just over two hours. Four years ago, he cracked his vertebrate in four places during a friendly-fire incident in Iraq.

"He’s a walking miracle," says Lehmkuhler, who exudes motherly warmth to everyone she comes across, particularly her warriors.

The handsome young sergeant uncomplainingly explains that he underwent five surgeries on his back and two on his shoulder — 11.5 hours in total. They opened him up from the front and the back and inserted a titanium rod to support his spine.

"Within four days, he was walking down the hall with a smile on his face," recalls Lehmkuhler with pride. "He said, 'I’m vertical!’"

Though Carter continues to live in Balboa Naval Hospital’s Medical Hold facilities — a sort of post-hospital dormitory for the wounded who are rehabilitating but can function independently — you’d never suspect he was injured, save for his scars and the chronic pain he admits to reluctantly. His can-do attitude speaks to the mission of the Warrior Foundation, which goes beyond the various amenities and services it provides.

"The first thing many of these wounded ask is, 'When can I go back?’" says Lehmkuhler. "We have to get them to understand that their battle now is to get better. They have to get better so their buddies won’t worry about them."

Carter, who praises the Warrior Foundation and all it’s done for him and his fellow wounded, has parlayed his experience as one of the first to be sent from Iraq to Balboa into invaluable assistance for new arrivals.

"When I first got here, I would go to the wards and they would open up to me more than anyone else," he says. "They know where I’m coming from more than someone who hasn’t been there."

He’s dedicated almost nine years to the Marines, and when he’s adequately recovered, he hopes to go on permanent limited disability and stay on in Med-Hold as a staff member.

After he and Lehmkuhler pose for a photo in front of an elegant display cabinet — donated by the Warrior Foundation and filled with Marine memorabilia from fellow warriors, retired Marines, and those who’ve lost their buddies — Lehmkuhler, wearing a crisp white coat embroidered with American flags, looks at Carter with warmth in her eyes.

"They’re easy to take care of," she says.

Without pause and with the utmost sincerity, the warrior responds: "We don’t require a lot."
— AnnaMaria Stephens, photo by Vincent Knakal

Year Founded: 2003, by Rick Roberts of KFMB 760 AM live on the air on Christmas.

Overall Mission: To help the wounded and disabled military heroes who are leading the fight in the war against terror. To help the seriously injured who are assigned to Balboa Naval Medical Hospital, Camp Pendleton Naval Hospital, or those who are going through rehabilitation in the San Diego area.

Current Funding Objectives: To raise enough money to be able to provide the parents of the returning warriors coming home from Iraq or Afghanistan with airline tickets, hotel rooms, and transportation, so that they can be in San Diego when their warrior arrives — in short, to provide whatever is needed so that all they have to do is concentrate on getting their warrior back on his/her feet.

Donation Administration Cost Ratio: 100 percent of all of donations go directly to the warriors.

Organization’s Biggest Challenge: Securing airline tickets. In the last month alone the foundation flew in 26 family members, and some warriors home for short-leave periods.

Contact Information: Sandy Lehmkuhler, warriorfoundation1@yahoo.com, www.warriorfoundation.com