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SCOTT AIR FORCE BASE, Ill., Jan. 3, 2013 – With a simple idea and
their fallen Marine son's Servicemembers Group Life Insurance check,
a retired soldier and his wife are honoring his memory through a
program that's bringing new hope and self-confidence to wounded
warriors.
The entrance to Camp Hope, founded by William “Mike” White and
his wife, Galia, to honor their fallen son, Marine Pfc. Christopher
Neal White, welcomes wounded warriors to the camp's healing
experience. U.S. Army photo by Michael William Petersen |
 William
“Mike” White, an equipment operator at the Military Surface
Deployment and Distribution Command here, remembers as if it
were yesterday the dreaded knock on the door as he and his
wife, Galia, learned that their son, Marine Pfc. Christopher
Neal White (photo left), had been killed. The young White,
an avid outdoorsman who grew up in rural Kentucky, died in
Iraq's Anbar province two days after Father's Day, 2006.
Heartbroken and guilt-ridden that he had convinced his
wife to allow their son to join the military, White
struggled to find meaning in their personal tragedy. “I had
to take a negative and make it a positive. It had to be
done,” he said.
Alone on a hunting trip -- an endeavor he and
his son had often shared -- White came up with the
inspiration for Camp Hope.
“I wanted to start a place
for our wounded guys, to teach them that even if they have
one arm or one leg or no arms or no legs or they're blind,
that they could still get out and enjoy the outdoors,” he
said. “Little did I know it was going to lead to where we
are today.”
The Whites used Christopher's SGLI
payment to buy Chris Neal Farm, a 170-acre retreat in
southeast Missouri, and home of Camp Hope.
Five years
later, Camp Hope is exceeding everything the senior White
could have imagined. Hundreds of combat-wounded warriors
from across the United States have flocked there to
participate in everything Christopher White loved: skeet
shooting, hunting, fishing, hiking, exploring the great
outdoors and relaxing around an ever-burning fire pit.
The idea, White explained, is to allow wounded warriors
to experience the healing powers of nature as they focus on
what they can do, instead of what they cannot.
Operated through private and corporate donations and a
legion of volunteers, Camp Hope provides a supportive,
loving environment and a renewed sense of community to
wounded warriors, White explained.
“We are really not
doing anything special other than offering them a place and
an opportunity to be able to get back and talk with other
folks whose boots have been in the same dirt,” he said.
White is the first to admit that he had no grand plan
when he and his wife founded Camp Hope. “Everything that has
happened has pretty much been an accident,” he said. “You
can't plan some of the things that have happened. There is
no way. It just happens.”
But the healing effect, he
said, is undeniable.
“There is a magic thing about
Camp Hope. I can't explain it. I really can't,” White said.
“All I know is that it does things for the good for people.
It gives a lot of hope to a lot of people. It changes their
attitude when they are there.”
Army Sgt. Bobby Lee
Lisek, a severely wounded warrior who attended the very
first gathering at Camp Hope, said he was amazed at the
transformation within himself.
“Camp Hope is the
greatest place ever. They don't hold you or hold you back.
They don't say, ‘No you can't.' There is no limit to what
you can do here,” he said.
Admitting to White that
he'd been struggling with suicidal thoughts before arriving
at Camp Hope, Lisek said, “I don't know where I'd be today
if I didn't have somewhere to go like Camp hope. I'm just at
peace here.”
So much at peace, in fact, that Lisek
volunteers his time regularly as a hunting guide, helping
other visitors to Camp Hope experience the same kind of
transformation he did.
Army Capt. Joe Bogart, another
Camp Hope veteran, said the experience gave him a renewed
sense of independence. “I got part of my old self back,” he
said. “I healed in ways I didn't know I needed to.”
For Army Spc. Adam Berkemeier, the healing came through
taking on new challenges. “They push me to do more because
they know I am capable of more,” he said.
For Army
Staff Sgt. Jonathan Kinnamore, who called his visit to Camp
Hope “one of the best experiences I've had in years,”
healing came through camaraderie with fellow wounded
warriors.
“I had forgotten how to socialize,” he
said. “It was good to be able to sit around the fire pit and
talk with people who had been in the same place I had been
in and who knew what was going on, what I'm going through.
It helped me relax for the first time in a long time.”
The Whites' work at Camp Hope has received national
recognition. In 2010, the Army honored White with its
prestigious Spirit of Hope Award, and the National AMVETS
Ladies' Auxiliary presented him its Humanitarian of the Year
award.
Veterans groups and individual and corporate
sponsors have stepped up their support as volunteers or
donors, covering all costs for veterans to participate and
even sponsoring special trips to Alaska and other
destinations.
The camp has become such a success that
White hopes to open a second Camp Hope, near Pennsylvania's
Allegheny National Forest to reach more wounded warriors.
Once it's operational, White said he plans to rely on
wounded warriors who have attended the camp themselves to
run its day-to-day operations.
He even envisioned it
creating a ripple effect, with Camp Hopes scattered around
the country to help wounded warriors heal.
White said
the calls he regularly receives from parents and spouses,
thanking him for the difference Camp Hope has made in their
loved ones' lives, is the driving force that keeps him
motivated to drive on.
“That's our payday,” he said.
“That's what makes us continue to do what we do.”
Six
years after his son's death, White still gets choked up when
he talks about the enthusiastic young boy who loved the
outdoors and dreamed of becoming a Marine. Making things
right after losing him would be impossible, he admitted.
“But now that we know we've been able to help some of
these young folks coming back, even saving some of them from
committing suicide or hurting themselves, it makes it a
little bit easier to accept,” he said. “Camp Hope is all
about Helping Other People Excel. And as it honors
Christopher's memory, that's exactly what it does for these
wounded warriors.”
By Donna Miles
American Forces Press Service
Copyright 2013
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