Adopt a Veteran
Elks Veterans Committee Visit Camp Pendelton
Bring a truck load of toys for children of Marines.
Leo Hazell and Andy Dumont with a truck load of toys for Marine children at Camp Pendelton
Marine S/SGT Plummer receives toys from Jane Grillot and Andy Costello form Elks Veterans Committee
Marine S/Sgt Nathan Lynch receives toys from Elks Veterans Committee
ADOPT A VETERAN PROGRAM
Wounded Veteran
Alex Minsky
Adopted By
Mission Viejo Elks
Mission Viejo, CA (September 15, 2009) –
Mission Viejo resident, Alex Minsky, was severely wounded in Afghanistan. Due to the severity of his wounds, the Mission Viejo / Saddleback Valley Elks Lodge #2444 members have adopted Alex under the national organizations “Adopt a Veteran
Program” and as a first action are donating $500 to help with his expenses. The $500 donation was generated from the Elks Lodge Bingo charity funds. Exalted Ruler Jim Humphrey stated, “In the past, the Mission Viejo Elks have provided
veterans with phone calling cards, gift packages, clothing, comfort kits, cash, an armored vest and many other items. Alex is the first veteran adopted by this Elks Lodge. As soon as Alex is sufficiently recovered from his injuries, we will invite him and his immediate family to the lodge to celebrate that recovery and thank him personally for his service to our country.” The Elks became aware of the extent of Alex’s through an Email received from Erin Reynolds, a friend of Alex’s mom, Jackie. Jackie has been at Alex’s side at
every step of his recovery in several military hospitals in Maryland and California. Alex is currently receiving treatment in San Diego. The Mission Viejo / Saddleback Elks Lodge #2444 is one of ten lodges in the Orange Coast District of the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks (BPOE) whose headquarters is in Chicago, Illinois. The BPOE has a long standing support structure for veterans symbolized by its motto, “So long as there are veterans, the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks will never forget them.”
For nearly thirty years the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks has been actively involved in our Adopt-A-Veteran Program. It is a very popular program that every Elks Lodge should participate in. The Elks’ commitment, “So long as there are Veterans, the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks will never forget them,” is as relevant today as it was many years ago. We must not ignore the needs of our Veterans, especially those who are without family and friends close by. We can help brighten their lonely days by adopting them and involving them in Lodge activities, providing outings and dinners and making them feel special and honored for their sacrifices.
The Grand Lodge recommends that each partisipating lodge should publish the names and birthdays (without year) of its adopted Veterans in its bulletin each month and encourage Members and their families to schedule visits. Gifts for Veterans should consist of personal care items, reading material, games and similar inexpensive items. Luncheons and dinners at a restaurant or the Lodge are also recommended.
During the Lodge meeting Tuesday August 11, 2009, our members voted to Adopt Veteran Alex Minsky under the new program adopted by our lodge. The lodge also voted to donate a check for $500.00 to assist the family during Alex's rehabilitation process.
The following article in the Register brought the Alex Minsky case to our attention. Please remember Alex's bithdate, November 7 with a card. Alex will be 21 this November.
Additional donations and messages for a speedy recovery may be sent to:
San Diego Naval Medical Center San Diego
Wounded Warrior Detachment
34425 Farenholt Ave Bldg. 26 Rm 202
San Diego, CA 92134
Thursday, June 25, 2009
Mission Viejo Marine wounded in Afghanistan
Extent of Alex Minsky's brain injuries unknown.
By WILL JASON
The Orange County Register
LAKE FOREST — A Mission Viejo man who just two years ago struggled to graduate high school now lies semiconscious in a military hospital after a bomb exploded near his vehicle in Afghanistan.
Lance Cpl. Alex Minsky, 20, deployed to Afghanistan as a mortarman with the Marine Corps last month, according to family members. He spent just two weeks there before the explosion rocked his vehicle May 31 as it traveled in Bakwa, in the country's southwestern Farah province.
Minsky suffered severe brain injuries, a broken jaw and other wounds to the right side of his body. Doctors amputated his right leg below the knee.
The military is treating Minsky at the National Naval Medical Center outside Washington, D.C., where his condition changed from critical to stable last week.
Family members said they didn't know whether Minsky would survive in the days following his injury. His health improved, but as of Monday he still did not speak. It is not clear how much of his brain function will return, family members said.
"It will probably never be the Alex Minsky that I know," said his mother, Jackie Minsky. "It's going to be a wait-and-see type of game."
Jackie Minsky spoke by telephone from Washington, where she has spent every day at her son's bedside since he was flown there from a military hospital in Germany. She wears a medical gown to protect her from bacteria, which are carried in the Afghanistan sand and entered Alex's bloodstream and lungs.
Jackie said she finds hope in small steps in Alex's recovery, such as the first time he opened his eyes, or when he responded to her with nonverbal signals.
"Just a couple days ago, I was playing John Mayer in his room," Jackie said. "He took his right hand and to me it looked like he was playing air guitar like I've seen him do a million times at home."
Friends described Alex as smart and likeable, the oldest of four children with a close-knit social circle that includes aunts, uncles and more than 30 cousins. As a teenage bass player, he skipped class to practice with his heavy metal band — In Her Arms — and did so badly in school that he transferred to a home-study program on the advice of administrators.
"He was a really smart guy as far as what he wanted to learn and was interested in," said Abraham Rodriguez, 21, Minsky's close friend who played with him in the band. "We were just more apathetic toward actual school."
Minsky, who attended Carl Hankey Elementary School and Newhart Middle School in Mission Viejo, improved his grades enough to graduate from Capistrano Valley High in 2007. Then, while working at Costco a few months later, he surprised everyone by announcing he would join the Marines, according to several friends and relatives.
"Nobody was expecting him to do that," said Michael Zeffiro, 20, Minsky's friend since pre-school and a member of the band. "I think he was looking for something that would set him in a better direction."
Alex met with recruiters and took military tests for more than two months before he told his family he planned to sign a contract the next day, according to his mother.
"He thought that people were going to try to talk him out of it," Jackie said.
Jackie convinced Alex to delay his start date by two months, and in January 2008 she dropped him at recruiting center in Mission Viejo. The military bused him to the Marine Corps Recruit Depot in San Diego.
During boot camp Alex was awarded a position as guide, and led a group of 80 recruits. He graduated in three months and transferred to Camp Pendleton for weapons training.
After another three months Alex was assigned to the Second Battalion, Third Marine Regiment in Hawaii, where he trained for nearly a year.
Last month Alex stopped in Mission Viejo for a final visit with friends and family before his deployment.
"He seemed stronger and more confident," Zeffiro said of the visit. "It seemed like he grew up a lot."
Friends and family didn't hear from Alex for more than a week after he reached Afghanistan. The explosion happened just a few hours after he called home for the first time.
"I really wasn't worried until the day it happened," Jackie said. "He told me his Humvee had already run over a couple of these IED's (improvised explosive devices), and I said, 'What are you talking about?'"
The military gave the family few details about the incident, and Jackie said she is waiting for a report.
A Register request for information from the Marine Corps Base Hawaii is pending.
Family members said they expect Alex to be transferred to a Palo Alto facility specializing in brain rehabilitation when his condition improves.
"It's not a matter of months, it's a matter of years to see what his potential might be," Jackie said.
For more information or to contact the Minsky family, visit www.caringbridge.org/visit/alexminsky .
Contact the writer: wjason@ocregister.com or
Background Story
LCPL Alexander Minsky joined the Marine Corps in 2007 and completed basic training in April 2008, and was guide of his battalion.
He then did weapons training at Camp Pendelton till July 2008. He was then based out of Hawaii at Kaneohe Bay Marine Corps Base Hawaii for ten months, with deployment training in 29 Palms, CA, weeks before deployment. He was deployed to Afghanistan in the second week of May 2009.
Alex was trained as a Mortar man and his job in Afghanistan was to be a "door kicker", breaking down doors and being the first one to enter a building.
We received word Sunday (5/31) that Alex's HumVee was hit by an IED while on a patrol mission around 1:30am. Due to the extent of his injuries resulting from the blast, Alex now faces a long and arduous recovery. However, he is young, he is strong, and he is a fighter. We are confident that with the aid of his loving family and devoted friends that Alex has the best chance to make a full and speedy recovery. We are so proud of him and his commitment to the United States Marine Corps and anxiously await his return.
Thank you very much for your continued prayers and support for Alex and his family.