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Wounded Marine gets help via show
Howell Veteran raffles off his M-14 at gun show to raise funds for soldier
Friday, January 14, 2005
BY JO COLLINS MATHIS
News Staff Reporter
Every day, John Lundberg of Howell spends four or five hours visiting patients at Ann Arbor's Veterans Administration Medical Center.
"Nothing in my life is as important as letting these guys know someone out there cares," said Lundberg, a Marine who fought in the Vietnam War and now works as a court officer in Livingston County.
During the last few months, Lundberg's been touched by one patient in particular.
Lance Cpl. Dustin Howell of Wayland, south of Grand Rapids, was severely injured last May by a remote-detonated bomb while serving in Iraq.
After hearing a click, Howell, who had just turned 20, stepped between the mine and his security detail to protect them, Lundberg said. He was left blind and with serious leg injuries.
Knowing there are many others who would like to help, Lundberg decided to raffle off his M-14 rifle at last weekend's Huron Gun Collectors show at the Washtenaw Farm Council near Saline. All the money was to be given to Howell.
"We have men like him who are coming back with such traumatic injuries due to our tremendous technology being able to save so many," said Lundberg. "Now we'll have a whole generation with problems far greater than we've ever seen before. Those wounds back in my days? A triage would just pass you by. You'd never have made it. But they save these guys now."
At Saturday's show, Lundberg displayed pictures of his young friend sitting in his hospital bed, a U.S. Marine and American flag on the wall behind him, holding a noncommissioned-officer sword Lundberg gave him at his request. Other pictures show Howell in leg braces, leaning on a cane, walking down the corridor with an assistant, smiling.
"This is how you normally see him," said Lundberg. "With a boyish grin."
Howell continues to undergo reconstructive surgery at the VA Medical Center, where he is frequently visited by local veterans.
"These are the real heroes, and we need to take a closer look at helping some of our own," said Lundberg. "And what an inspiration Dustin is to others."
The Huron Gun Collectors club contributes to several charities and social agencies, said President Rod Nitz. At the club's last show, members filled an offering jar with several hundred dollars for Howell.
"It makes you feel good you can help," said Mike Mitchell of Brighton, whose father is a Vietnam veteran. "We just want that young lance corporal to know there are people who care and support what he has done and what he's given up."
The visitors to last weekend's gun show seemed happy to buy a raffle ticket to help out the wounded Marine. World War II veteran Woody Brown of Howell bought two.
"It's an excellent cause," said Brown. "The tickets should be about $50 a piece and they ought to sell 3,000 of them, which would be a great help to this young man, who has come as close to giving his all as anyone has without doing it."
http://www.mlive.com/news/aanews/index.ssf?/base/news-4/1105717293150930.xml
Howell Veteran raffles off his M-14 at gun show to raise funds for soldier
Friday, January 14, 2005
BY JO COLLINS MATHIS
News Staff Reporter
Every day, John Lundberg of Howell spends four or five hours visiting patients at Ann Arbor's Veterans Administration Medical Center.
"Nothing in my life is as important as letting these guys know someone out there cares," said Lundberg, a Marine who fought in the Vietnam War and now works as a court officer in Livingston County.
During the last few months, Lundberg's been touched by one patient in particular.
Lance Cpl. Dustin Howell of Wayland, south of Grand Rapids, was severely injured last May by a remote-detonated bomb while serving in Iraq.
After hearing a click, Howell, who had just turned 20, stepped between the mine and his security detail to protect them, Lundberg said. He was left blind and with serious leg injuries.
Knowing there are many others who would like to help, Lundberg decided to raffle off his M-14 rifle at last weekend's Huron Gun Collectors show at the Washtenaw Farm Council near Saline. All the money was to be given to Howell.
"We have men like him who are coming back with such traumatic injuries due to our tremendous technology being able to save so many," said Lundberg. "Now we'll have a whole generation with problems far greater than we've ever seen before. Those wounds back in my days? A triage would just pass you by. You'd never have made it. But they save these guys now."
At Saturday's show, Lundberg displayed pictures of his young friend sitting in his hospital bed, a U.S. Marine and American flag on the wall behind him, holding a noncommissioned-officer sword Lundberg gave him at his request. Other pictures show Howell in leg braces, leaning on a cane, walking down the corridor with an assistant, smiling.
"This is how you normally see him," said Lundberg. "With a boyish grin."
Howell continues to undergo reconstructive surgery at the VA Medical Center, where he is frequently visited by local veterans.
"These are the real heroes, and we need to take a closer look at helping some of our own," said Lundberg. "And what an inspiration Dustin is to others."
The Huron Gun Collectors club contributes to several charities and social agencies, said President Rod Nitz. At the club's last show, members filled an offering jar with several hundred dollars for Howell.
"It makes you feel good you can help," said Mike Mitchell of Brighton, whose father is a Vietnam veteran. "We just want that young lance corporal to know there are people who care and support what he has done and what he's given up."
The visitors to last weekend's gun show seemed happy to buy a raffle ticket to help out the wounded Marine. World War II veteran Woody Brown of Howell bought two.
"It's an excellent cause," said Brown. "The tickets should be about $50 a piece and they ought to sell 3,000 of them, which would be a great help to this young man, who has come as close to giving his all as anyone has without doing it."
http://www.mlive.com/news/aanews/index.ssf?/base/news-4/1105717293150930.xml
Raffling off a ClassIII, and one that not too many legally transferrable ones exist? 
On the other hand, if it really were an M14, and not an M1A, I'd drop $50 on a ticket... 
