As a retired member of the Special Forces, Art Weintraub knows the toll that combat can take on the soldiers who are in high-risk combat.
Special Mission Units include Seal Team Six, the Navy force that took out Osama Bin Laden in Pakistan, the Army’s Delta Force and Green Berets as well as other armed services groups. They are the soldiers who go behind the front lines for reconnaissance missions and risky operations. As vital as their activities are for the military, their work is incredibly dangerous.
“When they get hurt, they really get hurt,” Weintraub said.
Weintraub, a Springfield resident and the Commander of the Jewish War Veterans Post 273 in Springfield, is working to help Special Forces soldiers who have been injured in combat. He is looking to enlist the public's aid for the needs of injured service members that have made sacrifices he describes as “far beyond human comprehension.”
Through his leadership, the JWV Post has been recognized as a financial contributor for Wounded Warriors through the 46th Special Forces Association. The Wounded Warrior Project is a national charitable support program for veterans injured in combat founded in 2003 by injured former members of the military. Weintraub strongly endorsed the group for their transparency and lack of overhead costs.
“I only donate to them,” Weintraub said. “They don’t make money operating the program. The money goes 100 percent to the vets.”
Through his association with the Special Forces Association, Weintraub said he was able to direct funds to injured Special Forces vets. Weintraub noted that the veterans benefiting from the program are young and have the rest of their lives to go forward with. And it’s often a more difficult adjustment into civilian life with severe injuries becoming commonplace.
“The war going on now is different, mostly because of [Improvised Explosive Devices],” Weintraub said. “There’s more limb loss and paraplegics than any wars.
Weintraub encouraged people interested in making donations to contact him at art.weintraub@yahoo.com. For more information on the Wounded Warriors Project, click here.
