"How does TREA Memorial Foundation help wounded warriors? First of all, before TREA donates anything, they ask what the troops need, exactly, so what TREA sends to the battlefield is both meaningful and mission critical.

For example, when I was serving as a hospital chaplain at the largest casualty collection point in Iraq, TREA asked, 'What can we send? What do you need?' I said, 'I need a bicycle. If you send a bicycle, it will increase the speed of my tactical movement on the expeditionary battlefield.' True enough, but I never expected to receive it, because the package would be too big; the postage, too expensive. Size and cost, however, were no obstacles. TREA sent not one but two mountain bikes, which I rode over the desert terrain for blitzkrieg response to mass casualties.

Before receiving the bicycle donation, I had to walk (if "off duty" and outside the hospital) 20 minutes in 120+ degree heat... and walk in the suffocating swelter of body armor, in order to arrive, usually late, at the helicopter pad, so I could greet in-coming wounded, as they were being off-loaded from Medivac flights. Twenty minutes, in terms of pastoral response time, was much too long. Often I missed greeting the wounded and praying with them before surgery. But with the bicycle donated by TREA, my response time was reduced from 20 to less than 5 minutes, which made all the difference in the world.

Now, thanks to TREA, I arrive BEFORE the wounded landed and therefore have time to pastor and pray with them before surgery. TREA made the best, most generous donations as I was ministering to the troops in Iraq and serving as their chaplain. Thanks TREA, we all owe you a debt of gratitude. You care with so much compassion. Sincerely, Chaplain M.R"