Wounded Times
Kathie Costos
December 1, 2013
Tuesday I was reading Courthouse news about Wounded Warrior Project suing Help Indiana Veterans. I posted it and have not stopped thinking about it since then. There was nothing new in what Dean Graham posted on "Wounded Warrior Project is a fraud" that has not been out there for a long time.
The only thing that seems to be new is the issue of the WWP logo.
National veterans’ charity sues local Indiana veterans’ charityThat is why I couldn't stop thinking about this. I have seen thousands of pictures over the years. Some well known but some others never see. Veterans send them to me so I can understand more about what that part of their life was like to help them heal as well as in the videos I do for Combat PTSD. I knew I had seen the image sometime over the years.
In the lawsuit, attorneys for the Wounded Warrior Project argue that Graham’s post violates its trademark infringement and has cost it more than $75,000.
I called Dean on Wednesday. He and his wife, also a veteran, had gone to WWP for help but was turned down. It was then that he decided he wanted to make sure other veterans in Indiana never ended up feeling like him. Dean is like many feeling as if they have been forgotten about. His hurt turned into anger as more and more veterans were telling the same story so he decided it was time to give those other veterans a voice. They used it in comment after comment left on his site.
After hours of searching I tracked down the picture. The only question I had after finding this was if WWP actually owes Laura Rauch and Associated Press for use of a copyright photo that belonged to them? The answer is, WWP bought the rights to use it.
A Marine carrying a wounded Marine is very common much like soldiers risking their lives to make sure they do all they can to get their buddy out of danger. We've seen hundreds just like this one over the years. While the internet has forgotten about them, forgotten that there were real Marines in real war, their shadow lives on. At least now when you see the logo you may remember the Marines no one else seems to remember.
The Marines Sgt. Matt LeVart carries injured Cpl. Barry Lange off the battlefield as members of India Company 3rd Battalion 7th Marine Division engage Iraqi soldiers in battle. (AP Photo/Laura Rauch)
I talked to Laura about the Marines in the picture and she told me it is very hard to think they have been forgotten about when people see the logo from WWP.
It is almost as if they are living in the shadow.
The problem is, most of the troops from long ago have become veterans, many with body wounds but many more with spiritual wounds no one can see.
Much like veterans from other generations the cheers they were sent to war with turned into silence for this 7% of the population expecting them to just leave behind what they did in our name. They cannot forget what they did for each other. Now they ask what they can still do for each other. They don't like it when one of their own gets left behind.
(update on December 1, 2013 for the correct names of the Marines)
It was a scary day.
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