Serving Gogebic, Iron and Ontonagon Counties
Serving Gogebic, Iron and Ontonagon Counties
By RICHARD JENKINS
Ironwood — Garret Romosz wants Marines across the Gogebic Range who served in Afghanistan and Iraq to know about the resources available to them though the Wounded Warrior Regiment.
An active Marine Corps regiment, the Wounded Warrior Regiment is designed to help wounded Marines who recently left the service get the treatment they need, Romosz explained.
He made clear the regiment is in no way affiliated or associated with the Wounded Warrior Project.
Romosz enlisted in the Marines in 1998 and is attached to the regiment while waiting for his honorable/medical retirement after being wounded in Operation Enduring Freedom.
He said as the assisting district injured support cell coordinator, he helps those Marines in the area that require assistance and sets them up with the appropriate classes and treatments.
“These Operation Enduring Freedom/Operation Iraqi Freedom Marines that are local that I assist, what happens is I get them enrolled and attached to the active duty Marine Corps regiment, which is the Wounded Warrior regiment,” Romosz said, explaining the regiment has facilities around the country.
Romosz explained the Marine Corps has a four-year enlistment period and the regiment allows those who develop symptoms following a return stateside to use the remainder of their four-year timeframe to get the necessary treatment.
“What’s cool about Wounded Warrior Regiment is, is if a guy comes back (to the states) and he’s discharged and he ends up having symptoms, we can use that four-year inactive window to re-attach him to the Marine Corps flawlessly and he can receive all of the treatment as if he was still active,” Romosz said.
He explained that while veterans can also use the services at the Veterans Administration facilities, the V.A. can have wait times of approximately one year and for some, treatment can’t be delayed that long.
“The V.A. is so understaffed and backed up that the suicide rate and death rate among the recent generation (of troops) were skyrocketing,” Romosz said. “(The regiment is) basically a tool that if they can not get the treatment they need once they’re out, we can re-attach them so they can get it immediately.”
He said he is also frequently able to work with the local court system to get veterans in the system assistance.
The regiment can also help Marines transition back to civilian life, which Romosz said can be difficult for some.
“The importance of (treatment) is helping them transition from a war to every day life again. Because, the difference between Vietnam — and even Desert Storm — and this war is, you could be firing a gun today in Afghanistan and 24 hours later you could be in Ironwood having a drink at the bar with your buddies. That’s how fast you can be out and home,” he said, adding there are also resources available for families of those who served.
“Now with everything being so fast, and technology, these guys are home, they’re isolated. There is not a great network for them. They don’t feel like they can communicate and fit in,” Romosz said. “... It might not be the same husband or father that left and we kind of bridge that gap.”
Among those Romosz has helped is a Bessemer Marine corporal whose mother said suffered from severe depression after sustaining a traumatic brain injury while deployed in Afghanistan. According to the information provided by the regiment, the mother credits Romosz and the regiment for helping her son get the necessary care.
“Romosz saved my son’s life and I can’t ever repay him for that,” the mother wrote. “The success rates of these programs through Wounded Warrior Regiment are extremely high, and I am grateful for the results so far.”
While the regiment is part of the Marines Corp, Romosz said he can help members of all the branches of the military.
More information can be found by calling the national call center at 1-877-487-6299 or going to woundedwarriorregiment.org. Locally, those in need of services can call the Ironwood V.A. Clinic and ask for OEF/OIF Coordinator Kurt Carter or call 906-364-5743.
