a shout out to sgt barry albert

(thank you for serving)


and EVERYONE who is helping him and his family. makes my heart feel good





the windsor locks american legion post 36


heroes to hometowns


helmets to hardhats


the local (windsor locks area) boy and girl scouts


AND


all the other volunteers who are pitching in now and in the future





welcome home sgt albert (i know it's not official until december)





A New Kind Of Army Called To Duty


By LYNN DOAN Courant Staff Writer


WINDSOR LOCKS - U.S. Army Staff Sgt. Barry Albert came to on the side of a road, somewhere between Baghdad and Al Hillah."Pappy, Pappy, wake up!" a fellow soldier yelled. At first, Albert, 43, thought he was in bed - that was how his roommate usually woke him up in the morning. Then he felt the shrapnel digging into his upper thigh and remembered the four explosives, hidden in the utility pole along the road.One had blown out two tires on the Humvee he was driving. Two had ploughed through the truck, turning it within seconds into a metal heap of Swiss cheese. Another had found its way to his left leg............


................Albert is one of many injured soldiers now returning from war to find volunteers working on their homes or building new ones.The Windsor Locks American Legion Post 36, which is spearheading the renovations at Albert's house, heard about Albert's injury a couple months ago. Coincidentally, the group had established in February a program, "Heroes to Hometowns," to help returning soldiers like Albert. The program is modeled on a set of guidelines published by the national American Legion and is meant to give injured soldiers a local way to receive a battery of services, from financial assistance to snow shoveling.Albert became the first soldier to be helped by Heroes to Hometowns................

picture: STAFF SGT. BARRY ALBERT, 43, and his wife, Susan, are staying in a hotel while their home in Windsor Locks is being renovated and made accessible to a wheelchair with the help of a program by the local American Legion post and a host of other volunteers. Albert lost his leg in May after explosives hit his convoy in Iraq. (BOB MACDONNELL / October 1, 2007)