Muskego Reunion Shows That's What Soldiers Do

Lisa Alberte, the energy behind Acres of Hope and Aspirations said she'd never forget the phone message she received regarding one of her patients.

On the other end of the line was Army Sgt. James Whitted, a fellow member of Winlom Wood's unit who had also been injured the night Woods suffered a gunshot wound to the head in Iraq in 2006, and whisked away by chopper for aid.

"I just got goosebumps when he asked me about Winlom and that he had been looking for him," Alberte said.  She had been caring for Woods' brain injuries and was featured in a picture with him as part of a story done on her recent Nurse of the Year award in 2008.

Whitted recovered from his own injuries from an IED (improvised explosive device), and was still on active duty, but he said he never stopped looking for Woods just to get word on his condition.

However by the time Whitted could start searching, Woods was already considered a civilian, making information more difficult to come by.

"I'd go on line and enter a bunch of search engines to see if anything came up on his name," Whitted explained.

The search paid off when he linked to the picture of Alberte, with Woods seated next to her.  While he was eventually able to connect by phone with Woods, a reunion in person would have to wait, as Whitted was redeployed and then suffered his own setbacks, having been discharged in 2009 due to a spinal cord injury and ensuing surgery to remove a vertebrae in his neck.

While reconnected with Woods, Whitted and Alberte soon realized where he was stationed in Iraq was "five or ten minutes, if I walked" to her cousin's unit.  Craig Twinde and Whitted soon also met for coffee at Camp Striker.  Twinde is still in the Army and Reserves in Tomah, WI where he works at Volk Field.

Whitted and Woods finally got the chance to meet again, in person, in a surprise visit that left Woods speechless earlier this week at Acres of Hope. Whitted lives in Indiana has been rehabbing from his own health battles out of state.

"I couldn't even speak," Woods said.  "I gave him the biggest hug when I saw him.  He hugged me back and I nearly passed out."

Twinde also took a day off to make the reunion complete, traveling the three and a half hours from Tomah.

Some might call it a coincidence or a small world, but Alberte is not surprised at the determination of the three men to find each other and stay in touch.

"That's what soldiers do - they stand up for each other," she said.