Pillars of Strength | UMGC Global Media Center

Joanie Carmichael (Chesterfield, Virginia)

September 18, 2024

September 18, 2024

Mt. Pleasant, MI, Caregiver Receives 2020 Pillars of Strength Scholarship

February 06, 2024

Stephanie Hall is no stranger to caring for wounded veterans. She learned much during her first marriage to a wounded Army veteran. When she met her second husband Terrance in 2015, also an Army veteran, he was going through the Veterans Treatment Court for his alcohol dependency and was not attending his PTSD treatment program.

Wallkill, NY, Caregiver Receives 2020 Pillars of Strength Scholarship

January 31, 2024

Pamela Rutkowski knows she will need a better education when she becomes the sole supporter of her husband, Jeff, and their three children. He had joined the Marine Corps in 2007 and two years later was deployed to Afghanistan as a diesel mechanic on a truck convoy. Rutkowski said that in October 2009 she got

North Carolina Caregiver Receives 2020 Pillars of Strength Scholarship

January 31, 2024

It was Easter Sunday 2007, and Tona Rimmer’s husband, Dana, was on his fifth tour of duty as part of an Army unit transporting supplies from Kuwait to U.S. forces in northern Iraq. The two were chatting on Yahoo Messenger when—everything suddenly went dark. Her husband called back as quickly as he could to tell her there was an “issue” and that she would not hear from

Silver Spring, Md., Caregiver Receives 2020 Pillars of Strength Scholarship

January 31, 2024

For Sarahi Chavez, life changed dramatically in 2013 when her Marine Corps husband, Luis, a 10-year veteran and explosive ordinance disposal technician, returned home from a tour of duty in Afghanistan. From all outward appearances, he had come back unchanged. But on the inside, she said, the person with whom she had shared her life for more than 14 years was terribly wounded. “He woke

Bethesda, Md., Caregiver Receives 2020 Pillars of Strength Scholarship

January 31, 2024

Dacy Luthers’ Marine Corps husband, Jermaine, was doing fine when he left on assignment to Djibouti and while aboard ship in the Persian Gulf as part of the signal corps. “During the deployment, he told me it was the best he ever felt,” she said. “He was in great shape.” That is why she felt blindsided when he returned home in February 2018.

Norfolk, Va., Caregiver Receives 2020 Pillars of Strength Scholarship

January 12, 2023

Erika Auro-Romillo was working as a radiologic technologist in Manila in 2009 when she met her future wife, Natalie, a former Army combat medic and health care specialist who had grown up in Virginia Beach, Virginia, and was visiting relatives in the Philippines at the time. “When she [Natalie} told me her circumstances, I knew I had to take care of her. It was a learning curve for me to navigate the Veterans Administration health care

Clayton, NC, Caregiver Receives 2020 Pillars of Strength Scholarship

January 12, 2023

When Lindsay Williams shares the list of ailments arising from the combat injuries her husband Erik suffered during Army deployments in Iraq and Afghanistan, her account is both staggering—and sadly familiar to caregivers of wounded service members. Traumatic brain injury, post-traumatic stress disorder, migraines, degenerative disc disease, spinal stenosis, tinnitus, neuropathy—all are common conditions for those who have been in frequent firefights, have ridden in vehicles that have rolled

Glen Burnie, Md., Caregiver Receives 2020 Pillars of Strength Scholarship

January 12, 2023

Candace Laguna’s life as a caregiver started after 2004 when her Marine Corps husband, Frank, returned from duty in Iraq. Describing him as “incredibly adventurous” and “self-giving,” Laguna said her hard-charging Marine always wanted to stay in the fight with his men. “He never sought immediate medical treatment when he should have, and that wreaked havoc on his health.” Her husband began battling with a traumatic brain injury and post-traumatic stress disorder. He suffered from

Clovis, NM, Caregiver Receives 2020 Pillars of Strength Scholarship

January 12, 2023

At first, Nicole Paredes-Laign was baffled by her husband’s behavior after he returned from back-to-back tours with the Air Force in Iraq and Afghanistan in 2011 and 2012. He is still on active duty at Cannon Air Force base in Clovis, New Mexico. But, worn down by combat-triggered psychological damage, her husband is seeking a medical retirement. “After eight years [Justin] is finally getting diagnosed with combat PTSD and

Pillars of Strength Scholarship Recipient: Connie Ozmer

January 12, 2023

Re-embracing a Passion for Science and Technology Tim Ozmer’s Army National Guard unit in the state of Washington

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