The Wounded Heroes Fund

Before he passed away suddenly last July, former Vietnam veteran Wes Tilton worked hard to help wounded veterans lead a more comfortable life. With the help of his friend, Ed Sutton, Wes started a special committee as part of the Delta Diablo Detachment 1155 of the Marine Corps League to help raise money for the special needs of the wounded veterans.
Although the Marine Corps League is set up just for that purpose, Tilton wanted to do something more for the many wounded heroes who just don’t get the help they needed. The Brentwood group has visited several hospitals all over the Bay Area over the years, but according to Sutton, Tilton was affected most after a visit to the Veterans Hospital in Palo Alto, The Palo Alto Polytrauma Rehabilitation Center.
“Two years ago we went to the VA in Palo Alto for the first time and talked to the wounded soldiers there,” Sutton remembers. “Wes was handing out Marine flags to the Marines there and one solider who had just come out of his coma was there.”
Sutton said that after handing the young Marine the flag, he said words that every Marine knows: “Semper Fi,” which means Always Faithful. “The Marine who hadn’t spoken any other words since coming out of his coma returned the greeting, saying Semper Fi as his first words. It was a special moment for Wes. He never forgot that soldier,” Sutton said.
The Marine, a Lieutenant Lui, had sustained massive injuries after his armored vehicle hit a land mine in Iraq. Since then he has been in therapy at the Polytrauma Rehabilitation Center.
The group continued to visit the Palo Alto facility, even providing a picnic for the soldiers and their families later in 2007. Wes stopped to talk to the young lieutenant again. During their visits the Marine Corps League found that the Palo Alto facility was in need of a four-wheel bike for their patients. The cost of the exercise equipment would have cost at the time $2,500. Tilton and Sutton then started the special subcommittee for the local league and started several fundraisers to raise enough money for the bike. They called the fund The Wounded Heroes Fund. They were very close to achieving the goal of $2,500 when Tilton died.
“At first after losing Wes it took the wind out of my sails, but after a couple of months I wanted to make sure it happened,” Sutton said. “Getting the bike was really important to Wes. So much so that his wife even asked for all the money that would have been spent on flowers for his funeral to be given to the Wounded Heroes.”
Sutton decided to dive into the project again and make sure that Tilton’s hard work wasn’t for nothing. The money that would have gone to flowers at Tilton’s funeral was a great help to the cause that Tilton believed in so much, according to Sutton.
When Sutton contacted the Palo Alto Polytrauma Rehabilitation Center after they had raised all the money needed for the bike and then some, he was told by one of the administrators that a three-wheel exercise bike would actually be of better use to them at this time. So Sutton made arrangements to purchase the bike.
While going through the procedures of donating the equipment he was told that a young Captain Lui would be the first one to be able to use the bike instead of having to travel down to Southern California for treatment. At first Sutton couldn’t believe that the same young man that had inspired Tilton to start the fund to begin with would actually be the one to benefit from it. “I found out that the young lieutenant had been promoted to a captain and had been getting better over the past months, but still needed more help,” Sutton said.
“It was like a full circle,” Sutton said. He was thrilled to be able to accomplish Tilton’s goal and help a man that inspired Tilton so much. “This time of year you always hear the bad news. I thought this was just a fantastic story at Christmas time.”
Sutton said that Tilton was a Purple Heart recipient from Vietnam. He described his friend as a straight shooter and that Tilton was always a “step up or step away from the plate” kind of guy. Members of the Marine Corps League presented a special plaque to Tilton’s widow Shirley last week as a way of showing their appreciation for all that Tilton accomplished as a volunteer with the group.
“He would have been so happy we were able to help the captain. The equipment will go to the VA hospital, but that it helps the captain just makes everything come around in a full circle,” Sutton said.