Eight wounded warriors and caregivers shared testimonials at the inaugural Navy Region Mid-Atlantic Navy Wounded Warrior-Safe Harbor Family Symposium, June 3, at the Holiday Inn Oceanside in Virginia Beach, Virginia.

NWW is the Navy's sole organization for coordinating the non-medical care of seriously wounded, ill and injured Sailors and Coast Guardsmen as well as providing resources and support to their families. All active-duty, reserve, and medically retired service members are eligible for enrollment.

"These family symposiums are really wonderful opportunities to highlight the stories of the wounded warriors, families and caregivers," said Capt. Brent Breining, program director of NWW-Safe Harbor. "The key thing with our program is providing an additional layer of support for that Sailor or Coast Guardsman that's going through medical recovery."

Eileen Kennedy, mother of deceased NWW enrolled Petty Officer 3rd Class Stephen James, said her son's non-medical care provider was a great benefit during her time with the program.

"She made an impossibly difficult situation a little bit easier to deal with," said Kennedy. "When you're dealing with the day-to-day medical crisis, it was invaluable to have someone there to help you with everything else."

Lessening stress on the enrolled and their families is part of NWW's mission, said Breining. "We let them know they're not alone in the fight and help them [with] all those non-medical issues that [may be] weighing them down, so they can focus on getting better."

NWW helps enrollees test their limits by encouraging members to try challenging physical activities.

"They opened doors to things that I didn't think would be available to me as a wounded warrior," said Nianais Martinez, a wounded warrior who suffered nerve damage from a motorcycle accident. "The Navy Wounded Warrior program has taught me that nothing or no one can put limitations on me because I am just as capable as anybody else."

Martinez said being in the program helped her reinvent herself physically and opened her eyes to new possibilities to life after the military.

"I didn't know that occupational therapy existed until I received it, and now I know it's what I want to do once I am out of the Navy" said Martinez. "It's helping others, and I love helping others; but it's also re-teaching them how to do things. You adapt, move on, and overcome."

"This is one of the most rewarding assignments that I've had in my 26 years in the Navy," said Breining. "Giving back to Sailors and Coast Guardsman in their time of need, as they're going through something that's life-changing, is what this program is all about."

NWW plans on taking all the feedback they heard at the symposium and bettering the program, said Breining.

Navy Wounded Warrior-Safe Harbor hopes to continue this symposium annually.

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