After 20 years of meritorious service, my brother Sgt. Homer O. Pledger Jr. retired from the Army in March of 1994. After several years of dealing with an old service connected rotator cuff injury that seemed to get progressively worse he opted for surgery. He seemed to be getting better then started having problems controlling his arm and hand then, his leg. Testing soon revealed the truth that none of us expected or understood. Homer had ALS. Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, often referred to as "Lou Gehrig's Disease," ALS is a progressive neurodegenerative disease that affects nerve cells in the brain and the spinal cord. Motor neurons reach from the brain to the spinal cord and from the spinal cord to the muscles throughout the body. The progressive degeneration of the motor neurons in ALS patients eventually leads to death. After much research we ran across a military research study in a VA press release,” The study found that veterans who were deployed to the combat theater during the Gulf War were nearly twice as likely to develop the disease as veterans not deployed to the Gulf,” (www1.va.gov/opa/pressrel/docs/ALS_Neurology.doc). Homer was a gulf War veteran. He fought his last courageous battle against ALS.
After Homer was diagnosed the ALS foundation was first to provide, counseling and encouragement, literature, free assistive devices from the ALS closet, hospice care, and Medicare guidance and assistance. The volunteers and staff love assisting the patients and working with the families of those affected by this illness. Thanks to all who helped Homer fight his last courageous battle with dignity and honor. God bless you.
Homer passed March 22, 2009. In his memory we walk to raise money to continue to provide the much needed assistance to those facing this devastating illness. We also walk to raise money to find the cure so that others will not have to suffer. There will be more soldiers who will need the services the ALS foundation provided to Homer.
Thank you