Ray Howard was watching the Bill O’Reilly show on television and heard him talking about The Independence Fund – an organization that raises funds to provide high- tech wheelchairs for disabled veterans.

As much as that caught his interest, a few months later in Salem he was roused into action. Outside a restaurant he watched a disabled
veteran hobble haltingly on crutches.

In March, Howard purchased a track chair for $16,000, and now there’s a
wounded veteran realizing a mobility thought to be gone forever.

“This is not about me,” Howard said. “It’s about severely injured veterans
from the Iraq-Afghanistan wars ... The Indy Fund, and others like it, are trying
to make sure that some quality of life can be restored for these heroes, many
of which are double, triple and even quadruple amputees.”

The track chair has been described as part snowmobile and part wheelchair. It
looks like a hybrid comprised of a motorized wheelchair with bulldozer tracks.
Users are able to navigate off-road and some models enable users to stand
unassisted despite their injuries.

The next stop for Howard was a four-day gala celebration in New York City of
The Indy Fund. Actor Gary Sinise – who is involved with a foundation for
veterans – hooks up each year with The Indy Fund to honor those who have
purchased and contributed track chairs.

“What is impressive is the Indy Fund is 100 percent staffed by veterans,”

Howard said. “And at the celebration, which is also a fundraiser, the one-
thousandth track chair was purchased.”

Howard, 79, lives in Brightwood and worked many years with FEMA, the US
Forest Service, served on the Hoodland Fire District’s board of directors, and
was incident commander for flood restoration in the 1996 flood that roared
through the Mountain community.

He served on an ice breaker with the US Coast Guard from 1954 to 1958.
Despite all that, Howard felt that need to do more.

“The track chairs go a long way toward helping restore some semblance of
normalcy to these richly deserving vets,” he said. Information regarding The
Indy Fund and to make donations small and large, go to
info@IndependenceFund.org.