NMCRS Combat Casualty Program Meets Critical Need

Lisa Aszklar

NMCRS Staff Writer

From the time he was a young boy, Major James L. Browning, Jr., USMC wanted to fly. As a 12-year-old, Browning joined the Mississippi Wing Civil Air Patrol, a civilian auxiliary of the United States Air Force. During his time as a Civilian Air Patrol cadet, he learned the importance of leadership, physical fitness, and a strong moral compass—all qualities that would serve him well as a Marine in the years to come.

Following high school, Browning enlisted, earning the rank of corporal before leaving active duty to enter college in Mississippi as a commercial aviation major. In 2000, he accepted a position with USAir, flying small passenger jets out of Richmond, Virginia. Hoping to augment his salary as a commercial pilot, in late 2001 Browning joined 3rd Battalion 14th Marine Regiment, an artillery reserve unit based in Richmond.

As a member of 3/14, Browning was cross-trained as an MP in preparation for his unit’s activation and deployment to Iraq, and by March 2006, 3/14 was on its way to Anbar Province. Then, over a 36-hour period in late April, the young Marine suddenly began to experience excruciating headaches that culminated in an inter-cranial bleed beneath his skull. He had suffered a debilitating stroke that left him partially paralyzed.

When Major Browning’s parents received word of their son’s condition, they immediately made arrangements to meet their son at National Naval Medical Center Bethesda, where he had been airlifted following his initial surgery in Germany.

Together, the family shuffled between National Naval Medical Center Bethesda, the Veterans Administration Hospital in Richmond, Virginia, and the Traumatic Brain Injury Unit at the Veterans Administration hospital in Tampa, Florida. Very quickly, Jim and Brenda Browning found themselves incapable of meeting expenses, both at home and in their travels with their son during his many surgeries.

Fortunately, Navy-Marine Corps Relief Society’s Combat Casualty Visiting Nurse Program stepped in to assist.

First, NMCRS Bethesda Director Ed Potts met with Major Browning’s parents and outlined how the Society could help. Potts provided an immediate grant to cover the cost of food and lodging until government funds were issued to cover these mounting expenses. Also, because the family’s income suffered when Brenda Browning left her job to be with their son, the Society was able to help cover some of the Brownings’ ongoing expenses back home in Mississippi.

Next, Potts referred the Browning family to an NMCRS Combat Casualty Visiting Nurse, Susan Boyd. Boyd immediately met with the family to answer any questions they had concerning the prescribed course of care and to help navigate through the military medical rehabilitation process.

Serving as the Brownings’ personal advocate, Boyd not only monitors Major Browning’s rehabilitation, but also makes sure the family is able to successfully address issues that may arise as a result of his injury. She provides the family with critical information concerning resources and programs available to them, and she is available if the family has any concerns or simply needs a shoulder on which to lean. Since the Combat Casualty Program guarantees that a Society Visiting Nurse will be available for as long as the need exists, the family is assured that any financial or medical issues that arise as a result of their son’s combat-related injury will be addressed quickly and efficiently.

Jim and Brenda Browning couldn’t be more pleased with the care their son has received at NNMC Bethesda, which Jim Browning calls “a wonderful house of magic.” Further, Navy-Marine Corps Relief Society and its Combat Casualty Program, they claim, has helped them stay afloat, both mentally and financially, and proof lies in the number of families Jim Browning has referred to NMCRS Bethesda. Director Potts says that at least four dozen service members and their families whom the Brownings have met during their son’s time at Bethesda have turned to the Society for help meeting unforeseen financial expenses!

“Imitation may be the most sincere form of flattery,” Potts says, “but referrals from service members and families whom we’ve helped come in a close second!”