All Over Albany

The Wounded Warrior ride

Stephen Hallenbeck is a pretty well-traveled guy. The Rotterdam native and National Guard flight nurse has been to Europe, the Middle East, and all over the US transporting groups of wounded and ill soldiers via an "in-flight hospital" from war zones to hospitals and back home.

But next week, Hallenbeck and fellow guardsman Dug Coons are leaving their plane behind to make a two-wheel trip to help wounded veterans across the country. They've spent the last few months planning a 500-mile bike ride from Stratton Air National Guard Base to Andrews Air Force Base to raise money and awareness for the Wounded Warrior Project.

What is the Wounded Warrior Project? How does it help vets?

It's a not-for-profit whose goal is to honor and empower wounded warriors and help them transition into civilian life. They provide all kinds of support for soldiers and their families -- rehab programs, career skills.

They start with gear to make vets comfortable on their trip home -- comfortable clothing and other things because the military aircraft they fly home in are very uncomfortable. They also want to have the injured soldiers help each other. It basically sets them up for the rest of their life because when these soldiers get back from war they are initially taken care of and then forgotten about.

[Wounded Warriors] pick up where everyone else left off. They've been named one of the top not for profits in the country. We're hoping to raise $5,000 to help with their efforts with our Wounded Warrior Ride. People can contribute at our creatively named website dugandsteve.com.

Why did you decide to take this ride?

Dug and I were on a cross country mission about a year ago and we were talking about a story about a wounded soldier bicycling across country to raise money for the Wounded Warrior Project. Dug once did a cross country bike trip and we started talking about it and before you know it we were planning it. It just felt right from the beginning.

As a flight nurse I've seen a lot. We've been all over the world transporting patients who have given so much and had their whole lives changed. We see everything from gunshot wounds, blast injuries, motor vehicle accidents, traumatic amputations, burns, head injuries and then everyday injuries and illnesses that you'll see anywhere. And a lot of psychiatric issues -- about one in five.

On my first deployment flight taking care of patients, flying from Germany to DC, I was taking overview of my patients, briefing them for landing and there was this 19-year-old guy missing both legs and one arm and with his one arm that he had he was holding a picture of his family and crying. Here he is getting ready to come home to his country and just realizing what he has to deal with.

It's remarkable how well they do with these injuries,"Oh, I'm missing one leg, I'll just get a prosthetic." Most of them are really good about it and they're proud of what they've done.

I have the best job in the world -- I get to take care of our heroes. I don't claim to do anything amazing or be a hero myself, but I'm taking care of those guys and it's an honor.

So what's the plan for your trip?

We're leaving May 23 at noon from Stratton Air National Guard Base in Schenectady County and we'll get to Andrews in one week -- so we should arrive on Memorial Day. We'll average 75 miles a day, stopping where we need to stop. We'll bring camping gear and we'll camp a few times. We're going to stop in New York City and do some talk shows -- Today and a couple of others. We'll continue down through New Jersey and continue through Philly and then south of Baltimore and cross the Chesapeake Bay.

Dug's done a lot of cycling, but have you?

I bought my bike about a year ago, and between school and work and being deployed and the weather, I haven't trained as much as I'd like, but it's not a race. It's just the idea of what you can do ... what anybody can do. Just getting on our bikes and spreading the word.

Dug has me beat by 20 years of age. I'm just turning 30 and in another week he's turning 50. He was in the navy and after he got out, he and a friend rode cross country ... he's my mentor in a lot of different ways.

What are you looking forward to the most?

Meeting people along the way. I've traveled a lot and I enjoy that. We're planning on making some stops to talk with people about the Wounded Warrior Project.

You know how people travel and they're like, "Oh I would love to live there and I would love to live there?" I've been all around the world and I can tell you the grass isn't greener anywhere. I've been to all the major cities. I've lived in places around the country. I lived in DC for six months, LA, Texas, Washington -- you name it, Ive been there. Everybody's got their own thing, but Albany's a great place. And we have a beer garden -- just like Germany.

This interview was edited and condensed.

photos: U.S. Air Force photo by Master Sgt. Christine Wood