Thomas Haass Veterans Homes of Wyoming Thomas Haass had been in the U.S. Marine Corps for almost seven years before that fateful day when Japanese aircraft attacked Pearl Harbor without warning. Just one year later, he earned the first of many honors he would receive for exceptional valor. Assigned to the 6th Regiment of the 2nd Division of the U.S. Marines, Mr. Haass found himself in Guadalcanal in January 1943, just as the Japanese were retreating off the island. While working to complete their mission of capturing enemy soldiers and commandeering their equipment, the regiment stumbled across a manned Japanese machine gun bunker. Mr. Haass lost two fellow soldiers immediately to the resulting gunfire, and he himself was struck by a bullet in the left leg. "I was bleeding like hell," remembers Mr. Haass. "They took me by meat wagon to a nearby hospital, then airlifted me out to a hospital in New Hebrides, where it took me eight weeks to recuperate." For his heroism and bravery, Mr. Haass received the first of three Purple Hearts. Mr. Haass was awarded his second Purple Heart during the invasion of Saipan in June 1944. He took some shrapnel to the head, which broke his eardrum. Sadly, it was friendly fire that caused the injury but Mr. Haass stayed the course and was back in battle again two months later. What happened next-a miracle by any standard-makes Mr. Haass thankful but also perplexed by his own good fortune. The Japanese had a stronghold in Garapan, the chief town on the island of Saipan, and Mr. Haass' regiment was assigned to take the town. As he and his fellow soldiers were advancing down into Garapan, Mr. Haass was shot in the head by a sniper. The bullet traveled through his helmet, entered his skull just above his left eye and exited near his left ear. Unconscious and bleeding heavily, Mr. Haass was immediately moved to the rear by medics, then airlifted to a hospital ship stationed off the coast. After hours of surgery, doctors installed a permanent seven-inch metal plate inside Mr. Haass' head, a procedure that saved his life. By V-JDay, Mr. Haass had been awarded his third Purple Heart. As one might imagine, telling his story wasn't easy for Mr. Haass. "This is the first time I've thought about any of this for a very long time," he says, with deep emotion and a heavy heart. At 87 years old, Mr. Haass tries to focus on the happier times of his life-fishing along the North Platte River, seeing the country by tour bus with his late wife, fixing an engine at his post-war job as an auto mechanic. Today he likes to read, tries to exercise every morning and takes time to get outside, moving around by walker. Mr. Haass is a resident of the Veterans Home of Wyoming, a state in which $65 per month-or $2.10 per day-is allotted for personal discretionary spending. That's why a few extra dollars would go a long way in helping Mr. Haass and his fellow residents afford clothing, personal hygiene products and items from the Home's "canteen." But beyond providing for the basic daily needs of the residents, additional money could help provide hobby shop supplies, indigent dental and eye care, an activity bus and more-all of which would make a significant difference in the quality of life of these honored veterans.