Batavia breakfast to honor injured soldier
Army Pfc. David Walgenbach can bask in the love of neighbors and friends at a pancake breakfast Sunday in his honor.
The injured soldier will attend the fundraiser at the Batavia Overseas Post 1197 of the VFW and then return Monday to Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington, D.C.
"David was one of our (Batavia's) first injured veterans," said Dale Richard, commander-elect of the post, about why the post is having the breakfast. Besides helping the Walgenbach family, the breakfast will make the community "aware citizens right here in Batavia are affected by this war," Richard said.
Richard's wife, Linda, taught Walgenbach in the eighth grade at Rotolo Middle School. Walgenbach is a 2008 graduate of Batavia High School, and serves with a cannon crew with the 82nd Airborne Division. He has been in the Army nearly two years.
Walgenbach was injured in a mortar attack May 4 in Afghanistan, and took shrapnel in his arms, legs and head. He was wearing a helmet, but the shrapnel angled under it, near the base of his skull.
He has undergone treatment at the National Naval Medical Center in Maryland and a brain-injury rehab center at a Veterans Affairs hospital in Tampa. The shrapnel in his head causes double vision, balance and memory problems, according to his mother, Janice. Doctors have decided it is too risky to remove the shrapnel. That he survived at all is a miracle.
"He was extremely lucky," she said.
He hopes to be sent soon to a warrior transition unit at Fort Bragg in North Carolina, and would like to continue to serve, at least until the end of his enlistment, Janice said.
Walgenbach has one brother in the Army and another in the Navy. His father, Neil, is a Vietnam Navy veteran who belongs to the post.
Walgenbach is expected to arrive at the post at 8 a.m., escorted from his parents' house on Maves Drive by Patriot Guard motorcycle riders. He will stay as long as possible, Janice said, but he does tire easily. He uses a cane because of the balance problems.
"I'm quite overwhelmed by all the support (from the community). I think it (the breakfast) is extremely generous. This is extremely nice of the VFW," Janice said.
The breakfast is from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the post, 645 S. River St. (Route 25), Batavia. Tickets are $8 per person. The menu is pancakes, eggs, sausage, bacon, juice and coffee.
"We're really looking for a big showing, especially since he is coming here just for this," Richard said. "I think it is rather important that we get as many as we can."