Anthony “Doc” Ameen is back leading an organization devoted to supporting transitioning veterans and first responders, many of them recovering from often devastating physical, mental and emotional injuries they suffered in serving their country and community.
And the Ahwatukee man’s Wings For Warriors Foundation, a nationally renowned nonprofit, is celebrating its 10th anniversary with its fifth A Night of Honor & Giving, a gala that will be held on Veterans Day, Nov. 11, from 7-10 p.m. at the new Madison Center for the Arts, 5601 N. 16th St., Phoenix. Tickets can be purchased at wingsforwarriors.org.
The event will include a dessert and cocktail reception with live music, silent and live auctions, and what Ameen promises will be an “impactful speaker” among other activities.
Music will be provided by Michael Land, who has scored numerous video games for LucasArts and has cut a number of songs.
The speaker will be Dr. Vernet A. Joseph, an internationally renowned author, entrepreneur and motivational speaker who founded livetoproduce.com.
The gala will raise funds for a variety of programs, including faith-based trauma counseling, equine therapy, Gold Star Family retreats, hyperbaric oxygen treatment “and camaraderie and healing adventures,” Ameen said.
Ameen had stepped down in January 2019 from his CEO position at the organization he founded “to pursue an enticing educational opportunity” and spend more time with his wife and their four children.
After earning his bachelor’s degree, he had planned to come back to Wings for Warriors early last year.
“Then when I was ready to return, the pandemic hit,” he said. “It was during 2020 that I decided to make some big changes to the organization, as we are no longer offering our services and programs to just ‘wounded warriors.’”
Ameen is a much-sought speaker across the country and also the founder of a boutique healthcare consulting firm.
He now wants Wings For Warriors Foundation to have a broader mission – supporting “the holistic needs of veterans, first responders and their families with transformational growth, well-being and spiritual fitness.”
“Wings For Warriors Foundation goes above and beyond the call of duty for our military and first responder communities,” Ameen said.
He ought to know: Ameen went above and beyond the call of duty in service to his country.
A member of the Desert Vista High School Class of 2000, Ameen was only four months into his Afghanistan deployment as a U.S. Navy Hospital corpsman in 2008 when he stepped on an explosive device.
The explosion left him with two shattered legs and a crushed left wrist with two dangling fingers.
During his ensuing 32 surgeries, the lower half of his left leg was amputated. Reconstructive surgeries were required for his left hand and fingers. His “noodle” of a right leg was eventually reconstructed, but for some time, its fate was borderline.
Though honored with numerous service medals, including the Navy-Marine Corps Achievement Medal with Combat Valor Distinction and a Purple Heart, Ameen was without Social Security benefits for nearly two years and his fight through government bureaucracy only exacerbated his combat-related post-traumatic stress disorder.
Finally, through tenacity of spirit and congressional assistance, he obtained his back benefits and used that money to establish Wings for Warriors “to provide the public with a raw look into the daily obstacles that wounded warriors face.”
But wants people to pay less attention to the “wounded” part and more attention to the “warrior” side of the men and women that Wings for Warriors supports.
“We encourage them to triumph over trauma, discover a re-found purpose and well-being, as well as exploring methods to enhance and strengthen their spiritual disciplines,” he says on the foundation’s website.
“Whatever their holistic needs may be, we stand behind them proudly. They should expect from their local communities this type of support and outreach. We owe them that!”
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