Writing this article has moved me so much, I had to share with you and as many others as I can. I hope it touches you as it has me and I hope you visit the website and pass this along to as many people as you can. Every bit helps. :)

After hearing sobering accounts of soldiers suffering from severe war burns, local songwriter-performer Gary Logan packed his bags and headed for Texas to help his brother, Richard Logan, change the status quo. “If no one tells these stories,” explains Gary, “no one will ever know.” 

Take Merlin German. An American soldier stationed in Iraq, Merlin suffered catastrophic burns covering 97% of his body - the only human known to survive such devastation. At just 18, he was in a drug induced coma for almost a year before anyone could even help. After therapy was finally initiated and over 150 surgeries Merlin gave up, but not before he found the healing touch of Gary's brother, Richard, and the team at San Antonio Massage & Spa. With their help, Merlin was finally able to move, sit down and even talk again.

Unfortunately, Merlin's insurance coverage was dropped when he was retired from his military post. Richard and his wife Jann insisted they continue treating Merlin for free but Merlin fought it. Eventually, he agreed to partial treatment. During a session, Merlin welled up with tears. The couple thought they were hurting him and when they asked if they were, Merlin replied, “No... nobody has ever touched me like this in my life.” When Richard called Gary to share this story, and others, they both had a hard time holding back their own tears.

Over the years, Gary has performed in sidebars and taverns throughout South Florida and, together with Richard, has raised over a thousand dollars at Kim's Alley Bar for City of Hope in Fort Lauderdale. The brothers also wrote the musical score for Otto Preminger's, “The Human Factor,” but nothing moved either one of them more than the telling tales of these soliders. “Even the simplest things in life can't be accomplished,” Gary pauses. “It leads many of them (soldiers) to suffer from post traumatic syndrome as well.” Isaac Gallegos was burned over 70% of his hands and arms. He was in such severe condition, he had to be fed by his mother. “It's the difference between going to the bathroom and being able to wipe yourself or not. bIt's a difficult thing for a 21 year old.” 

 There is, however, hope. After six months of treatment with Gary's brother Richard and the team at San Antonio Massage & Spa, Isaac is able to feed himself again - and it doesn't end there. Chris Edwards was bound to a wheelchair before treatment at the Spa. After just one month of therapy he is able to stand up straight and walk on his own - no wheelchair, no cane. Dan Moran, covered with burns over 50% of his body, became a believer of treatment when after 15 minutes of massage he could reach over and touch his toes; and Peter Johns was told he would never be able to run or play golf again. After 8 months of treatment, he was not only playing golf, but also running the 5K.   Determined to give these startling accounts the exposure they needed, Gary started his own war - Operation HandsOn, a nonprofit organization founded to help soldiers get the treatment, therapy and care they so desparately call for.

 

Using money left behind by his father, a lifetime airforce personnel, Gary laid down his guitar in Florida and headed for Texas; but first, he enlisted some local help. He went to a friend, Gordon Scott Venters of Destination Television in Fort Lauderdale, who gave him a camera, light kit and audio kit. Camera man Christopher Cave signed on to shoot the film and Sun Sentinel reporter Maria Herrara agreed to cover the interviews. They started speaking to the soldiers at the Brook Army Medical Center in San Antonio, Texas, in August of 2007. They filmed for several weeks, but after about six months, Cave left the project.

The soldiers also gave Gary actual footage of soldiers being torn apart by bombs and explosions. “These were no ordinary wounds,” Gary recalls. “These were severe burn victims. Limbs gone... bodies covered in burns. Burns from bombs and landmines. Horrible things... They (soldiers) go out and fight for us. They deserve everything we can do for them.” True to his word, and with the help of Venters, Trotta and Herrara, the narrative of these five soldiers was told: Merlin German, Isaac Gallegos, Chris Edwards, Dan Moran, Peter Johns and Blaine Scott.

Blaine Scott was the first burn victim to experience the success of treatment, and it all started by accident. Richard's wife Jann overheard Blaine's wife Lilly talk about Blaine at the spa one day. Jann learned that Blaine's body was covered 40% in burn wounds and suffered a compound fracture to his left foot so critical, amputation was inevitable. Jann shared the story with Richard, who then invited Lilly to bring Blaine in for a free massage. After his first day, Blaine was amazed at how he didn't hurt anymore. With continued treatment, Blaine recovered 100%. Today, Blaine is still a marine - reassigned six months early, promoted to gunnery sargent and now a trainer in California - his left foot still intact.

So what is the magic behind Richard Logan and the San Antonio Massage & Spa? One of the secrets is a therapeutic cream made of 100% natural ingredients. When skin is burned, it can't sweat. It drys and cracks and itches so badly it is described as “having poison ivy on top of being burned.” All natural, all organic, with no preservatives, Stone Crop from Emminence Cream Company is a type of aloe vera that offers the burn victim ultimate results. Applied and wrapped in saran wrap, blankets, sheets or hot towels for about 15 to 20 minutes, these organic creams hydrate the skin and offer so much relief that by the time the a patient is finished with the wrap they are usually fast asleep – a phenomena very rare for a burn victim.

The other element for success is human compassion and the healing force of touch. Once skin is burned it needs to be healed to a certain point before any kind of therapy can start. In severe cases, like Merlin's, it can take up to a year. Once healed, therapy and massage are applied to get the blood flowing again. This allows for a better range of motion. San Antonio Massage & Spa also uses two to three people on one person at a time. This is unlike any other massage model. If both legs are burned, there is a massage therapist working each leg, as opposed to one at a time. Therapy is extensive - two or three times a week depending on how badly the patient is burned – but the results are staggering.

Featured on the front page of the Miami Herald a few years ago, Victor Dominguez is one of only two people to suffer burns over 84% of his body. After several visits to the San Antonio Massage & Spa, Victor is now very much alive and well and working for Homeland Security. However, Victor, like Merlin, was dropped from insurance upon his discharge and return to Florida. Gary recruited a massage therapist in Miami to continue therapy on Victor and regain the movement and ability he lost after three months without treatment.

Currently, Gary is looking to train enough licensed therapists to help as Operation HandsOn gets underway. Richard and Jann continue working on several of the soldiers for free, including Isaac Gallegos; Grizzly Fitness has donated exercise equipment to help disabled people who have lost their limbs or suffer from severe burns; and, even though Cave left Gary sitting on hours worth of footage, thanks to Art Institute of Fort Lauderdale students, James Perez and Brian Epps, donating their time and editing skills, and Gordon Scott Venters lending a hand in post-production, “Operation HandsOn” the documentary,  is ready to roll.

After all is said and done, it is everyone's sincere hope that insurance companies will NOT drop coverage once a soldier is retired or discharged and that this remarkable treatment and therapy become standard protocol for all burn victims. If you want to help, email Gary at gary@operationhandson.com, visit the website at www.operationhandson.com, bug the doctors, lobby your politicians, let your voice be heard! Our soldiers need our help!

Before Merlin passed away, he let his voice be heard by organizing Merlin's Miracles, a foundation for child burn victims. If someone as badly burned as Merlin could muster up enough strength to stand behind our children and offer them hope, surely we can muster up some time to stand behind our soldiers. It only took Gary meeting Merlin two times to note that he was an “extraordinary character,”and it is in Merlin's memory that Operation HandsOn is dedicated.

If you want to help Gary's cause, please visit www.operationhandson.com You can also email gary@operationhandson.com