Champ Henson and War

[osugrad21]

CPD

3/10

Ex-Buckeyes star wants son, other Marines in safer helmets
Thursday, March 09, 2006
Robert Ruth
THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH
A padded liner can be attached to helmets used by Marines. ERIC ALBRECHT | DISPATCH Ex-OSU fullback Harold "Champ" Henson is getting help from coach Jim Tressel and others to buy helmet liners for Marines.
ASHVILLE, Ohio — Charging head-first into opposing football teams in the early 1970s taught Harold "Champ" Henson the value of a well-padded helmet.
Now, the former Ohio State University fullback wants the same sort of protection for his son, Clayton, and the thousands of other Marines whom Iraqi insurgents are targeting with roadside bombs.
Henson has joined a nationwide fundraising effort, Operation Helmet, to provide free padded liners for Marines to protect them from brain injuries caused by blast concussion.
Recent news reports said that 65 percent of U.S. troops wounded in Iraq suffered some form of traumatic brain injury. More fall to suicide bombers and improvised explosive devices than to bullets.
Marine helmets, which are resistant to shrapnel and bullets, do not have the padding used in Army helmets to absorb the blast effect of explosions, said Dr. Robert H. Meaders, founder of Operation Helmet.
The upgrade kits offered by the nonprofit group are called Ballistic Liner and Suspension Systems and consist of shock-absorbing pads and straps that cost from $71 to $100 each, he said.
"It’s like the padding you have in a football or motorcycle helmet," Henson said.
The Marine Corps is not prohibiting troops from using the padded liners as "an interim solution" for retrofitting its old helmets, Bruce N. Scott, Corps spokesman in Quantico, Va., wrote in an e-mail response to questions. However, the padding would interfere with the suspension system in its new lightweight helmet, he said.
The new Marine helmet has been distributed to 85,000 troops so far and provides the best all-around protection available, he said.
Testing showed the padding system helped in cases such as bumps, falls and car crashes, but failed to show there was a "compelling" reason to support it over the mesh-and-strap suspension system in the new helmets, he said.
The new helmet is "a farsuperior solution to meet the needs and requirements of our war fighters," Scott wrote.
Meaders, 71, a Vietnam War veteran who spent 24 years in the Navy Medical Corps, said military officials are unwilling to acknowledge deficiencies in their equipment.
"It’s the old Pentagon mentality," he said. The mesh and straps in the new helmet do not provide adequate protection from the concussion when a Marine is being tossed around by an explosion, he said.
The Houston-area resident started Operation Helmet in January 2004 after his grandson complained that helmets worn by him and fellow Marines lacked concussion-absorbing padding. Meaders bought liner kits for his grandson and the rest of his company.
Word spread among Marines in Iraq and Afghanistan and Operation Helmet quickly faced a backlog of requests, Meaders said. His group has shipped more than 4,000 liners overseas and continues to receive dozens of requests a month from troops, he said.
Clayton Henson, 24, is stationed at Camp Lejeune, N.C., but expects eventually to be assigned to combat duty in Iraq, his father said. He joined the Marines last year after graduating from Ohio State.
The elder Henson, 52, who tore up football fields as an OSU fullback from 1972 through 1974, has recruited relatives, neighbors, business acquaintances and folks in high places to promote the liner campaign.
OSU football coach Jim Tressel features information about Henson and Operation Helmet on his Web site, www.coachtressel.com. All proceeds this month from Sideline Pass, which enables fans to view the Buckeyes’ April 8 scrimmage, will go to Operation Helmet.
"We certainly appreciate what those young men and women are doing for our country," Tressel said.
The group’s Web site is www.operation-helmet.org. Donations can be mailed to Operation Helmet, 74 Greenview St., Montgomery, Texas 77356-8456.
bruth@dispatch.com

[Muck]

...and his work in providing upgraded helmet liners to Marines...


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