I received this e-mail in my box this morning. Thought I'd share it with The Hide in the hopes of helping a fellow Marine.
TO: Chuck Wright, Commandant
Mountaineer Detachment #1320
Marine Corps League
Sir Commandant:
We are writing about Blue Ridge Detachment member Dave Celej (pronounced Cee Lee) who is hospitalized with severe injuries and in need of help. If your detachment or members could help out with a donation, the money would help a Marine family that really needs help. Also, Dave's pickup needs to be sold off to eliminate a monthly payment. We are hoping that somebody who needs a good truck finds out about it, and makes an acceptable offer. We hope you will get the word out to your membership about this.
Dave was seriously injured in a traffic accident two weeks ago on 25 Oct when coming home from work. He works at the Triumph motorcycle dealership in Asheville, and was traveling south on US 25 on his motorcycle toward Hendersonville where he lives. As he traveled through Fletcher where the roadway is five lanes wide, a young man drove his fathers pickup truck out of a gas station and crossed two lanes of southbound traffic in an attempt to drive northbound on US 25. Riding in the inside lane, Dave could not see him coming and slammed into the truck. The young man was driving after his license had been revoked and he was not injured.
There was no wait for an ambulance. One happened to be driving by just after the accident, and expedited Dave to Mission Hospital in Asheville. Dave's condition was both legs and both arms broken, but it turned out to be worse. Doctors have been working hard to save Dave's left leg which was severely damaged. It's now looking like the leg has been saved.
Surgery has continued every other day. Things look better now, but we all know that a full recovery is going to take a long time. It will be a while before Dave's arms and legs are strong enough to handle the rehab work that will come. It's going to be tough on him and his family.
About Dave
GySgt Dave Celej joined the Blue Ridge Detachment two years ago when he was still on active duty and SNCOIC of the Asheville recruiting station which included offices in Hendersonville and other towns. He retired from the Marine Corps after twenty years in Sept 2012, and has been working at the Triumph MC dealership in Asheville. He and his wife Erin have one daughter Chloe, four years old.
How to help
If you would like to help the Celej family, please make your check out to the Marine Corps League, and note on the check that the money is for the "Dave Celej Fund". Send it to Blue Ridge Detachment, P.O. Box 2354, Hendersonville 28793. For those who wish their actual check should go to the Celej's, we can do that too. Just make the check out to Erin Celej, send it to the POB, and our Paymaster will deliver it to Dave at the hospital. We will report the names of all contributors to the Celej's.
Please remember Dave when your detachment reports on the sick & distressed. And we ask that your Chaplain say a prayer that Dave's left leg continues to respond to treatments.
Does anyone know somebody who could use a really nice pickup truck?
Erin asked us to sell off Dave's truck to help reduce expenses. A small team looked at the pickup, and found it to be in great condition. Two different Chevrolet dealers did an appraisal, and the retail price would be $21,500. We are hoping someone makes a reasonable offer for the truck.
The truck is a 2008 Chevrolet Silverado 1500, 4 Dr Crew Cab. It has the 5.3 L V8 engine with 4 wheel drive, and has 68,550 miles on the odometer. Dave bought the truck this past April, and since then had four new tires installed. The truck has all of the bells and whistles and it's in excellent condition.
If someone would you like to make an offer, please call Rich at 312-933-7320, or email [email protected] .
Thanks in advance for whatever you can do to help.
Semper Fidelis,
Blue Ridge Detachment
TO: Chuck Wright, Commandant
Mountaineer Detachment #1320
Marine Corps League
Sir Commandant:
We are writing about Blue Ridge Detachment member Dave Celej (pronounced Cee Lee) who is hospitalized with severe injuries and in need of help. If your detachment or members could help out with a donation, the money would help a Marine family that really needs help. Also, Dave's pickup needs to be sold off to eliminate a monthly payment. We are hoping that somebody who needs a good truck finds out about it, and makes an acceptable offer. We hope you will get the word out to your membership about this.
Dave was seriously injured in a traffic accident two weeks ago on 25 Oct when coming home from work. He works at the Triumph motorcycle dealership in Asheville, and was traveling south on US 25 on his motorcycle toward Hendersonville where he lives. As he traveled through Fletcher where the roadway is five lanes wide, a young man drove his fathers pickup truck out of a gas station and crossed two lanes of southbound traffic in an attempt to drive northbound on US 25. Riding in the inside lane, Dave could not see him coming and slammed into the truck. The young man was driving after his license had been revoked and he was not injured.
There was no wait for an ambulance. One happened to be driving by just after the accident, and expedited Dave to Mission Hospital in Asheville. Dave's condition was both legs and both arms broken, but it turned out to be worse. Doctors have been working hard to save Dave's left leg which was severely damaged. It's now looking like the leg has been saved.
Surgery has continued every other day. Things look better now, but we all know that a full recovery is going to take a long time. It will be a while before Dave's arms and legs are strong enough to handle the rehab work that will come. It's going to be tough on him and his family.
About Dave
GySgt Dave Celej joined the Blue Ridge Detachment two years ago when he was still on active duty and SNCOIC of the Asheville recruiting station which included offices in Hendersonville and other towns. He retired from the Marine Corps after twenty years in Sept 2012, and has been working at the Triumph MC dealership in Asheville. He and his wife Erin have one daughter Chloe, four years old.
How to help
If you would like to help the Celej family, please make your check out to the Marine Corps League, and note on the check that the money is for the "Dave Celej Fund". Send it to Blue Ridge Detachment, P.O. Box 2354, Hendersonville 28793. For those who wish their actual check should go to the Celej's, we can do that too. Just make the check out to Erin Celej, send it to the POB, and our Paymaster will deliver it to Dave at the hospital. We will report the names of all contributors to the Celej's.
Please remember Dave when your detachment reports on the sick & distressed. And we ask that your Chaplain say a prayer that Dave's left leg continues to respond to treatments.
Does anyone know somebody who could use a really nice pickup truck?
Erin asked us to sell off Dave's truck to help reduce expenses. A small team looked at the pickup, and found it to be in great condition. Two different Chevrolet dealers did an appraisal, and the retail price would be $21,500. We are hoping someone makes a reasonable offer for the truck.
The truck is a 2008 Chevrolet Silverado 1500, 4 Dr Crew Cab. It has the 5.3 L V8 engine with 4 wheel drive, and has 68,550 miles on the odometer. Dave bought the truck this past April, and since then had four new tires installed. The truck has all of the bells and whistles and it's in excellent condition.
If someone would you like to make an offer, please call Rich at 312-933-7320, or email [email protected] .
Thanks in advance for whatever you can do to help.
Semper Fidelis,
Blue Ridge Detachment
