The Unsung Heroes Behind the Wounded Warriors

ByTERI WHITCRAFT ABCNews logo

Monday, March 31, 2014

-- When Jessica Klein married her husband, Capt. Edward Klein, a 6-foot-tall, West Point graduate, the young couple had plans for adventure, in addition to raising a family.

"We were going to climb Mount Rainier," Klein told ABC News' Diane Sawyer. "We were going to go, just do all these amazing things when he got home."

Today, though, Klein is the primary caregiver as her husband, known as "Flip," fights his way back from a massive lower-body injury that he suffered in an IED explosion in Afghanistan.

He lost his legs, an arm and the muscles that allow him to sit. And those are just the visible wounds.

Former Sen. Elizabeth Dole said she witnessed the towering battle that caregivers face when she was at Walter Reed National Medical Center three years ago, caring for her husband, former war hero Sen. Bob Dole.

After speaking with the caregivers and hearing their frustrations, Elizabeth Dole said she decided it was time for the nation to help.

So she and her foundation -- The Elizabeth Dole Foundation -- commissioned a report from the RAND Corp., putting hard numbers to the caregivers to assess their needs and recommend programs that will help them.

"I do think it's a crisis, a societal crisis that requires a national response," Elizabeth Dole said.

For Jessica Klein, the struggle to care for her husband daily sometimes seems too much.

"It's funny. The people around me have much more confidence in me and my abilities than I do," said Klein, 29, of Gaithersburg, Md. "You know there's the Mother Teresa quote, 'God only gives you as much as you can handle.' Well, apparently, God thinks I'm pretty good."

She is just one of 1.1 million caregivers of soldiers from Afghanistan and Iraq who do the impossible. Though she is tiny, Klein is Flip's support both at home and when they travel.

"There have been times I've had to pick my husband up and carry him from his wheelchair to his airplane seat because his legs failed," she said. "And showering, I've had to pick him up soaking wet and try not to drop him, one foot in the tub, and try to put him in his wheelchair."

According to the Rand Corp. report released today -- "Hidden Heroes: America's Military Caregivers" -- many caregivers are trying to juggle full-time jobs with full-time caregiving. Nearly 30 percent give up their jobs altogether. Nearly a third have no health insurance for themselves and nearly 40 percent are at risk for a major depression disorder.

"But yeah, I grieve," Klein said. "He grieves. We grieve together. We grieve apart. There was a life we were supposed to have and we grieve for it. It's very difficult."

And it's not only the daily regimen of being a nurse, a therapist and a spouse -- military caregivers from all over the U.S. discussed the plight of taking on a system that can be famously bureaucratic and riddled with red tape.

Elizabeth Dole said she hopes the Rand study will be a catalyst for a nationwide effort, combining faith groups, government, businesses and nonprofits to address specific caregiver needs across the country. She is also working with legislators on Capitol Hill who will soon be introducing new legislation that will help.

"I'm trying to inspire organizations and Americans all across the country to support these hidden heroes because their story is really not known across America and these are the very people who are caring for those who cared for us," she said.

Click here for a list of organizations and programs that offer caregiver assistance.