God, Country, Family. This was Victor Palmucci’s credo in life, and he came by it honestly. A first-generation American, he and three of his siblings served honorably in the US Marine Corps, Navy, and Air Force. While a young Lieutenant in the Marines, Victor was pragmatic as he was patriotic, offering his betrothed an option: an engagement ring or a Volkswagen Beetle. She chose the Bug, and Lieutenant & Mrs. Palmucci drove that Bug from Quantico to Twentynine Palms, where they would start a family of their own.

Victor’s 35-year career took him from active duty in the Marines, to decades as a Navy Reserve officer, and back to active duty at The Pentagon at the age of 52. Throughout his decades of service around the world, Victor always wanted what was best for his family. It was no different in retirement. 

In 2009, his wife required the support of a nursing home as her Alzheimer’s advanced, and Victor visited every day to feed her lunch. As a military wife, she had sacrificed so much over the years, and Victor often told others what an honor it was to be with her when she needed him most. For years, he stubbornly refused to miss a single day with her. 

In October 2013, however, Victor’s children convinced him to take two weeks of respite from his daily routine at the nursing home, and they promised to make daily visits to see their mother in his stead. He would travel with his son, Mark, to see the small mountain town in Italy from which the Palmucci family hailed, and to reminisce in Naples, where they were stationed in the 1960s. A week into the trip, while touring an idyllic mountain hamlet, Victor suffered a massive stroke and slipped into a coma. 

Mark and his wife Beryl snapped into action, scrambling to find transport from the cobblestone streets of that storybook town to a hospital 30 miles away, praying that they would find medical staff that could speak English. They stayed in a hotel in Italy near their hospitalized father for 45 days through several rounds of brain surgery, relying on Victor’s network of Navy friends to connect them with translators.

Their gut-wrenching time in Italy ended in early December 2013, when Victor was stable enough to be transported to the Army Hospital at Landstuhl, Germany. Upon Mark & Beryl’s arrival in Frankfort, they anxiously attempted to make transportation arrangements to get to the hospital in the middle of an ice storm, when an Army Chaplain and his driver arrived. 

Assuming they would have a similar experience to the past 45 days in Italy, Mark asked the Chaplain for hotel and transportation recommendations. The Chaplain smiled and assured him that the Army had all that covered. He was taking Mark and Beryl to the Fisher House in Landstuhl, where they would be safe, warm, and where the staff spoke English. This unexpected blessing is something Victor would have appreciated. Fisher House was taking care of his family while he could not.

The contrast between these two experiences was remarkable, but the blessing of 6 comforting days in the Landstuhl Fisher House was just the beginning of why Mark is spending his retirement supporting military and Veteran causes. 

When Victor was stable enough to travel, the family brought him home to the United States. Mark and Beryl flew “Space Available,” and accompanied Victor on his flight. Flying in a C-17 was a new experience for them, as was seeing the dozens of stretchers laden with wounded warriors headed for treatment at Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington, DC. The roar of the engines, the cold of the aircraft metal, and the sight of his father and dozens of his military brethren being tended to by flight medics is something Mark will never forget. 

Captain Palmucci confounded medical expectations and survived at Walter Reed long enough for all of his children to be with him before he passed away. He would have been proud to see Mark pay forward the kindness of countless strangers, and Victor’s legacy of service continues through his son. 

This month, Mark is taking the Patriot’s Pledge in honor of his father. You can take the pledge and have your gift matched, up to $500,000! Thank you for your generous support of Fisher House Michigan.

Presently, Mark is President of Fisher House Michigan where he serves military and veteran families… because a family’s love is good medicine.