Wounded Warrior Cruise a Labor of Love

With Veterans Day approaching, Kansas travel agent Kathy Sudeikis is marking the holiday by organizing a luxury cruise for severely wounded warriors.

While the week-long Caribbean cruise on a Celebrity ship will profit the agency, there are other rewards.

“To be able to honor the people who have given so much for our country and have been in harm’s way, and to be able to help them reconnect, is an honor and a privilege.

“I‘m proud of this opportunity and proud of our military personnel. While there is profit involved, it’s also a labor of love,” said Sudeikis, vice president of corporate relations for Acendas (formerly All About Travel).

Rebuilding lives
Sudeikis, a past president and CEO of ASTA, was approached by the Coalition to Salute America’s Heroes, a nonprofit that helps military men and women who have been severely wounded in the Iraq and Afghanistan wars and their families rebuild their lives.

The organization wanted to create a travel program around Veterans Day that would help wounded warriors reconnect with their spouses. While extended deployment is stressful enough on a marriage, the injuries military men and women suffer make many situations much worse.

The coalition asked Sudeikas to assist in exploring how it could help soldiers and their spouses reconnect and recreate romance and what kind of event would be appropriate. One requirement: the experience needed to include family therapy.

Celebrity lends a hand
Sudeikis suggested a cruise, one that would provide a luxury experience without children on board, as many of the couples would be leaving their own children behind. She chose a cruise out of Miami so the wounded soldiers wouldn’t have to fly far to begin their trip.

Celebrity Cruises has been generous and helpful in setting up the program, she said.

“All the couples are in concierge cabins and will have an opportunity to receive special handling,” she said.

The dress code on Celebrity also works perfectly for her group.

“There are two formal nights, and we’ve asked them to wear their dress whites [on those nights]. We think people will be supportive of them, and it will be a chance for people on the ship to honor them,” Sudeikis said.

Physical challenges
The coalition recruited 10 couples to participate. They were selected by liaisons at command posts around the country and chosen based on their physical challenges and the fact that they’re heroes living in stressful situations. All but one of the soldiers is still on active duty. None of them know each other.

All of the participants present travel challenges that require special handling, according to Sudeikis.

“They’re either badly burned, have prosthetics or have hardware in their bodies,” she said. “None of them are in wheelchairs, but their hardware will set off the alarms in the airports.”

Communication sessions
The group will include a marriage counselor, who will organize three-hour sessions each day of the cruise. During the sessions, the couples will learn how to communicate better, deal with issues and solve their unique problems.

Also accompanying the group will be Lee Ellis, author of Leading with Honor: Leadership Lessons From the Hanoi Hilton (Freedom Star Media, 2012). The book is based on his five-year experience as a prisoner of war in North Vietnam. Ellis currently works as a leadership consultant for Fortune 500 companies.

Sharing the experience
Since the participants are all couples, Sudeikis decided to bring her husband on the cruise, which sails later this fall. They have been married for 44 years and have many endearing and funny stories to tell that may encourage the soldiers and their wives, she said.

“I’m looking forward to sharing this experience with them – and see that it does make a difference in their lives,” she said.

Although Sudeikis grew up a military brat and is active in the Navy League, this is the first time she has organized a trip for soldiers. She feels, however that her experience as a specialist in multigenerational travel has helped her put together the trip.

“This type of trip is no different, because it’s more than couples involved. It has extenuating circumstances that need careful consideration, and I’m interested in this in much the same way that I’m interested in how grandparents interact with the grandkids, and the psychological aspects of the trips,” she said.