By William Kenny

Times Staff Writer

Somerton's Carmen Brancato doesn't say much about his own military career. When pressed mildly on the subject, the 41-year-old says he was in the U.S. Marine Corps "briefly" in the late 1990s.

On the other hand, Brancato gushes when he talks about the other soldiers in his family.

There's his sister, Anissa Buckley, who's an Army nurse at the Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington, D.C., and about to be deployed to the Middle East. Anissa's husband, James Buckley, is in the Navy and was recently sent to Iraq.

Brancato's father and both of his grandfathers also were Marines.

But even as a veteran and the product of a military family, Brancato's greatest inspiration - to work in support of the nation's men and women in uniform - came from some total strangers a short while ago.

"Back in June, when I was (in Texas) helping my sister to move, we toured one of the major military rehab facilities and met a lot of the wounded warriors," Brancato said. "It was humbling. I almost felt guilty just walking."

The site was the San Antonio Military Medical Center, where Anissa worked before her transfer to Walter Reed.

"There were men and women from all the branches, predominantly Marines and Army, with severe injuries," Brancato said. "Some were missing an arm or a leg, or an arm and a leg. Some were severely burned. Some had traumatic brain injuries. They were permanent injuries."

Brancato knew he wanted to do something for those people, and do it right away. He soon learned about the Wounded Warrior Project, a not-for-profit organization that provides material and emotional support to severely injured servicemen and women.

TIME TO GET INVOLVED

Within weeks, he became a Philadelphia-area representative for the Jacksonville, Fla., organization. And he came up with an attention-grabbing way to raise awareness for its mission - by turning his classic Chevy Camaro into a rolling billboard for the cause.

In just a few months, Brancato has developed an impressive resume of public appearances with the orange, black and chrome hot rod adorned with images honoring the Army, Navy, Air Force and Marines.

There's a big personnel chopper about to touch down in a hot landing zone, an armored Humvee blazing across the desert, and an image of the legendary flag-raising at Iwo Jima. The logos of the four military branches decorate the car, as does the charity's iconic logo - a silhouette of an able-bodied solider carrying a wounded colleague over his shoulders in a death-defying race to safety.

Brancato has taken the car to community parades, NASCAR races, baseball games, country music concerts and "any venue where there are a lot of people," he said.

He's planning to drive the daily-driven but highly customized vehicle to Las Vegas next month for an automotive trade show to drum up corporate support for the Wounded Warrior Project, stopping at military bases and hospitals along the way.

"People, they love the car," Brancato said. "They like to see that somebody is supporting the troops, especially the people who have family members fighting."

While the charity has grown immensely and broadened its array of programs proportionately since its 2002 founding in Richmond, Va., the rubber still hits the road in the person-to-person services it provides to the wounded and their caregivers.

In the early days, volunteers mainly collected "creature comfort" items like CDs, DVDs, reading materials and basic clothing for the wounded military personnel, items that they would package in backpacks and distribute to new arrivals in military hospitals.

AN EMPTY HOMECOMING

According to Brancato, by the time severely wounded servicemen and women arrive back in the United States, most have spent a good amount of time in field hospitals and permanent overseas medical facilities. When they arrive stateside, they have little or nothing of their own around them.

The Wounded Warrior Project still distributes backpacks. It also provides funding for many rehab-related items and services, like prosthetics, counseling, and adaptive equipment for homes.

"They just got their accreditation from the Department of Veterans Affairs, which gives them a greater voice in Washington getting legislation passed," Brancato said.

The organization is strongly behind Senate Bill 801, the Caregivers and Veterans Support Act of 2009, which proposes a program to train, certify and support family caregivers of seriously disabled veterans. Family members are often called on to care for their disabled loved ones at the expense of their own gainful employment and careers.

Meanwhile, for the injured soldiers, sailors and flyers, the Wounded Warriors Project offers paid internships and professional-development programs for civilian life.

"They're still young. With their heart and their dedication, if they were able, they would go back where they were," Brancato said.

"When I met them, most of them seemed determined, not only to get better but to get back to the job that they were doing, to help out somehow."

Brancato has been able to rally local support for his promotional activities and the Wounded Warrior Project in general. He has received a big boost from businessman John Millevoi, owner of Millevoi Brothers-Torresdale Avenue. In return, Brancato has added the names of individual and business supporters to the roof of the car.

As he continues to shine a light on the cause, Carmen Brancato wants everyone in it together.

To learn more about the organization, visit the Web site at woundedwarriorproject.org. To contact Brancato, send e-mail to carmen9967@aol.com.

Reporter William Kenny can be reached at 215-354-3031 or bkenny@phillynews.com