By Soni Sangha

A Marine - a triple amputee - and his young wife were in the first room that Nick Mascolo and John Clemente entered at the National Naval Medical Center in Bethesda, MD.

"They had this look on their face," Mascolo said, "like 'Is this what our lives are going to be like?' "

Mascolo and fellow Vietnam veteran Clemente knew they couldn't make the soldier's limbs reappear or shield him from worries about his future. But they knew they could make his hospital stay a little more comfortable and offer a heartfelt thanks for his service.

Mascolo and Clemente have raised money and supplies for care packages they took to wounded soldiers returning from Iraq. Donations continue to pour in to a beauty salon in Tenafly of which Mascolo is part owner.

Five weeks ago, they delivered 116 small, wheeled patients at the Bethesda Naval Hospital, Walter Reed Army Medical Center, and a rehabilitation residence called the Mologne House.

Each suitcase was neatly packed with toiletries and a change of clothes.

Saturday, they will deliver an additional 50 suitcases, along with 10 laptop computers.

Their efforts started small but are growing. In the next few months they will ship the packages to a burn hospital in Texas and an Army hospital in Germany. They hope one day to help wounded soldiers find work and get settled.

Mascolo and Clemente say they will continue their efforts until the war ends.

"We just wanted to let them know that people are thinking about them," Mascolo said. "The hospital is a lonely place."

Their February trip was their first back to a military hospital since the late 1960s, when both men were injured in combat.

Clemente was shot during his service with a rifle platoon in Vietnam. He and another soldier were slogging through jungle at the head of their unit when suddenly an enemy scout ran between them. An explosion of gunfire erupted and Clemente was hit. A bullet pierced his knee. Another ripped off a part of his calf.

Clemente was lucky. His limbs were saved.

Mascolo recalls that his mortar platoon was somewhere in the jungle near the Cambodian border. He was digging a foxhole when the mortars rained down. Two soldiers dived for cover, landing on top of Mascolo, when he dislocated both shoulders. He went through a few surgeries and now can raise both arms above his head.

Though both served in Vietnam, they didn't meet until eight years ago at Mascolo's BBC salon. They've been good friends ever since.

"We're like Laurel and Hardy" Mascolo said.

Clemente, a mortgage loan officer, said their dive to the hospitals in February was five hours if exchanging barbs.

"I kept telling him he drove too fast," Clemente said with a laugh.

"Yeah?" countered Mascolo. "Well I didn't want to spend any more time with you in the car."

They were in high spirits before they arrived at the hospitals, and they had a plan. Mascolo was going to start with a little friendly talk and Clemente would be the closer, thanking the men and women for their service.

But as they began unloading the suitcases in front of the naval hospital, they became nervous.

"What do you say to a double amputee?" Mascolo wondered. " 'Gee, thanks a lot?' " Yet hundreds of civilians who have come to the salon to make donations say just that.

Tom Hessmer from Englewood said he frequently passes the salon, which has signs advertising the campaign. He had been meaning to make a donation. On Wednesday, he contributed $50.

"I've seen these [soldiers] on TV," Hessmer said. "When I see them, I feel and figure I might as well do something."

Inside the salon, Hessmer filled out a card to accompany his donation. It read: Thank you for your service, heal up and be well.

Mascolo said that some Marines have called donors to thank them for their support.

At the Mologne House, Mascolo recalled two men outside in wheelchairs wearing shorts that revealed their metal prosthetics. Clemente gave them each a suitcase, and suddenly a buzz developed. Soldiers came downstairs, welcoming the two and thanking them for the care packages.

"It was great," Mascolo said. "We felt like Santa Claus."

The BBC Salon is at 1 Highwood Ave., Tenafly. For more information, call (201) 567-0007.

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