Friday's Photo

A picture is worth a thousand words.



Picture provided courtesy of Paul Oberle.

Honoring Kingwood's Fallen

No city or town wants to be home of a fallen service member.  Sadly, the people of Kingwood, TX understand this pain all too well.  They have lost three young men, each who graduated from Kingwood High School.  Each man had spent many years, some their entire lives, in the Houston area before answering the call to serve in the military.

A group in Kingwood created a golf tournament with the goal to honor these three fallen heroes.  They also chose to raise funds for two nonprofits, Hope For The Warriors® and the Blue Star Mothers of America.

Friday's Photo

A picture is worth a thousand words.

James Wesley and Randy Travis perform for the Gala guests
Photo provided courtesy of Paul Oberle

Happy Father's Day

This Sunday is Father’s Day and Hope For The Warriors® would like to thank the fathers of our military members.  Parents have made huge sacrifices to care for their wounded sons and daughters.  Many have quit their jobs to stay at bedside and life savings have been drained.  There are countless stories of love and devotion and today I share just one.

In 2006, Colin, a Marine, deployed to Iraq and was severely wounded by an IED.  Suffering from severe traumatic brain injury, the parents were told that their son would not walk or talk again.  His father, Bob, refused to listen and Bob left his job to stay at Colin’s bedside at the medical centers. 

Bob and Colin at the Medical Centers

Friday's Photo

A picture is worth a thousand words.



Memorial 100

In 2005, a Marine Reserve Unit, 3rd Battalion 25th Marines deployed to Iraq.  They lost 48 of their brothers throughout that deployment.  In 2010, three of the Marines that served with those lost created the Memorial 100 to honor those lost.  The event became a relay run for the Memorial Day Weekend in an effort to "interrupt" the holiday weekend and remind people that Memorial Day was set to remember those lost.


For the first two years, the relay was held in Virginia, beginning at the Virginia War Memorial in Richmond and ending at the Iwo Jima Memorial in Washington D.C.  From point-to-point, the course was 106 miles, broken apart by several different runners.  Each leg was run by two people, one carrying the American Flag, the second carrying the Hope For The Warriors® flag.  In 2011, they also raised funds for Hope For The Warriors®.

This year, the location was changed to New York.  Relay participants started at Orient Point, NY and the relay moved 100 miles west, ending at Ground Zero. 

The group also added first responders to the participants and quickly gained support from several great New York groups.  They included:  FDNY Marine Corps Association, FDNY Retired Firefighters, NYPD USMC Association, Suffolk County Police, Nassau County Police, Riverhead Police Department, Southold Fire Department, Southold Police Department and the NYPD and FDNY.


The Memorial 100 Run was a perfect fit for the people of Long Island and New York.  Residents lined the street, cheered for the runners and honored those lost.  As one participant shared, it was a life-changing event.

The entire group arrived at Ground Zero on Sunday morning and were joined by many first-responders.  It is easy to understand the respect each group--military, fire and police departments--share for each other.  All serve in spite of the risk to their personal safety and all have lost friends in the line of duty.

One highly respected man that the group thanked was FDNY Captain John Vigiano.  Captain Vigiano lost two sons on 9/11, one who was with the FDNY and the other NYPD.  Since that time, Captain Vigiano and his wife have dedicated their time and efforts to supporting not only first responders in New York but also wounded service members and military families.  He has given overwhelming support to Hope For The Warriors®.

The group presented Hope For The Warriors® with a beautiful piece of art work.  The battaltion logo and the Hope For The Warriors® logo are painted over the city of New York, connected by 48 stars--one for each fallen service member in 3/25. 

Thank you to everyone that participated in the Memorial 100.  Thank you to those that ran, those that volunteered their time, those that donated and those that cheered.  This was truly an event that honored our fallen service members.

Memorial Day: A Day to Honor

On Saturday morning, as I waited in the line at my bank, one of the employees turned to me and asked about my plans for the holiday weekend.  Did I have a picnic, bbq, or party planned?  Was I going out of town? What fun adventures did I plan for my extra day off?  At no point did she ask whether I was somehow, honoring those lost on behalf of our freedoms.

Today's post is a speech written by a Gold Star Mother.  She gave this speech last week at an event in Alabama.  This weekend,with our extra day off, I hope that each of you also remember and honor those lost.  And please remember our Gold Star Families--their pain continues.

Cpl Matthew Bolar, United States Army

"Good morning, I am Anne Adkins and like a lot of you in this room today I’m a mom.  I’m the mom of Cpl Matthew Bolar who was killed in Iraq on May 3, 2007.  I am here to represent the Alabama Department of the American Gold Star Mothers."