Remembering the Heroes of Wanat

"I just hope these guys’ wives and their children understand how courageous their husbands and dads were. They fought like warriors." - SGT Jacob Walker


Im Memoriam:

1LT Jonathan Brostrom
SGT Israel Garcia
SPC Matthew Phillips
SPC Pruitt Rainey
SPC Jonathan Ayers
SPC Jason Bogar
SPC Sergio Abad
SPC Jason Hovater
SPC Gunnar Zwilling

All Sky Soldiers of Chosen Company, 2/503 Infantry Regiment, 173rd Airborne Brigade Combat Team. They were killed in action at Vehicle Patrol Base Kahler near Wanat in Nuristan Province, Afghanistan on July 13, 2008. 27 Americans and four Afghan soldiers were wounded.

Our thoughts and prayers are with their families and with all of the men who were there that day. We will always remember.


Originally posted 13 July 2009.

85-year old widow donates home to wounded Veteran

The home is being renovated by the Lifetime TV show "Designing Spaces: Military Makeovers". According to them,

A few months ago, our producers received a call from Wilma (“Tinky”) Stuart of Orlando, FL. She was touched by what she saw on the Military Makeover series that aired in November 2014, coming from a military family herself. Wilma wants to make a difference for a needy veteran — and has generously donated a home to our next Military Makeover family.

WFTV - Orlando:

"It's the beginning of the largest chapter of my life. It's the best part of my life," [Army veteran Tommy] Travis said.

...

A woman whom he's never met, Tinky Stewart, 85, is giving her house to Travis to show her gratitude for his sacrifice. Stewart is the widow of a Marine.

"I'm of the age where it takes very little for me anymore. So, I thought, 'Why not donate it to a nice veteran and his family?'" Stewart said.

...

For Travis, his wife and two daughters, the home will mean the end of countless moves, courtesy of the U.S. Army. It will finally be a home upon which they can build.

"She's an angel for what she did. I can't say thank you enough. I could say it a hundred million times and it still wouldn't be enough to show the gratitude I have toward her," Travis said.

The house will be mortgage free.

The episode on the makeover will air in October.

Happy Independence Day!

Today, Independence Day, we remember that our freedom and liberty are owed to a remarkable group of men and women who had the courage to stand up against the tyranny and injustice of the British Crown over 200 years ago.

56 men signed a document that denounced the “repeated injuries and usurpations” of their God-given rights and liberties. This bold and courageous act was not self-serving, but a pursuit to establish a new way of life where all men, created equal and endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, are entitled to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.

They pledged their lives, fortunes, and sacred honor to fulfill the principles of freedom our Warriors still fight for today.

God bless America, and happy Independence Day!