Vets For Freedom National Heroes - Don't Miss This Great Opportunity

Vets For Freedom National Heroes Tour may still be on the way to a city near you.  Don't miss this great opportunity to meet some of our greatest modern day Warriors.  Oh, and a bonus - Uncle Jimbo of Blackfive who is documenting the trip.  The tour began with a flourish on the deck of the U. S. S. Midway in San Diego, CA on 14 March 2008 and will end in Washington, DC on 8 April 2008 for the "Vets On The Hill Vets For Freedom" event.

I cannot tell you how excited I am to be going to Nashville, TN this coming Saturday to meet as many of these great Warriors as possible.  I'm also excited that I will be in DC on 8 April to join with others to show our support of our Veterans and current military personnel. 

So who's on this nationwide tour?  While not all of the men will be at every stop you could potentially meet:

Former Army SSG David Bellavia author of House to House: An Epic Memoir of War.  David is the recipient of the Silver and Bronze Stars for Valour and the Conspicuous Service Cross.  As a result of his actions in the battle of Fallujah in November 2004 David has been nominated for the Distinguished Service Cross and the Medal of Honor.  You can read much more about David here.  I haven't read David's book yet but have ordered it and anxiously anticipate its arrival.

Marcus Lutrell is acknowledged on the Vets For Freedom website as a New York Times best-selling author, a former U.S. Navy SEAL and Petty Officer First Class who was awarded a Purple Heart, and a Navy Cross for combat heroism on the front lines in Afghanistan. The sole survivor of a mission in which four Navy SEALs were sent into a Taliban stronghold on the Afghan-Pakistan border to capture a key Taliban leader, Luttrell was badly injured yet managed to escape capture and later author the best-seller, Lone Survivor: The Eyewitness Account of Operation Redwing and the Lost Heroes of SEAL Team 10. A film based on the book is currently being considered.  Once I began reading Marcus's account of his career in the Navy, Seal Training and the events of Operation Redwing I literally could not put it down.  His ability to tell his story was captivating.  I found myself holding my breath, fighting to read through tears and laughing out loud throughout the entire book. 

In May 2004, Corporal Marco Martinez became the first Hispanic American since the Vietnam War to be awarded the Navy Cross, the second-highest honor awarded a U.S. Marine.  His valor stands in stark contrast to his behavior just three years earlier, when Martinez was a gun-toting, joy-riding gang member in New Mexico.  Read more about Corporal Martinez here.

LTC Steve Russell (Ret) has a very distinguished military career.  One of his most recently noted accomplishments is that of his unit being directly involved with the capture of Saddam Hussein.  Before retiring in the fall of 2006, He served 21 years in the U.S. Army’s Airborne, Light and Mechanized units, crossing the globe on assignments from the Arctic, to the Pacific, to Europe, to the Middle East and back.  He turned down promotion to full colonel and a Queens University War College Fellowship in Kingston, Canada to retire in September 2006 and be with his wife and 5 children. He has since founded Vets for Victory, an organization that educates the public about the war on terror, and travels across the country putting a soldier’s voice to the national debate on the war. He is a sought-after speaker, writer and media analyst, and been a major voice in combating defeatist rhetoric at home.  A more detailed bio on LTC Russell can be read here.

Despite being pierced by shrapnel from an exploding grenade, Marine Sgt. Jeremiah Workman continued rushing forward into enemy fire, leading three assaults to extricate Marines trapped in a besieged building. This courageous act took place while Workman was serving as a Marine squad leader in Fallujah, Iraq, during clearing operations on Dec. 23, 2004. It earned him a Navy Cross Medal—an honor second only to the Medal of Honor—for “extraordinary heroism.”  More about SGT Workman’s career is chronicled here.

A friend of mine attended the events in Phoenix and assures me that this is an event you DO NOT want to miss.  Please visit the Vets for Freedom website to read about this tour and about all of the other important and extraordinary work Pete Hegseth, Executive Director, and the members of Vets For Freedom are doing.  While you are there make a donation to ensure that they can continue their work. 

P. S.  I understand SSG Bellavia might just have a great story about Lassie.  Or, is it Old Yeller?