Hero Stories for February 2010

Hunt brings wounded Colorado soldiers to Kansas By MONICA SPRINGER The Garden City Telegram GARDEN CITY, Kan. (AP) -- Soldiers who have been injured spend weeks and months in physical therapy trying to overcome their injuries. And for some, a weekend of hunting and bantering with fellow servicemen helps in the healing process, soldiers said. The second annual Heartland Heroes Hunt brought 13 soldiers and their families stationed at Fort Carson, Colo., to Garden City for a weekend of hunting...

What you are doing is incredibly generous and admirable. I would like to submit a memorial for my brother SSG Victor Patric Lierance "Sgt. Victoir P. Lieurance, 34, died in Samarra, Iraq, while conducting patrol operations an improvised explosive device detonated near his HMMWV. He was assigned to the Army National Guard's 3rd Squadron, 278th Armored Cavalry Regiment, Sparta, Tennessee. Died on August 22, 2005. His family has a strong military background - his father,  Andre Lieurance served ...

Ed Freeman, Medal of Honor Winner. You’re an 18 or 19 year old kid. You’re critically wounded, and dying in the jungle in the Ia Drang Valley, 11-14-1965. LZ Xray, Vietnam. Your Infantry Unit is outnumbered 8 – 1, and the enemy fire is so intense, from 100 or 200 yards away, that your own Infantry Commander has ordered the Medi-Vac helicopters to stop coming in. You’re lying there, listening to the enemy machine guns, and you know you’re not getting out. Your family is 1/2 way around...

I ordered several of your memorial KIA bracelets. Pretty powerful statement. I wear one now with the name of a Marine from Texas. I looked up a memorial about him and I’m proud to be helping carry on his memory, even though I never met him. Thanks for making this possible for me. I’ve given the other bracelets to a couple friends at work. They wear them every day. Kyle  Rodg

Dear Joel ~ We all miss you so very much and you are never far from our thoughts. I miss your laughter most of all. When we are together as a family I see you there just kicking back with the guys, telling tall tales, enjoying a “Downtown Brown” … and I hear you laugh, the way you would toss back your head and give that deeply contagious laugh. Your nieces and nephews miss you and talk of you often – you are the object of many school projects and even mentioned in the first line of a book sta...

Frank Morrison, Air Force, WWII, Korea, Vietnam My father Frank Morrison retired from the Air Force with 30 years of service.  He was in WWII, Korea, and Viet Nam. My brother Mike Morrison was a helicopter pilot during Viet Nam.  He lost his right eye when he was hovering picking up wounded. My brother Floyd Morrison was a Green Beret during Viet Nam. My mother Marguerite Jarrell Morrison was a WAC in WWII. We have placed an engraved paver in San Antonio in my mother's name. I wear bracelets ...

My son was my best friend because of the courage he displayed as a soldier in the U.S. Army and the hero he became at such an early age. From a teenager, he became a man who always thought of others and always made sure to fit everyone into his schedule when he was home. He lit up a room and had a smile that could capture anyones heart and always had a hug for everyone he cared for, but ready to help when someone needed a hand who he did not know. He grew to be a leader and a teacher to those...

My name is Alex Soper, and I am the brother of Sgt. Matthew Soper KIA 06-06-2007 (Iraq).  Below is the memorial I would like to add, also was told that a code would be emailed to me providing me with the information to order a free hero bracelet.  Thank you so much!  I think this is a great thing that you're doing! July 27, 1981 saw the birth of a beautiful baby boy. His name is Sgt. Matthew Ryan Soper. He was the fifth child born into a family that would have a total of eight children. In a ...

Operation Gratitude ( www.OperationGratitude.com ) is the California- based 501 (c) (3) non-profit, volunteer organization that sends care packages filled with snacks, entertainment items and personal letters of appreciation addressed to individually named U.S. Service Members deployed in hostile regions such as Iraq and Afghanistan, and on Naval ships at sea. Our mission is to lift morale, bring a smile to a service member's face and express to all our Armed Forces the appreciation and s...

My son, Cpl. Nicholas Ziolkowski was KIA in Fallujah on November 14, 2004. One day in January, I came home from work and found a HeroBracelet that someone had left at my door. The guy who left it was a repairman who had been doing work in my house when Nick was home for the last time. It turned out that the repairman had been a Marine in the same battalion as Nick. They chatted for awhile. When Nick was killed, Bill, came by the house to pay a condolence call, and then he and his wife order...