And now it can be told! LOL

Any idea how hard it is to keep a secret when you're doing a journal ... and the local paper prints what you were doing during recent events?  Well, it's tough!  lol  

Our "Strykers" have come home again, and of course, Fort Lewis made sure to show them that they were appreciated, and we are all happy they are back with us.  

So, they had the welcome home event on Oct 27th for them all.  Families arrived from all over the country, including one of our personal favorites ... "Pops", who came to honor his grandson John.  Sports stars, NFL cheerleaders, WWF personalities, mascots, band members, prize drawings and more, made the day even more special.  Kudos to AAFES, and Services, for a job well done!

After the formalities, and ceremony, it was over to the hangar for barbecue, and music, and all kinds of fun.   And of course we had things up our sleeves as well ...  

John and Pam, from AllGaveSome.us helped us out, again!!!  We had a small banner made for the Tacoma Fire Dept, Local 31 firefighters. 

It was just a way for us to allow the Fort Lewis soldiers an opportunity to show their appreciation to the local Heroes who gave the shirts off their backs. 

And so we brought out the silver Sharpies, and off we went.   In no time at all, that banner was filled to near capacity, by the soldiers of Fort Lewis, even by the young wife of a Fallen hero who wanted to make sure her husband was able to show his thanks, too.  

We took it around and had all kinds of folks pose with the banner, and SHertz, of course ... he really is becoming a camera-hog, I mean, bear.  

Then on the eve of Veteran's Day, along with members of the 3/21 "Gimlets" ... thank you Colonel Gibler ... we paid a visit to TFD.  The troops were wonderful, and represented perfectly ... they are invited to any event they want with us!  

The Union President, Pat McElligott (Happy Birthday!), and our old buddy, Karen Leming knew what we were up to when we interrupted the end of the meeting.  

We presented them with the banner, then let them know that we wanted to thank them on behalf of the troops.  However, not being soldier's we didn't have that authority ... the door opened and a small contingent of soldier's stepped in to say thank you in their own way.  

They presented a framed photo collage of various events we had shared with TFD, and then went a step beyond, and tossed out their signed unit shirts to some of the firefighters in attendance.  

This evening was for them, not us, and so after a few photos and shared stories, we left the Heroes with the Heroes and bid them good night.  

Oh, wait ... one of us did stay behind.  When last we saw SHertz, he had arranged a card game of "Go Fish" ... (okay, that's what he told us, anyway).  And made some new friends. 

He even spent the night with the TFD ... Mom was nervous.  But all was well.  Turns out SHertz made friends with Bart, from Hilltop.  Hmmm ... 

Seriously though, thank you guys for taking care of him.  

To the troops who joined us, thank you!  Too often, people don't get to hear that what they are doing (like giving the shirts off their backs) for you during your deployments, makes a difference.  We can tell them, but having it come from you directly speaks volumes. 

Hope you all had a good time, and made some new friends, there are some good people in TFD!  

Another thanks to two of our core team ... Larry & Chani Kaibetoney joined us for the event.  That might not seem like a big deal, until you understand that just 2 hours prior, they were still at the hospital after yet another surgery on Larry's hand after the Mosul dining hall bombing.   Larry was still a little wobbly, and Chani was obviously exhausted ... but they both believe in the efforts for the troops. Larry has been through Hell, and Chani has been there tirelessly, like all the spouses of our wounded and deployed troops.  These two are 2 of my own personal Heroes.  Way to represent.  

So, here are some of the photos you have missed out on over the last few weeks.  Hope you enjoy.  

Please continue getting those shirts to us!  We have a lot of requests to fill, and every one has a troop on the other end of it.

And remember ... THANK A VET!

lj