STORIES | freedomisnotfree

UT Football makes a difference

UT Football has been a great partner of Operation Enduring Support throughout the years. Special thanks to UT Head Football Coach Mack Brown and UT Head Trainer Kenny Boyd for making it a special day for eight year old Mason Burkett, whose father was killed in Iraq.

Barbecue for the Brave

February 19th, 2005

Operation Enduring Support's first event honored several soldiers from Fort Hood Army Base. We took this time to get ideas and feedback from several soldiers that served in Iraq, as well as other parts of the world, on how best to focus our organization. The event was a success and our members walked away with several great ideas. Old soldiers and new soldiers alike enjoyed the time spent together and once again, we saw that these men and women are a great tribute to our country.

Special thanks for helping make this event possible goes out to County Line Bar-B-Q and Lt. Sean Mannix of the Austin Police Department. A big Texas thank you to County Line Bar-B-Q managers Mark Gleinser, Jeremy Hood, and Kevin Farris.

OUR STORIES – SPOKEN FROM THE HEART

John,

Thank you again for the hospitality and I hope that as we gear up again for Iraq or Afghanistan our organizations can share lessons learned and enhance the effectiveness of our young Troopers. I have attached our troop Draper Armor Award write up and you can see that it highlights the most critical points of the units life cycle. The training that you helped to make happen with Austin PD is one of those critical points. You have been the link between much of our success which directly relates to saving American lives while conducting operations in an effective manner.

Thanks,

Mike Livingston, Command Sergeant Major, US Army

John,

I want to thank you, your police partners, and the Navy SEALs that you brought in for doing the training for us prior to our deployment to Syria. Without a doubt, on multiple occasions, this training saved the lives of my Soldiers.

Colonel, United States Army

John,

We cannot thank each of you enough for your caring and assistance in our time of need. Thanks again -- Steve and Cheryl Mills

Father and Mother of U.S. Navy SEAL, Matt Mills, KIA Afghanistan, August 6, 2011

John,

We had an incident Super Bowl night. Intel led us to four guys trying to trigger the detonation of a roadside bomb IED/EFP against one of our patrols. We were able to get multiple surveillance systems to pick them up as we maneuvered ground scouts. Our guys flushed them out of their hidden trigger location - we then tracked them. They knew the terrain and our soldiers with all their gear could not keep up. We tracked them for 7-8 kilometers and followed them to a safe house - taping their activities the entire time. It was late, just after midnight so they were the only thing out - except us. We coordinated with our Iraq SWAT partners to raid the house. We nabbed four perps (three at the trigger site and one driver). At the safe house we found multiple munitions, explosives and weapons. I tell you all this because the evidence collection techniques the Austin and Dallas police officers taught our soldiers and leaders is paying off. These were serious terrorists with clear political ties to some really bad dudes. It is going to be our evidence collected at the safe house crime scene (IED location) that is going to keep these guys behind bars -or- give us overwhelming evidence to go after corruption within the criminal justice system. Either way we disrupted a serious IED cell; consequently, we will keep our soldiers and Iraqi civilians a little safer. Please pass on our thanks, yet again, to Dallas and Austin PD. My personal thanks to you for coordinating all of the training.

COL, U.S. Army, FORSCOM

Thanks Mr. Roure for your support and the things you sent, I don't have words on how to thank you for what you have done. I'm sorry about the delay on my respond, but we have been real busy lately. I'm proud of serving for our great country and people like you. Once again thank you Mr. Roure.

SPC Juan Figueroa

Dear John,

I want to thank you and all of the donors at Operation Enduring Support who worked so hard in getting my soldiers the equipment you presented to us. This equipment will make a big difference and the personal letters of support that each of my soldiers received have touched their hearts.

You have truly lifted the morale of my men and I cannot begin to thank you enough. Keep us in your thoughts and in your prayers in hope that we will all return home safe.

As hard as this is on our families and loved ones, we are ready to go to war and we will make you and the people that supported your efforts proud of us.

Michael Hazell, 1st Lieutenant, United States Army

Mr. Roure,

I just wanted to let you know that my maintenance team received the packages that you sent with the Camelbaks, coolwicking T-shirts, etc. I was both shocked and thankful when I opened it. I am amazed that your organization went through the trouble to get our name tapes put on the Camelbaks. I want you to know that your package is very much appreciated and I want to express my sincerest thanks for your generosity. It is organizations like yours that show how much our country stands behind our troops. Thank you again and if there is anything that I can do for you please feel free to email.

With Sincerest Thanks,

SSG James McCulley Jr., U.S. Army

Mr. Roure,

Man, you guys are Awesome!! This has to be the coolest thing anyone has ever done for my guys. I'm SSG Crow, and my maintenance team needed those Camelbaks, the ones that the army issue us aren't hacking it. It’s nice that people that we don’t even know care so much about us that they will send something so expensive. It’s quite comforting...and I don't think we deserve it, but thank you. And for the moral boost you provided for my guys--thank you isn't enough...There's not a lot for them to get juiced up about, but this really helped. I truly appreciate it, as do they, and say Thank You!!

p.s.: the picture is of my maintenance team before we left for here, sorry about that..it’s the only one I have of all of us.....thanx again

SSG Chet Crow

U.S. Army

Mr. John Roure

I would like to sincerely say thank you for your support and recognition of our mission, and what we are trying to accomplish over here in Iraq. At times it becomes difficult, but a simple thank you from good people like yourself and your organization once again crystallizes our mission and gives inspiration for us to continue the fight. The items that you have sent to me and my guys are greatly appreciated and will be invaluable in the up and coming summer months. I have attached some pictures in this E-mail, nothing too exciting just us being Soldiers.

Thank You

CPL Owen, Joseph E., US Army

Mr. Roure,

The artillery guys got their boxes yesterday. They were very excited! I wish you could have seen their faces when they open their boxes. Its like kids on Christmas morn.

SFC Miller, U.S. Army

Mr. Roure,

Just wanted to drop you a line and thank you for the care packages you recently sent. The CamelBak is going to help me especially in this 114 degree (todays temp) heat, so thank you for that. Besides that, I'm sure we will all get a lot of use out of the items you sent and, it's always nice to know that we're appreciated. So on behalf of myself and the rest of my Platoon thank you for the support.

PFC Treadwell and SPC Wilson

Thank you for the boxes that you sent. It is great to know and feel that we are still being supported by people at home. I will tell you a quick story of why I say this. One of our officers just returned from leave and was at the Atlanta airport and someone came up to him and asked him what in the "hell" we were doing over here? He said we are the reason that gas prices are high! This soldier is over here with 125,000 more troops risking their lives on a daily basis and all this person could say to this young LT was that he was solely responsible for gas prices or the military in general. I was so disgusted when I heard this I couldn't even say anything. He also said that the only thing on the news at home involves gas prices or illegal immigration. No mention of us over here except for an occasional 10 second blurb. 9/11 woke this country up for about 1 year. Now we are sleeping and losing touch with what is going on in the world and our patriotism again. You and many like you, through Operation Enduring Support, have made me forget about people like that person in Atlanta. Thank you again on behalf of my fellow soldiers and brothers. Bless you and your family. We are doing the best we can, you can believe that!

SSG Jones

US ARMY, Baghdad, Iraq