| Would you like to be a part of this special work? Give us a call or fill out our contact form for more information on how to get involved or to support our mission. | |||
| July 2010 | |||
| Illinois Loses Its' Seventh Son in July, Marine Lcpl. Frederik "Freddy" Vazquez | |||
| July has been a particularly deadly month for the brave Marines and Soldiers who protect us from our adversaries overseas. | |||
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Ryne
Sandberg: A True Patriot & Supporter of The Troops (and perhaps the next Cubs Manager!?!) |
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| God Bless
The Troops is grateful for our supporter Julie Comfort of Peoria
who personally meet with Ryne Sandberg (Chicago Cubs 2nd baseman Hall
of Fame member) in Des Moines, Iowa. Ryne, standing behind our mission,
personally signed three Defender prints for us to be used in silent
auctions and raffles to help raise critical funds for military needs. Their goal is to raise money to support the Wounded Warriors of Central Illinois, Families of Servicemen and women of Central Illinois who, because of their commitment to serve many have been faced with financial hardship and last to establish Scholarships in the name of General Wayne Downing for the Children of Fallen Soldiers or Spouses from Central Illinois or to further the education of a Disabled Soldier. |
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| NEW RELEASE!! God
Bless The Troops is excited to release its' second print in the three-part
series. "In His Eternal Hands". Painted by Leslie Michaels,
with the concept design by Founder Mark Titre. Each print comes with the
"In His Eternal Hands" Poem by Rhonda McGuire. Order yours today! |
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| June 2010 | |||
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Once in Leyden Township - we witnessed
the first of many moving tributes. Two ladder trucks, one from Northlake
and the other from Leyden Township were extended over Mannheim Road
with a flag draped down. |
FOUR
COMMUNITIES INVOLVED IN MARINE'S WELCOME HOME  |
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| On Saturday June 12th Operation
Homefront, We Do Care and Rolling Thunder welcomed home Army
Sgt. Nick Bender who was wounded in Afghanistan. The streets
were lined with yellow ribbons as a cheerful and grateful crowd lined
the route with flags. A big welcome home party at Wool Street Grill and
Sports Bar topped off the activities…. as June 12th was declared
Sgt. Nick Bender day in Barrington Illinois.
God Bless The Troops was honored to be part of the celebration and we partnered with Fund-A-Frame supporter Kim Pesavento in honoring our Local Hero with a framed Defender print. Thank you for your generosity Kim! Welcome home Nick - we will be praying for a speedy recovery. Thank you for your bravery and service….. |
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| Dennis Miller and God Bless The Troops | |||
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Mr. Miller was in town to do his show at the Elgin Country Club in support of USA Cares.org, a military group that assists returning soldiers, the wounded, and provides support services for military families. In a casual, private conference the staff of GBTT, along with our artist,
Leslie Michaels, her husband Mike and Julie Comfort, a God Bless The
Troops supporter and military mom from Peoria we had the opportunity
to sit down and chat with him. Dennis, thanks for taking time out of your busy
schedule to come out and chat with us and sign a few prints for upcoming
military fundraisers for God Bless The Troops, Tee It Up For The Troops-Illinois,
and Operation Homefront.
Click here to see more pictures. |
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| April 2010 | |||
| RADIO
SPOT: 4/26/2010 UPDATE |
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| Click HERE to watch us "Live" in the studio. Although a little nerve-racking (due to our lack of experience), it
was a tremendous honor to be on Geoff Pinkus' LIVIN LARGE
Program on April 25th! The two-hours flew by, but we had a great opportunity
to share more about our mission, honor Gold Star Sisters of Army
Staff Sgt. Daniel G. Gresham, Julie and Elizabeth and talk
to several callers. We presented them with the Defender Print and Julie
had a chance to share about their brothers' life. The Pinker helped us amateurs (Mark & Rhonda were
in the studio) get the word out in tough guy style... Geoff is the ubber
professional Radio Host, and a great Patriot - although we had to wrangle
him back to point a few times, [=0)] he really helped us reach out to
his listening audience with the mission of God Bless The Troops-acknowledging
and honoring our military brave. |
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| EXCITING NEWS!!
On Sunday, April 25th, God Bless the Troops will be on the radio with Geoff Pinkus on AM560 WIND Chicago from 5 to 7PM (Central Time). Be sure to listen or or call in! We'll have several guests both call in and visit us in the studio. You can listen on the radio or online at www.geoffpinkus.com!! |
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| Honoring our Brave | |||
| On Saturday, April 17th
God Bless the Troops had an opportunity to recognize
and honor local hero Army Staff Sgt. Miguel Valdivia. We all remember the terrible tragedy at Fort Hood this past December where 13 of our military personnel were gunned down in a stateside terrorist attack. 2 of those killed in this attack were from the Chicago Area. Army Pfc. Michael Pearson of Bollingbrook and Army Pfc. Francheska Velez of Chicago. We were able to honor both of their families with a framed Defender print. Today we would like to honor a local Hero who survived the attack. Army Staff Sgt. Miguel Valdivia was in the room when the shooting took place and was hit 3 times by gun fire. Twice in the leg and once in the left ear. We mourn the 13 fallen but we are grateful Miguel survived the shooting and was here with us today. The YMCA in Elgin has so graciously extended him the opportunity to rehabilitate while he is here at home in Elgin. Special thanks to Wayne Brzycki for photographing the presentation. |
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| February 2010 | |||
God Bless The Troops
was honored to have Sean Hannity personally sign The Defender print
that was donated to The Heart Of A Marine Foundation . The framed Defender
print was auctioned off by 560 WIND’s very own Geoff Pinkus (Host
of Livin Large on Sundays from 5pm-7pm) at The Hearts of Valor Ball
on Saturday February 13th. The live auction winner was Karen Trzaska
who paid $400.00 with all proceeds going to support The Heart Of A Marine
Foundation. Rumor has it that Karen was so honored to win the print
that she even contributed more than the $400.00 bid. Thank you Karen
for your generosity…..!!!
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 pictured from Left to right: Tammy Fitzgerald, Karen Trzaska (Live Auction Winner) and Kim Pozzi Pesavento |
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| January, 2010 | |||
| Kudos To Dennis Miller:
God Bless the Troops is extremely appreciative that Dennis Miller
has offered to sign some Defender prints that will be utilized for silent
auctions in 2010 to help raise needed funds for our beloved wounded Heroes,
and Gold Star Families.
Thank you Dennis Miller. You are a Great American for your compassion and support of our cause! M.T. |
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| A benefit was held on Sunday, January 17, 2010 at Porters Yellow Tails Restaurant Sports Bar and Grill in Crystal Lake Fallen Hero, Army Sgt Jason McLeod's daughter, Jocelyn. Porters Restaurant Owners Lisa and Greg, along with Jason's mother Barb McLeod organized the fundraiser. The honorable Illinois Patriot Guard Riders were present, along with a huge group of supporters from Crystal Lake, as well s=as family and friends. There was live music, food, raffles, and a silent auction. The proceeds will be for the Jocelyn McLeod college fund. Due to the generosity of several Fund-A-Frame supporters, including
General Kinematics of
Crystal Lake, God Bless the Troops has been able to
provide a framed print not only for his loving widow Aimee Ghannam,
but also for his parents and siblings. |
 Sgt Jason McLeod |
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| We had the privilege of providing
a framed Defender Print to the Gold Star family of Army Sgt. Albert
D. Ware, of Chicago, Illinois. His funeral services were held
on Saturday, January 10th. The Defender was proudly placed near the podium
beside our brave fallen hero. A Fund-A-Frame supporter called to let us know that a brief clip mentioned this brave young man. Click HERE to see the video clip. We are forever grateful for the sacrifice this brave young man, and his family have made for this country.
Army Sgt. Albert D. Ware, 27, of Chicago; assigned to the 782nd Combat Support Battalion, 4th Brigade Combat Team, 82nd Airborne Division, Fort Bragg, N.C.; died Dec. 18 in the Arghandab River Valley, Afghanistan, of wounds suffered when enemy forces attacked his vehicle with an improvised explosive device. |
 Army Sgt. Albert D. Ware December 18, 2009 |
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| God Bless the Troops Blog launched!! Check it out HERE | |||
| We were deeply saddened to hear of the CIA agents who fell victim to a terrorist attack on Dec. 30, 2009 in Afghanistan. Seven agents were killed and six were injured. To express our sympathy and thankfulness for their service we sent CIA Director Leon Panetta the following letter, along with The Defender, and poem In Honor... | |||
| December, 2009 | |||
| We're grateful to Sean
Hannity of the Fox News Channel for autographing The Defender print to benefit The Heart of A Marine Foundation. The print will be up for auction at their Annual Hearts of Valor Ball, on February 13, 2010. Click HERE for more information. |
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| New God Bless The Troops web-site launched! | |||
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