Game 16 – Warrior Wishes Come True In Philly!

For the 2nd consecutive night, my dad found himself arriving at 30th street station in Philadelphia during the middle of the night. With it being too late to get a hotel for the night he got a few hours of rest before finalizing his plans to make warrior wishes come true at the Eagles game.

This was our 16th game of this season! Today we had the pleasure of hosting Army SGT Gregory Hedrick & Marine Anthony Trzeciak at the Eagles game & make their warrior wishes come true! (Meet the Warriors below)

Here are some of our favorite memories from making Warrior Wishes come true in Philly!

My dad met up with SGT Hedrick at Eastern State Penitentiary to take a tour of the creepy old prison before the game.

Eastern State Penitentiary is a very intimidating place. With a Medieval castle appearance and 30 foot tall fortress walls surrounding the “Wagon-wheeled” shaped prison, it’s the perfect setting for a haunted house. In fact, The prison is considered to be one of the most haunted locations in the world. 3 years ago when we toured the prison we snapped this picture in death row, notice all the orbs surrounding us.

The prison opened in 1829, visitors from around the world marveled at its grand architecture (John Havilland) and radical philosophy. The experiment, to reform criminals through strict isolation, soon became a model for prison design world wide. An estimated 300 prisons on four continents are based on Eastern’s distinctive “wagon-wheel” floor plan. Once the most expensive building in the USA, Eastern State was finally abandoned in 1971 after 142 years in use. It is now a National Historic Landmark & a must do when visiting Philadelphia!

Thankfully everyone made it out of the penitentiary without any ghostly encounters and they made their way over to Mcfadden’s by the stadium to meet Anthony & get a bite to eat before the game.

McFadden’s Ballpark at Citizen’s Bank Park opened it’s doors for business in 2004 and has since become the go-to place for Philly Sports Fans. With 47 Hi-Def Plasma TV’s and 3 Giant Projector Screens, McFadden’s Ballpark has provided the perfect venue to get to know the Warriors before each game in Philly!

We had a little bit of time to tailgate with our philly friends before watching the Giants and Eagles kickoff The Monday night game.

The Eagles gave the Warriors plenty to cheer about as they went on to beat the Giants by the score of 27-7!

We would like to thank Eastern State Penitentiary for providing the spooky tour of the prison, Mcfadden’s for providing a delicious meal before the game, Dan & Dave for the Shish Ka Bobs, our friend Ed Salomeh for donating tickets for the warriors, New Era for providing Eagles caps & most importantly we would like to thank Anthony & Greg for your selfless service & sacrifices for our country!

My dad will be taking this Thursday off to spend some time at home with the family before we head out to the west coast this weekend to make warrior wishes come true in San Diego & Arizona!

TOGETHER WE MAKE WARRIOR WISHES COME TRUE!

MEET THE WARRIORS

ARMY SGT GREGORY HEDRICK

SGT Gregory Hedrick was born & raised in Philadelphia. He joined the Army in Dec of 2003 & Served a total of 11 years! 2 Iraq tours and one to Afghanistan.

On September 20th 2012, while serving in Afghanistan, Greg was injured when an armor piercing RPG struck his truck. resulting in the loss of his left leg and the loss of 3 fingers on his left hand. Sgt Hedrick spent over 2 years at Walter Reed recovering from his injuries.

Saying Greg is a huge Eagles fan is an understatement. He is the biggest Eagles fan we have ever met!

Greg is married and has 3 boys that keep him busy. He was medically retired from the Army this past February.

MARINE ANTHONY TRZECIAK

Anthony joined the United States Marine Corps In January 2008. He deployed with the 22nd Marine Expeditionary Unit and shortly after returning home he deployed again on a humanitarian mission to Haiti to aid with the Earthquake.

In March of 2011 Trzeciak deployed to Afghanistan for a seven month combat deployment. He was on a motor convoy when his vehicle was struck by an I.E.D and severely injured his back. Upon his return home Anthony became paralyzed from the waist down.

Trzeciak now enjoys spending time with his wife and son, who was born while Anthony was deployed in Afghanistan.

Anthony works every day on building his strength and staying as healthy as he can. His wife, who is his full time caregiver, are expecting their second child in January of 2016. Anthony & his family are planning to move to Tampa, Florida so He can receive physical therapy from the VA facility.

It was an honor to make these Warrior Wishes come true!