Game 25 – Warrior Wishes Come True in Cincinnati!

After making warrior wishes come true at the Titans game, my dad was treated to a good night sleep in a hotel for the 2nd straight night in a row thanks to our friend Bill & Hilton hotels.

MEET THE WARRIORS

ARMY SGT JASON JOHNSON

Jason Johnson joined the Army in 2000 and was honorably discharged in 2008 as an E-5 Sergeant. He served with my cousin Steve, who was also nominated for a warrior wish & joining Jason at the Bengals game, in the 478^th Engineer Battalion out Fort Thomas Kentucky. Jason’s first tour was when the war first began back in 2003 and his unit was attached to the 1^st Marine expeditionary force.

Jason is married & a proud father of two children Cody and Olivia.   Jason’s son Cody was born the day the ground war started on March 20^th 2003. The first time he saw his son was when my cousin brought him a picture of Cody at a fire base outside Nasiriyah.

ARMY SGT STEVE SLATTERY

SGT. Steve Slattery, 33 years old. Born and raised in Cincinnati, OH. SGT Slattery joined the Army right out of high school when he was 17. He celebrated his 18th Birthday at basic.

Steve joined the Army with his cousin, Jason, & his best friend Mark. They were all in basic together at the same time, in the same company which made things for all 3 of them a little easier. They were all members of the 478th Engineer Battalion in Ft. Thomas, KY. In 03 they all did 1 tour together in Iraq. Even though they were in different companies doing different missions, Steve says “it was great to have someone from home that we got to see every so often.”

Sgt Slattery stayed in another 2 years with his unit where again they were called to action over in iraq. Doing route clearing missions in Ramadi, and Fallujah. Slattery was the TC (truck commander) for their lead vehicle during patrols.  He covered thousands of miles during his time finding and disarming many IED’s.  Sgt Slattery was hit by IED’s twice & earned a purple heart for injuries to his back.

Currently Steve is a student at the University of Cincinnati “trying to find a purpose and calling for the rest of his days.”  Steve does a lot of work his local Chive group which does a lot of charity fundraisers for all sorts of different causes. He says his days spent in the military were some of the greatest and worst all balled into one but he wouldn’t trade them for anything. He made life long friends that share a connection that most people will never understand.

SGT Slattery was nominated by John & summer Crenshsaw.  He wanted to send a special thank you to them for recognizing him and giving him the opportunity to spend an “amazing night at the Bengals game.”

Both Jason & Steve were huge Bengals fans.  It was an honor to host them at the game and make their Warrior Wishes come true.