Game 38 – Warrior Wishes Come True In Miami!

After making warrior wishes come true in Tampa at the Bucs game on Sunday afternoon, my dad hopped on an evening $1 bus ride to Miami.  

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The bus dropped him off right at the Miami airport and instead of wasting money on a hotel for only a couple of hours he curled up on a comfy airport lounge chair to get a few hours of rest before making warrior wishes come true at the Dolphins game.  

He made his way over to the stadium first thing in the morning in hopes of getting last minute tickets from the box office to avoid paying 4x face value from ticket brokers.  But as expected they were sold out…

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Thankfully, we were able to secure tickets from stubhub for a reasonable price.  I purchased the tickets on my break at work in IL & walked my dad through how to print them off from a hotel in Miami.  

With tickets secured, it was time to meet SSG Mike Williams & his family.  Mike proudly served our country for over 20 years! It was an honor to host him & his family & make his warrior wish come true at the Dolphins game.  (Read more about his story below)

We would like to thank the Jen & the entire “Phin Addicts” tailgate crew for hosting SSG Williams & his family for pre game food and drinks.  

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Mike & his family also enjoyed playing games outside the stadium before making their way inside to watch the Dolphins take on the Giants!

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My dad did not plan to go to the game because of ticket prices being so expensive.  So he walked the Williams family inside and headed back towards the tailgate.  Once the game started he walked around the stadium and stumbled upon an unused $450 face value ticket stub, outside the gates.  He used the ticket to get inside and made his way up to find Mike & his family.

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My dad text me to confirm the seat location and was told by multiple people that those seats did not exist, when he eventually found the seats they were supposed to be in, the Williams family was no where to be found.  I guess they had multiple people with the same seats.  So they had to be re ticketed and missed a portion of the game.  

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Thankfully everything worked out in the end, except the Dolphins extended our losing streak to 7 consecutive games…

Despite the loss, SSG Williams said this was “An experience of a lifetime!” And then went on to tell us “Words can not express my gratitude and they aren’t enough ways to say thank you for what you guys do.”  

SSG Williams, it was an honor to host you & your family.  It’s not about what we do, it’s about what you and your military brothers & sisters do for us.  We’re just doing our best to say thank you and show you all that your service and sacrifices have not gone unnoticed.  

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 Mike’s friends and family were all happy to see the well deserved smile on his face when his warrior wish came true at the Dolphins game!  

We would like to thank The Phin Addicts for hosting us at your “Phin-tastic” Tailgate & New Era for providing New Dolphins Caps for SSG Williams & his family.

After the game SSG Williams & his family dropped my dad off at the Miami airport to catch his early morning flight back to Chicago.  But then my dad realized that he was flying out of Fort Lauderdale airport…  He slept outside the airport waiting for public transportation, which started at 4am, to Fort Lauderdale Airport and made it just in time to catch his flight.  

He said he slept from wheels up in Florida to wheels down in Chicago.  Xander was super excited to have his G-PA back home!

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My dad will be in St. Louis wrapping up the last scheduled game of our 2015 “All32in17” mission.  But don’t worry, we are in the process of working on logistics to continue the mission all the way to the Super Bowl!   Stay tuned….

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TOGETHER WE MAKE WARRIOR WISHES COME TRUE!

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Army SSG Mike H. Williams is currently stationed at Ft. Stewart, GA with the 293rd Military Police Company, 385th Military Police Battalion. He has served over 20 years with the United States Army!
Wiliams has been married to his wife, Maishay, for over 19 years & has two sons Kevin (17), and Chase (8).
SSG Williams military assignments include Camp Carroll, Korea; Ft.Bliss, TX; Kaiserslautern (K-town), Germany; Ft.Jackson, SC; Baumholder, Germany; United States Military Academy West Point, NY; Camp Carroll, Korea; and Ft.Stewart, Ga. He has held positions of patrolmen, team leader, squad leader, platoon sergeant, and operations sergeant. He has served on deployments to Saudi Arabia, Kosovo, Iraq, and Afghanistan. His awards include the Joint Service Achievement Award, Army Commendation medal (6 awards, one with “V” device for Valor), Army Achievement medal (4 awards), Iraq campaign medal, Afghanistan campaign medal, Global War on Terrorism medal, Armed Forces Expeditionary medal, Korea Defense medal, National Defense service ribbon 2nd award, and the Overseas ribbon 5th award.
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