Game 20 – Warrior Wishes Come True In The Music City!

It’s been a wild start to week 7 of our 2017 All32in17 mission! My dad said he felt as in the movie “Planes, Trains & Automobiles.” He flew to Atlanta last Wednesday & took a $1 bus to Charlotte early Thursday morning to make Wishes come true at the Panthers game.

He flew home Friday morning and spent a few days resting up before hopping on another $1 overnight bus to Minnesota on Saturday night to make Wishes come true, for 4 warriors who served our country for a combined 98 years, at the Vikings game yesterday afternoon!

After the Vikings game he made his way to the Minneapolis airport to catch a flight back to Chicago where he jumped on the “L” across town & had a 2 hour “layover” before hopping on his 3rd Overnight $1 bus ride this week!

He was headed to Nashville, aka the music city, to make Warrior Wishes come true at the Monday night Titans game.

His bus pulled into downtown Nashville at around 10am. Just in time to meet up with fellow board member, Chris Clay & some friends for lunch. Chris was in town for business meeting so he helped us make Wishes come true at the Titans game & invited my dad to crash on the couch in his hotel room after the game.

After lunch, Chris had some business meetings to attend, so my dad got made his way over to the stadium to prepare for the day. On the way he stopped in at a few Nashville sponsors to personally thank them again for their support over the years.

Upon arrival at Nissan Stadium, home of the Tennessee Titans, my dad stopped by the Cooper Steel Tailgate to thank owner Gary Cooper and his events coordinator Megan once again for their support as well. Last year they hosted a private tailgate for Operation Warrior Wishes and they won the bid for Titans Linebacker, AveryWilson’s custom 9-11 cleats. The proceeds of that auction helped us make more wishes come true!

Over the years we have made many unforgettable memories & amazing new friends while making wishes come true at Titans games. Here are some of our favorite moments!

Today we were honored to be hosting Marine Lance Cpl Ben Maenza, Marine Cpl Joey Woodke, Navy Veteran Brian Dearing & Army Spc Brittany Dearing.

For the 6th straight year, our friends at Jack Daniels hosted everyone at their amazing pregame tailgate. Tom Miller, Jack Daniels and Lipman Bros Distributors have been amazing throughout the years! From the tailgate to tickets, they truly go above and beyond to show the warriors their appreciation!

Marine Cpl Joey Woodke and Marine LCpl Ben Maenza were first to arrive. They received a warm welcome from everyone at the tailgate including my dad, Chris & some Sanofi representatives.

Navy Veteran Brian Dearing and his wife, Army Veteran Brittany Dearing received that same warm greeting when they arrived a little later in the evening.

Everyone enjoyed getting to know each other over some delicious food & some “Tennessee Whiskey.”

As game time approached, everyone headed inside to watch the Colts Kickoff against the Titans.

After a rather slow start to the game, the Colts took a 13-9 lead into the half. A Colts pick 6 added to their lead, but the Titans added 2 field goals themselves before heading into the final quarter of the game. Thats when the Titans took over. The Titans scored 3 touchdowns in the 4th quarter to beat the Colts by the score of 36-22.

The warriors were sitting in different seat locations. So throughout the game, Chris & my dad bounced back and forth to check in on the warriors. They all had enjoyed their experience & were excited to see their Titans come away with the win!

Operation Warrior Wishes would like to thank Chris Clay & his friends at Sanofi for helping host the warriors, Christine for donating a ticket, New Era for providing Titans caps, Tom Miller at Jack Daniels for their awesome hospitality at their tailgate, along with 2 tickets for the warriors. We also want to thank Rand Ballard for the incredible 4th Row 50 yard line seats for the warriors too.

TOGETHER WE MAKE WARRIOR WISHES COME TRUE!

Most importantly, we want to thank Marine Cpl Joey Woodke, Marine LCpl Ben Maenza, Navy Veteran Brian Dearing and his wife,Army Veteran Brittany Dearing for their service and sacrifice to our country!

After the game the warriors made their way back home. My dad & Chris went out for a bite to eat before heading back to their hotel for a couple of hours of sleep before my dad had to catch his 9:55am bus back to Chicago. He will have less than 12 hours back at home & will be back in action on Thursday to make Wishes come true in Oakland. Stay tuned for more details!

It was an honor to host these brave warriors and make their Warrior Wishes come true. If you know a deserving warrior who would love to attend a game on our “All32in17” mission please nominate them today!