Game 3 – Warrior Wishes Come True In Oakland!
If you have been flowing our mission over the past week, I’m sure you have realized that my dad is crazy & will do just about anything to make Warrior Wishes come true. He set out on this mission on Tuesday & has made Wishes come true in Cleveland, Pittsburgh, Philadelphia, Boston, Washington DC & Baltimore!
In the past 6 days, my dad has been on 6 overnight busses & spent 0 hours sleeping in a real bed. Thankfully he had time to stop at some health clubs along the way to clean up & get a work out in….
After hosting warriors at the Ravens home opener in the pouring down rain, my dad made his way to the airport to catch his first flight of the 2018 All32in17 mission. A cross country flight from Baltimore to Detroit where he jumped on a connecting flight from Detroit to Oakland…. this years schedule is a little crazy…
Upon landing in Oakland, my dad made his way across the bay via the BART to our friend Lou’s house to get a good night sleep before the Monday night Raiders game.
Our friend Lou has been helping us make Wishes come true in the bay since 2012. He & his friends are amazing people who truly support the brave men & women who serve & sacrifice for us! We cannot thank them enough for all of their support throughout the years!
This will be one of the last times we ever have the opportunity to make Wishes come true at an Oakland Raiders game, as they will be moving to Las Vegas in 2020. Here are some of our favorite memories from Oakland!
After working all morning at Lou’s shop to make sure everything was set for this event & a few future missions, my dad made his way back to Oakland. He picked up the tickets at the stadium around 3pm and met up with Marine Veteran Gerson TocGonzalez & his family at around 4.
Gerson served in the Marines for 12 years. He deployed twice to Afghanistan & today he continues to battle PTSD, knee and back issues & a TBI from injuries sustained while serving. Gerson‘ Swift nominated him for this experience to show him that his service & sacrifices are appreciated. And since the Raiders are his favorite team she thought it would help put a smile on his face.
As you can see, I think we accomplished that mission! This was the entire family’s first ever Raiders game!
The group snapped some pictures in front of the stadium before making their way over to Kingsford Kirk’s ultimate tailgate party! No trip to a Raiders game is complete without meeting some of their Wild fans! Needless to say, the kids were a little “spooked” but can you blame them? Some of those guys scare me too!
Kingsford Kirk & the Bad Boyz of BBQ have also been making wishes come true since 2012!
We also met up with a few old friends at the tailgate too. Shelly Belle, a Gold Star Mom who we hosted in 2014 was also going to the game & decided to tailgate with us before the game. My dad enjoyed catching up with her.
As they all made their way back to the stadium, they stopped at the “Raider Rookie Fun Fest” are to play some games with the kids. It was a lot of fun for them!
Eventually everyone made it inside the stadium in time to watch the Rams and Raiders kickoff their 2018 season.
It was a very entertaining first half and the Raiders took a 13-10 lead into the break. But the 2nd half wasn’t as exciting for Raiders fans… the Raiders were shut out in the 2nd half and the Rams went on to win the game 33-10.
Operation Warrior Wishes would like to thank Kingsford Kirk & the bad boys of BBQ for providing the amazing pregame tailgate, New Era Cap for providing Raiders caps & our friends Lou & Vinny for providing tickets.
TOGETHER WE MAKE WARRIOR WISHES COME TRUE!
Most importantly we want to thank Marine Gerson TocGonzalez for your service & sacrifices.
For the first time in a week, my dad will get a day of tomorrow & will spend a majority of the day flying back to Chicago after a quick layover in Vegas.
Next week we will be making Wishes come true in Cincinnati, Nashville & Chicago. Stay tuned for all the details!
Don’t forget to follow our mission on Facebook & Twitter @WarriorWishes & Nominate your warrior for an upcoming game on our 2018 Schedule at www.WarriorWishes.org
