Game 38 – Warrior Wishes Come True On Veteran’s Day!
First and foremost, Happy Veterans Day! Thank you to all who have served! Although this day only gets celebrated once a year on the calendar, we treat every day like Veterans Day! It has been an honor to have had the opportunity to host nearly 5,000 veterans across the country over the past 7 and a half years! We look forward to hosting many more in the future.
My dad kicked this week off in Oakland on Thursday. He started by hosting a group of more than 30 veterans at a taping of Guy’s Grocery games, hosted by Guy Fieri.
From there he made his way to the Oakland coliseum for Raiders final prime time game in Oakland, as they are heading to Las Vegas next year.
Then yesterday, we made Warrior Wishes come true at the Chicago Bears game, our 37th NFL game this season…
And in a suite at the Chicago Blackhawks game last night!
My dad jumped back into the action today to make Warrior Wishes come true back in the Bay Area at the 49ers game!
San Francisco is one of my favorite city’s to make wishes come true in for a couple of reasons. Reason #1 – we have made some amazing friends that go above and beyond to take care of the warriors every time we are in town. Reason #2 – San Francisco is an awesome City! There is so much to do an see! Reason #3 – the teams in San Fran (49ers, Giants & Warriors) all have incredible stadiums!
Today we had the honor of hosting Army Sgt Harry Franco and Army Sgt Gary Ackermann at Levi’s stadium, home of the 49ers!
Sgt Franco was nominated to us for this experience by multiple people, including a couple warriors we have hosted in the past. In their words, “Harry is a one of a kind guy. He always tries to help other veterans weather that be with benefits, VA, veteran events, or even just someone to talk to when you need that person who understands. He is very deserving of a Warrior Wish.” Harry lives the 49ers and it was an honor to host him at this Veteran’s day game!
Army Sgt Gary Ackermann served in Afghanistan. He and his wife drove 18 hours from Montana to be here at this game, so you know they are big fans! Having the opportunity to attend a 49ers game was a dream come true for Gary, as he had never been to a game before! We are honored to have helped make the dream come true!
We want to thank the Staybridge Suites for providing the Ackermann’s accommodations while they were in town!
My dad headed out to Levi’s stadium with our friend Vince, who has been helping make Warrior Wishes come true since 2012. They met up with Gary, Harry and their guests for some tailgate fun before the game.
The 49ers provided tickets for the warriors to experience the 49ers museum. So they headed into the stadium early to take advantage of that. The 20,000 square foot facility features 11 unique gallery and exhibit spaces dedicated to the 49ers past, present and future. The museum is dedicated to its values of education, innovation and heritage and is committed to serving as an exciting, engaging home for fans of all ages. It’s a must see when attending a game!
As game time approached everyone made their way up to their seats to watch the 7-2 Seahawks and the undefeated 49ers kick things off in one of the most anticipated games of 2019!
And boy did this game live up to the hype! The 49ers jumped out to an early 10-0 lead, but 3 costly turnovers led to 3 Seahawks touchdowns and Seattle took a 21-10 lead into the final quarter.
The 49ers defense capitalized scoring a touchdown of their own off a fumble recovery to start the 4th quarter to bring the game within 3 and they eventually tied things up with 6 minutes left to go.
Russell Wilson and the Seahawks drove down the field on their next possession to set them up for the go ahead score with less than 2 minutes remaining.
But Jimmy G and the 49ers offense wasn’t about to give up their undefeated season just yet. They drove down the field and set up their newly acquired kicker, filling in for the injured Robbie Gould, for a chance to tie things up and send the game into overtime. The 47 yard attempt split the uprights, the crowd went wild and the teams headed to OT!
In overtime, the Seahawks drove down the field and were almost guaranteed points, until Russell Wilson was intercepted and the 49ers were set up to kick a game winning field goal! Talk about pressure… unfortunately, their new kicker missed the attempt…
The Seahawks had the ball with 1:25 left in overtime. Wilson, was elusive scrambling for 21 yards and set his team up for a game winning attempt of their own with 3 seconds left in overtime. The kick was good and the last unbeaten team in the NFL suffered their first loss of the season…
Despite the loss, the warriors enjoyed the exciting game!
Operation Warrior Wishes would like to thank Army Sgt Harry Franco and Army Sgt Gary Ackermann as well as all the other veterans out there for their service and sacrifices! Happy Veterans Day!
My dad will be heading home Tuesday morning and will immediately make his way to the “Madhouse on Madison” to make Warrior Wishes come true at the Tuesday night Bulls game!
He will be kicking off week 11 in Cleveland on Thursday night. Stay tuned…
