Game 40 – Warrior Wishes Come True in Miami!
We kicked off week 11 of our 2019 mission Thursday night in Cleveland at our 39th NFL game this year!
My dad has travelled thousands of miles since kicking off our 2019 mission and thankfully he has avoided any travel issues until last night…
You see, my dad was flying to Ft. Lauderdale Saturday night, but had to catch a connecting flight in Orlando before reaching his final destination. Upon landing in Orlando, he had 20 minutes to catch his connection. My dad rushed off the plane ran thru the terminal jumped on multiple shuttles only to find himself at the gate 2 minutes after they had closed to cabin door. I’m not sure why the airline decided to cut things so close, but he missed his flight.
I offered to get my dad an overnight bus, but he assured me that he was guaranteed to be on the first flight out in the morning and he got a good night sleep at the Orlando Airport.
At 7 am he was in the air and on his way to Ft Lauderdale. Upon arrival, he hopped in an uber and made his way directly to Hard Rock stadium to meet up with today’s guests at the tailgate. Today we had the honor of hosting Army 1SG Jimmy Wrisper, Army 1SG Danita Wrisper, Marine Adam Wimmer and Army Sgt Anthony Johnson in Miami.
Husband and wife, Jimmy and Danita Wrisper have a combined 55 years of service! Jimmy joined the Army in 1991 and served 22 years of active service on multiple Combat tours to the Middle East and South and Central America.
Danita served a combined 33 years of active and reserve time. She retired as a 1SG and also Served on multiple combat tours in the Middle East.
Adam Wimmer joined the Marine Corps in 2002 as a Motor Transport Wrecker Operator. He was stationed at Camp Lejeune, NC and deployed to Iraq in 2003, and 2004-2005. He was medically retired in 2010. He and his wife, Tina, enjoy spending time with their two daughters 10 and 8 years old. Adam also enjoys being active in local veteran service organizations.
Anthony Johnson was born in Buffalo, New York. He joined the Army just 3 days after graduating high school and served 8 years before becoming a military contractor for Northrop Grumman. He joined the Navy in 2000 and served until 2013! Anthony was nominated for a Bills game by his daughter who says “My dad is our Hero because he’s always been there for us and has fought and overcome many obstacles. He taught us the value of a great education and led by example by receiving his Bachelors in Organizational Management and then his Masters in Educational Leadership.” Anthony currently lives in Orlando so when we realized our Dolphins game was against the Bills we had to make this wish come true! He even made a custom shirt for the experience!
My dad met up with the group at the “Dol-Phans” tailgate. The Dol-Phans have been helping make wishes come true in Miami since 2013 and we appreciate their continued support!
Here are some of our favorite memories of making wishes come true at the Dolphins games!
The group enjoyed getting to know one another at the tailgate over great food and good company. Former NFL player, Chris Draft even stopped by!
As game time approached, the group headed inside Hard Rock Stadium down to their awesome seats! We had 2 seats in the front row, second row and 3rd row!
Anthony’s 3rd row seats were located right next to the Bills tunnel. He enjoyed cheering them on as they made their way on and off the field.
The Bills gave Anthony a lot to cheer about on the field too. They jumped out to an early 16 point lead and never looked back. They went on to beat the Dolphins 37-20.
Obviously Anthony went home happy, but despite the Dolphins loss, our other guests still had a great experience!
Operation Warrior Wishes would like to thank Jimmy, Danita, Adam and Anthony for their service and sacrifices!
Thanks to the Monday night game in Mexico, my dad will get a rare day off. However, we have warriors going to the Houston Rockets game Monday night and my dad will be back in action Thursday night at the Texans game! Stay tuned…
