Game 10 – Warrior Wishes Come True in DC!

The 3rd week of our “All32in17” mission kicked off Thursday night in Jacksonville.

Friday and Saturday we made Wishes come true at the Rays games

Sunday, we made Wishes come true at the Chiefs game in Kansas City and my my dad was at the Bucs game hosting warriors in the front row!

My dad was on the first flight from Tampa to DC Monday morning.

Washington DC is a great city filled with history. From Smithsonian museums to our nation’s capitol, it’s a bucket list destination that you have to check off! Throughout the years we have made some unforgettable memories making Warrior Wishes come true in DC. My personal favorites include watching Joe Theismann show his appreciation to Marine Cpl Caleb Getscher and the time we hosted a group of warriors from Walter Reed at the game!

We have also made Wishes come true at Wizards, Capitals & Nationals games!

Today my dad was in DC to host Navy Veteran Al Waters, Army Sgt Matthew Wilkes and Army Sgt Kody Jorgensen at the Bears vs. Redskins game. My dad met the warriors at The Hail BBQ Tailgate. “Tailgate Ted” & the Hail BBQ Tailgate has been making Wishes come true since 2014 and they always provide delicious pregame food. Since they were playing the Bears they had a Chicago themed menu including Beef, sausage and Chicago style hot dogs! Operation Warrior Wishes would like to thank the Hail BBQ and their crew for their hospitality and continued support throughout the years.

Al, Kody and Matthew all enjoyed getting to know each other at the tailgate before the game.

Al served in the Navy. He was nominated by his friend, Christopher, who he coaches youth football with. Chris said that Al donates all of his spare time to mentoring youth in their community. Sacrificing hours to not only prep them for success on the football field but most importantly life. Chris wanted to show Al his appreciation for all he does and we are honored to host him!

Tech. Sgt. Kody Jorgensen is a Purple Heart Veteran who served in the Oklahoma Air National Guard. Kody was wounded August 27, 2012, while serving in Afghanistan. Matthew invited Kody to be his guest at the game.

Matthew Wilkes honorably served our country for more than 12 years! He has been a Chicago Bears fan since the age of 4 and had never been to Bears game until we had the opportunity to make “his ultimate dream come true” at Soldier Field a few years ago. Matt was nominated by his wife for the experience. She wants Matt to know just how loved he truly is! We are forever grateful for his service!

Matt and his family currently live in DC and with ticket prices to the game so low, we had to get him back out to the game to cheer on his beloved Bears!

As game time approached the crew made their way into Fedex Field to watch the Bears and Redskins kick things off.

Once again we were able to score awesome seats for the warriors to cheer on their teams. Unfortunately for Al, the Redskins did not give him much to cheer about in the first half. On the flip side, MADD had plenty to cheer about as the “Monsters of the Midway” lived up to their name and shut down the Redskins. Mitch Trubisky also connected with WR Taylor Gabriel for 3 Touchdowns in the 2nd quarter! The Redskins did their best to make a comeback, but in the end fell short and lost 31-15.

Operation Warrior Wishes would like to thank Al, Cody and Matt for their selfless service and sacrifices to our country. You guys are appreciated and will never be forgotten!

After the game my dad got stranded at the Metro station with about 200-300 other Redskins fans after it shut down for the night, so he got a few hours of sleep there before heading back downtown DC in the morning. He will be back in action tomorrow to host warriors at the Nationals game before heading home Wednesday morning.