A few months ago, we had the pleasure of meeting LTC Kelly C. at one of our functions at Walter Reed. After chatting for a bit, LTC C. let us know he had connections in MMA (mixed martial arts) and might be able to bring some UFC fighters to a future function. Of course, we jumped at the opportunity as our wounded warriors are great fans.
Fast forward to this past weekend and everything was set in motion. LTC C. lined up two very popular fighters: Matt Hughes (9x Welterweight Champ) and Tim Kennedy (Army MMA Champ) to come visit our warriors at a lunch we hosted. Our warriors were so excited to meet the fighters, they were lining up over an hour prior to the fighters' arrival. Once there, Matt and Tim proceeded to sign many autographs, have their picture taken, and even wrestle with some of the children present.
We also hosted Tom and Nick, from RangerUp http://www.rangerup.com/ who were gracious enough to bring plenty of awesome t-shirts to give away. Thank you also to Coach Mark and to Justin, for being our guests.
A couple of our favorite milbloggers were also in attendance: Laughing Wolf and Uncle Jimbo from http://www.blackfive.net/
In attendance were some local and not so local Angels as well, who assisted with set up, crowd control and greeting our guests - warriors, their families and special guests alike.
But the day was not over with lunch. You see, LTC C. had secured tickets for our warriors to attend the Ultimate Warrior Challenge "Man-o-War" event held that evening. RangerUp generously paid for the tranportation for our warriors. As tickets were limited, we quickly began a waiting list for our eager warriors, but the bottom line is all who wanted to come, were able to gain admittance. I, along with Joe, one of our very dedicated and longtime volunteers, had the pleasure of not only escorting our warriors, but also attending our first MMA event. Another shout out to our RangerUp fellas: Tom and Nick had ring/cageside seats, but would come to our seating area, switch seats with our warriors, therefore allowing our warriors to sit ringside for a match. You guys rock!
Fast forward to this past weekend and everything was set in motion. LTC C. lined up two very popular fighters: Matt Hughes (9x Welterweight Champ) and Tim Kennedy (Army MMA Champ) to come visit our warriors at a lunch we hosted. Our warriors were so excited to meet the fighters, they were lining up over an hour prior to the fighters' arrival. Once there, Matt and Tim proceeded to sign many autographs, have their picture taken, and even wrestle with some of the children present.
We also hosted Tom and Nick, from RangerUp http://www.rangerup.com/ who were gracious enough to bring plenty of awesome t-shirts to give away. Thank you also to Coach Mark and to Justin, for being our guests.
A couple of our favorite milbloggers were also in attendance: Laughing Wolf and Uncle Jimbo from http://www.blackfive.net/
In attendance were some local and not so local Angels as well, who assisted with set up, crowd control and greeting our guests - warriors, their families and special guests alike.
But the day was not over with lunch. You see, LTC C. had secured tickets for our warriors to attend the Ultimate Warrior Challenge "Man-o-War" event held that evening. RangerUp generously paid for the tranportation for our warriors. As tickets were limited, we quickly began a waiting list for our eager warriors, but the bottom line is all who wanted to come, were able to gain admittance. I, along with Joe, one of our very dedicated and longtime volunteers, had the pleasure of not only escorting our warriors, but also attending our first MMA event. Another shout out to our RangerUp fellas: Tom and Nick had ring/cageside seats, but would come to our seating area, switch seats with our warriors, therefore allowing our warriors to sit ringside for a match. You guys rock!
So a big thank you, to you, LTC C., Matt and Tim, Tom and Nick for being our guests, for making this one of our greatest events and for giving our wounded/ill warriors an event that will not soon be forgotten...
MD
