Click here to see a summary of all wishes.

“Your assistance has greatly eased the financial burden for my children and me…organizations such as Wish For Our Heroes, that are willing to help the brave men and women in their time of need, are indispensable, and frankly, we could not do what we do without the support of people like yourselves.” -SGT Ronald Smith, 12th wish recipient.

“I wish we could say something else besides thank you to let you know how much we appreciate all you have done for us. Just the way you treated us alone was a help. I pray that one day soon we are in a better place and can help your organization in some way, because what you do is wonderful.” -Calista Baker, 17th wish recipient.

“You guys have really been our angels and we are so thankful.” -SGT Jerald Hammond, 11th wish recipient.

“Nobody knows what we go through sometimes in our personal lives, and we are often too proud to share these things with others. I am so grateful to your organization and to my Chain of Command for this (assistance).” SPC Brandon Bowe, 15th wish recipient.

Video from SPC Rob Forrest, 1st wish recipient:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bxaSSrQxlS0&feature=player_embedded

Staff Sergeant Jake and Kacie Cole

• Wish #21 – Helping Make a House a Home.
• Read Staff Sergeant Jake and Kacie Cole’s Story.

SPC Justin Hogue

• Ft. Campbell Soldier Will Cheer For Wildcats – Receives Wish to Attend UK Basketball Game Before Deploying to Afghanistan
  

• Read SPC Justin Hogue’s Story.

TSgt Daniel M. Sprague Sr

• TSgt Daniel M. Sprague Sr (188th Arkansas Air National Guard Unit in Fort Smith, AR) and family received news last December that their new rental had been broken into and set on fire. Losing most of their belongings, the Sprague family had to find a new place to live with less than a month before Daniel deployed to Afghanistan.
  Media coverage: The Sprague’s were featured on the front page of the Daily American Republic: Click here to view.
  
• Read TSgt Daniel M. Sprague Sr’s Story.

SPC Lenard Jones,

• SPC Lenard Jones, known by his friends as “Charlie”, joined the Army in 2006, and knew from the beginning that he wanted to turn his service into a career. He was stationed at Fort Hood (Killeen, TX) shortly after boot camp, then deployed to Afghanistan in 2007 for 15 months. He later returned to Fort Hood in May of 2009. He and his wife of 12 years, Shanna, are raising three kids, Preston (age 9), Madison (age 7), and CJ (age 5) on Charlie’s salary alone, and although they are doing well, it is sometimes difficult to purchase even basic essentials.
• ReadSPC Lenard “Charlie” Jones’s Story.

Brad and Calista Baker

• You may remember that just two weeks ago, we sent Brad and Calista Baker a $500 gift card to Wal-Mart to help with purchasing the essentials: food, clothing, etc. This family was struggling financially, and it seemed like every corner they turned, had a new roadblock for them to face. Upon receipt of their wish, we learned that the family’s car had been repossessed and they had no transportation to get both Calista and their daughter to school (Calista is taking nursing classes).
• Read the update to Brad & Calista Baker’s Story.

Brad and Calista Baker

• Brad and Calista Baker received orders to Fort Hood, TX and became members of the VFW in TX because they think highly of it and the support it gives soldiers and families and they had hoped to contribute to it. Unfortunately, they found themselves being the ones in need of help. Their daughter, Isabella, suddenly became ill, and was in and out of hospitals and doctor’s offices for over a year. As a result, Calista lost her job and stayed home to care for Isabella. The loss of a second income caused a lot of financial distress. Since then, they have been trying to repair credit scores, and pay off debts.
• Read Brad & Calista Baker’s Story.

SPC Rodriguez

• In September, Melinda returned to Fort Bragg, NC, to get the house ready for Angel’s return in January 2010. With Angel still gone, it was too painful for Melinda to open the boxes of Angel’s clothes, so she continued to store them in a closet. Three weeks before his return, Melinda began moving the boxes in the house to wash and put his clothes away only to find that most of them were covered in mold. Melinda was mortified. She contacted the storage place, but per her agreement, she only had 30 days to make a claim, and that time had passed. With the holidays, ongoing bills, and her children needing new clothes (due to ongoing growth spurts), Melinda knew she couldn’t afford to replace the clothes and sobbed knowing her husband would have no clothes when he came home.
• Read SPC Rodriguez’s Story.

SGT Jerald Hammond

• SGT Jerald Hammond joined the military directly out of high school, and served six years at Fort Stewart, GA, where he met his future wife, Crystal. They were friends for a few years, and Jerald got to know both Crystal and her son, Brandon. As time went on, Jerald and Crystal began dating and just before Christmas of 2000, Jerald asked Crystal to marry him.
• Read SGT Jerald Hammond’s Story.

SPC Bowe

• Servicemen and women certainly know the meaning of sacrifice and hard work, and will typically do anything it takes to get the job done. SPC Bowe of Camp Atterbury (Edinburgh, IN), is no exception. We were contacted by the Specialist’s chain of command, indicating SPC Bowe was facing hard times, and was literally sleeping in his truck at the Indiana training facility. After speaking with SPC Bowe, we found out that he was traveling to work from his home on the north side of Indianapolis, and simply didn’t have the funds to pay for fuel back and forth. Rather than missing work, he was sleeping in his truck to ensure he could be present for duty each day.
• Wish 15 – SPC Bowe

SGT Ronald Smith

• SGT Ronald Smith is a single dad, raising two young children on his own, while balancing his duties at Camp Atterbury in Indiana. Smith has been in the Army for 15 years, and his family has served in the Army for many generations, going back as far as the Revolutionary War and the French and Indian Wars. If you talk to him for even a minute, you can tell that he puts his all into anything he does, though serving his country and his children are his biggest priorities.
• SGT Ronald Smith

SrA Matthew and SrA Jessica Baker

• SrA Matthew and SrA Jessica Baker met through the Air Force. Matt had already deployed three times since 2003, once to a country in the former U.S.S.R, once to United Arab of Emirates (UAE), and three months later, to Iraq, where he worked as a compound guard for the largest Theater Internment Facility in Iraq (a mission not easily accomplished when out-numbered 100-1).In August of 2006, just shortly after returning from that deployment, Matt met Jessica, and they were married a year later, in November 2007.
• SrA Matthew and SrA Jessica Baker

Sailor Jeramiah Andrew

• Landlocked in Indianapolis, IN, Jeramiah Andrew, an E-5 in the Navy, wondered how he would be able to fly back to his duty station in San Diego, CA. Jeramiah, an Indianapolis native, and his girlfriend, Maricela, travelled home to Indianapolis to visit their families for the holidays, but due to a financial hardship, Jeramiah was only able to book a one-way plane ticket home. Jeramiah planned on taking a bus or alternate means of transportation home.Jeramiah, 22 years old, grew up in Cambridge City, Indiana, where he excelled in multiple sports growing up. At the age of 17, Jeramiah decided to join the Navy, where he attended Boot Camp in Chicago, and Submarine School in Groton, Connecticut. Jeramiah has spent the majority of his Naval career on submarines spanning the globe. During his three and a half year career in the Navy, Jeramiah has quickly risen to the rank of E-5, and plans to retire in the Navy.
• Click here to read Jeramiah’s story.

Specialist Christopher Rekitzke

• Specialist Christopher Rekitzke (13-13 EN) returned home from northern Iraq last week, but not under ideal circumstances. The 33-
  year-old Cedar Lake resident, who joined the National Guard 3 years ago, returned home after finding out the home he and his
  wife, Annie, had recently updated, caught fire and burned beyond repair. The Dec. 2 blaze began accidentally, and investigators
  believe it was ignited by an iron. Neither Annie nor their 4 children were hurt, but the family lost a dog and two cats to the fire.
• Click here to read Christopher’s story.

Specialist Michael Hampton

• Specialist Michael Hampton returned home from work Monday evening and was greeted by a small crowd and several large boxes from
  Sears. Inside those boxes were the tools to help him achieve his dream of starting his own business: a Hampton, of the 4th Brigade Combat Team, 1st Cavalry Division, was medevac’d from Iraq after sustaining injuries during a rocket attack. He has endured two surgeries since September, replacing both hips with prosthetics, and is facing more surgeries and years of physical therapy. Doctors have told him the arthritis pain he suffers is similar to that of a 90-year old man.
• Click here to read Michael’s story.

Staff Sergeant Rebecca Bobick

• Rebecca Bobick is a Staff Sergeant in the US Air Force. Currently, SSgt Bobick works at the Air Force Personnel Center at Randolph AFB, TX; Officer Accessions Branch. She was hand selected to provide assistance for the Voluntary Rated Recall Program. The program is CSAF’ Rated Officer Recall Program for FY09. This program brings officers, retired and in the reserves, back on to active duty. Many of Voluntary Rated Recalled is in direct support of Operation Enduring Freedom. She has given many countless hours revamping and manually learning the process to build from scratch, a faster way to complete these individual’s active duty orders and transition them to active duty. This is to enable them to complete a very important, urgent mission. She is also working to give assistance to these families – counseling them on the processes of today’s Air Force. SSgt Bobick was previously stationed at Tyndall AFB, FL, for three years, working at the Non-Commissioned Officer’s Academy. Prior to that, her first duty assignment was at Buckley AFB, CO.
• Click here to read Rebecca’s story.

Sailor Zachary Stout

• Zachary Lee Stout comes from a family of service. His dad served in the Army, and is now a disabled Vet (as a result of a car accident), and his mom is prior Air Force. Zach entered boot camp in Great Lakes, IL, and his first school was in Pensacola, FL. Currently, Zach is an E-5Cryptologist Technician in the Navy, about to start his 5th year of service. He is stationed on USS Mobile Bay (San Diego), but has had two deployments in the past 4 years. The first deployment in 2006 was for 5 months to the Western Pacific (Hong Kong, Thailand, Singapore, Japan and Hawaii). His second deployment (2008) was 7 months to the Persian Gulf, the Gulf of Oman, Dubai and Bahrain.
• Click here to read Zach’s story.

SPC John Jarred Lowe

• Imagine you’re a 22 yr-old specialist in the US Army.  You’ve been deployed twice to Iraq, and during your second deployment you’re stationed on a tiny base, out in the middle of nowhere, north of Baghdad.  Living conditions are terrible, and enemy contact is more frequent than usual.  One of your fellow soldiers is showing severe signs of PTSD (Post Traumatic Stress Disorder), so you  escort them to the Mental Health Center, to cope with the stress of combat. After relinquishing your weapon at the door (a standard set by the facility), and sitting at your friend’s bedside, a soldier enters the facility and begins shooting anyone in sight.
• Click here to read John’s story

SPC Rob Forrest

• I am proud and honored to announce that our Foundation has granted its first wish today.  I had the honor of traveling to Fort Hood, TX today (or yesterday, depending on your time zone) to meet SPC Rob Forrest, a true hero.  This young man has been through a lot, and the struggles he and his family endure on daily basis make the average person’s problems seem very insignificant.  The most amazing thing for me today was Rob’s attitude and outlook on life.  Despite his numerous deployments, his wife and son’s illnesses, and their difficult financial situation, Rob continued to tell me today how truly lucky he and his family really are.  He told me over and over again that he is absolutely honored to serve his country in the US Army,  and that he will retire as a soldier in the Army.  Although Army life clearly adds a certain level of strain to his family, he has nothing but positive things to say about it.  I knew all about Rob before I actually met him, but to look him in the eye and see how thankful he is for what he and his family have, was truly an amazing thing.  I wish that all of you had the opportunity to be there today.
• Click here to read Rob’s story