Re: Former Player - Seal Team Six Fallen Heroes - A Call to Action
MSUFPA Members,
This came by my inbox this afternoon from Mike Vorkapich (the team's Associate Head Strength & Conditioning Coach) who received an email from Scott Lalain, a former MSU football player. He asked that I pass this on to the member list.
I have no further information.
Best Regards,
Luke Whiteman
MSUFPA Webmaster
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Friends,
While there have been numerous charities, personal situations with families and children I know and other events that have caught my attention and moved me to step up and do something, none has ever touched me in this way where I have not only asked what can I do but also made me feel the need to reach out to others for help.
Early Saturday morning, August 6, 2011, Seal Team Six suffered a tremendous loss of 22 men(17 Seal Team Six and 5 SWCC-Special Warfare Community) while conducting a critical special forces operation in Afghanistan. Approaching a large battle that was spinning out of control, their helicopter was shot down killing all on board. In the history of Seal Team Six, this is the worse loss every suffered at one time.
As unbelievable as this sounds, this story actually has a positive “miracle” to it. A man who has been a brother to me since high school, roomed and played football with me throughout college and someone who I was just honored to be best man in his wedding last year is a member of this team. While I cannot use his name, many of you know him personally and everyone on this email has heard some of the stories I have told about what he does to protect our freedom.
A few months after his wedding, I received a phone call letting me know he was going to be a father. He knew he would be overseas around the time the baby was due but he left for his current deployment in July. He advised he would have a two week leave to come home for the birth and then head back. He left Afghanistan on Thursday August 4[SUP]th[/SUP] to be by his wife’s side for the birth of their daughter and on Saturday, while home awaiting one of the greatest moments in anyone’s life, he lost his entire team that he had just been with two days prior. If not for the baby, I would have lost my best friend and we would have all lost a true friend, courageous warrior and most importantly a good human being. What went from a two week leave to rejoice in the birth of his daughter quickly turned into personally going to the families doors on Saturday morning to break the news that their Son or Husband and Father had died in battle. Instead on being home with his wife and family to celebrate, he attended 22 funerals and took a leadership role at most. After personally accompanying a teammates body home to Hawaii and speaking at his funeral, he left for Afghanistan and is currently back there fighting our enemies.
The call to action is I’m asking you to help support the families of these fallen soldiers. If you knew how little these men get paid, what little benefits they have upon death and if lucky enough to survive 20 years of service, the pittance they receive in return. These men left behind 26 young children who now must go through life without their fathers. We have set up a tax-deductible fund for these families being collected by Clarkston State Bank. We will collect money between now and 12/31/2011. Every single penny will go to the families where wives and children were left behind. On December 31[SUP]st[/SUP], we are going to issue a check IN OUR FRIENDS NAME to the Navy Seal Foundation who have agreed to distribute our donations equally among these families. In January, we will be sending out Thank You notes along with the tax-deduction form for your donation. Please make checks payable to: Navy Seal Foundation (include your return address) and they can be mailed to:
Navy Seal Foundation
Clarkston State Bank
15 South Main Street
Clarkston, MI 48346
ATT: Theresa Rigato - Branch Manager
Trust me, I know this is a tough time of the year for most with kids going back to school and the tuition bills, new clothes, etc plus the holidays are coming. Please remember our ability to celebrate this time of year is because of these men who keep us safe. There is no minimum donation and anything you can do will be greatly appreciated. Also, please feel free to pass this on to people I missed and others you feel would be moved to help this cause.
Below is the list of the men who made the ultimate sacrifice on August 6, 2011.
1) Aaron Carson Vaughn- Special Warfare Operator 1[SUP]st[/SUP] Class
2) Brian Robert Hill- Chief Special Warfare Operator
3) Christopher George Campbell- Special Warfare Operator 1[SUP]st[/SUP] Class
4) Jon Thomas Tumilson- Special Warfare Operator 1[SUP]st[/SUP] Class
5) Darrik Carlyle Benson- Special Warfare Operator 1[SUP]st[/SUP] Class
6) Jason Ray Workman- Special Warfare Operator 1[SUP]st[/SUP] Class
7) Kevin Arthur Houston- Chief Petty Officer Special Warfare Operator
8) Kraig Michael Kaleolani Vickers- Explosive Ordinance Disposal Senior Chief
9) Louis James Langlais- Master Chief Special Warfare Operator
10) Matthew David Mason- Chief Special Warfare Operator
11) Nicholas Patrick Spehar- Special Warfare Operator 2[SUP]nd[/SUP] Class
12) Robert James Reeves- Special Warfare Operator Chief
13) Stephen Matthew Mills- Chief Petty Officer Special Warfare Operator
14) Thomas Arthur Ratzlaff- Special Warfare Operator Senior Chief
15) Heath Michael Robinson- Special Warfare Operator Chief
16) Jared William Day- Information Systems Technician 1[SUP]st[/SUP] Class
17) John Weston Faas- Chief Special Warfare Operator
18) Jonas Benton Kelsall- Lieutenant Commander
19) Jesse Daryl Pittman- Special Warfare Operator 1[SUP]st[/SUP] Class
20) John Douangdara- Master-at-Arms 1[SUP]st[/SUP] Class
21) Michael Joseph Strange- Cryptologic Technician Collection 1[SUP]st[/SUP] Class
22) Nicholas Heath Null - Chief Explosive Ordinance Disposal
MSUFPA Members,
This came by my inbox this afternoon from Mike Vorkapich (the team's Associate Head Strength & Conditioning Coach) who received an email from Scott Lalain, a former MSU football player. He asked that I pass this on to the member list.
I have no further information.
Best Regards,
Luke Whiteman
MSUFPA Webmaster
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Friends,
While there have been numerous charities, personal situations with families and children I know and other events that have caught my attention and moved me to step up and do something, none has ever touched me in this way where I have not only asked what can I do but also made me feel the need to reach out to others for help.
Early Saturday morning, August 6, 2011, Seal Team Six suffered a tremendous loss of 22 men(17 Seal Team Six and 5 SWCC-Special Warfare Community) while conducting a critical special forces operation in Afghanistan. Approaching a large battle that was spinning out of control, their helicopter was shot down killing all on board. In the history of Seal Team Six, this is the worse loss every suffered at one time.
As unbelievable as this sounds, this story actually has a positive “miracle” to it. A man who has been a brother to me since high school, roomed and played football with me throughout college and someone who I was just honored to be best man in his wedding last year is a member of this team. While I cannot use his name, many of you know him personally and everyone on this email has heard some of the stories I have told about what he does to protect our freedom.
A few months after his wedding, I received a phone call letting me know he was going to be a father. He knew he would be overseas around the time the baby was due but he left for his current deployment in July. He advised he would have a two week leave to come home for the birth and then head back. He left Afghanistan on Thursday August 4[SUP]th[/SUP] to be by his wife’s side for the birth of their daughter and on Saturday, while home awaiting one of the greatest moments in anyone’s life, he lost his entire team that he had just been with two days prior. If not for the baby, I would have lost my best friend and we would have all lost a true friend, courageous warrior and most importantly a good human being. What went from a two week leave to rejoice in the birth of his daughter quickly turned into personally going to the families doors on Saturday morning to break the news that their Son or Husband and Father had died in battle. Instead on being home with his wife and family to celebrate, he attended 22 funerals and took a leadership role at most. After personally accompanying a teammates body home to Hawaii and speaking at his funeral, he left for Afghanistan and is currently back there fighting our enemies.
The call to action is I’m asking you to help support the families of these fallen soldiers. If you knew how little these men get paid, what little benefits they have upon death and if lucky enough to survive 20 years of service, the pittance they receive in return. These men left behind 26 young children who now must go through life without their fathers. We have set up a tax-deductible fund for these families being collected by Clarkston State Bank. We will collect money between now and 12/31/2011. Every single penny will go to the families where wives and children were left behind. On December 31[SUP]st[/SUP], we are going to issue a check IN OUR FRIENDS NAME to the Navy Seal Foundation who have agreed to distribute our donations equally among these families. In January, we will be sending out Thank You notes along with the tax-deduction form for your donation. Please make checks payable to: Navy Seal Foundation (include your return address) and they can be mailed to:
Navy Seal Foundation
Clarkston State Bank
15 South Main Street
Clarkston, MI 48346
ATT: Theresa Rigato - Branch Manager
Trust me, I know this is a tough time of the year for most with kids going back to school and the tuition bills, new clothes, etc plus the holidays are coming. Please remember our ability to celebrate this time of year is because of these men who keep us safe. There is no minimum donation and anything you can do will be greatly appreciated. Also, please feel free to pass this on to people I missed and others you feel would be moved to help this cause.
Below is the list of the men who made the ultimate sacrifice on August 6, 2011.
1) Aaron Carson Vaughn- Special Warfare Operator 1[SUP]st[/SUP] Class
2) Brian Robert Hill- Chief Special Warfare Operator
3) Christopher George Campbell- Special Warfare Operator 1[SUP]st[/SUP] Class
4) Jon Thomas Tumilson- Special Warfare Operator 1[SUP]st[/SUP] Class
5) Darrik Carlyle Benson- Special Warfare Operator 1[SUP]st[/SUP] Class
6) Jason Ray Workman- Special Warfare Operator 1[SUP]st[/SUP] Class
7) Kevin Arthur Houston- Chief Petty Officer Special Warfare Operator
8) Kraig Michael Kaleolani Vickers- Explosive Ordinance Disposal Senior Chief
9) Louis James Langlais- Master Chief Special Warfare Operator
10) Matthew David Mason- Chief Special Warfare Operator
11) Nicholas Patrick Spehar- Special Warfare Operator 2[SUP]nd[/SUP] Class
12) Robert James Reeves- Special Warfare Operator Chief
13) Stephen Matthew Mills- Chief Petty Officer Special Warfare Operator
14) Thomas Arthur Ratzlaff- Special Warfare Operator Senior Chief
15) Heath Michael Robinson- Special Warfare Operator Chief
16) Jared William Day- Information Systems Technician 1[SUP]st[/SUP] Class
17) John Weston Faas- Chief Special Warfare Operator
18) Jonas Benton Kelsall- Lieutenant Commander
19) Jesse Daryl Pittman- Special Warfare Operator 1[SUP]st[/SUP] Class
20) John Douangdara- Master-at-Arms 1[SUP]st[/SUP] Class
21) Michael Joseph Strange- Cryptologic Technician Collection 1[SUP]st[/SUP] Class
22) Nicholas Heath Null - Chief Explosive Ordinance Disposal
