Contrary to any rumor you may have heard, Warrior’s Weekend V will be held in Port O’Connor on 20-22 May this year. Warrior’s Weekend V promises to be bigger and better than ever. What started out over four years ago as simply an outing for 50-100 or so of wounded heroes from Brooke Army Medical Center (BAMC) in San Antonio has grown to where we now bring in wounded heroes from all over our great nation.
Our goal this year is to bring in at least 300 wounded heroes, their caretakers and family members to POC and to show them a time they will not soon forget. The Executive Board has been working on this event as well as others since WWIV ended last May. Most of you may not be aware of the other projects Warrior’s Weekend is involved in. We conduct a fish-fry for the wounded at BAMC each May as a way of introducing our event to the new patients and invite them and their immediate family to Warrior’s Weekend. I believe we had 14 volunteers attend last year where Russell Hofer, Kelly Parks, Clyde and Connie Rowney and the crew fried up fresh catfish, hushpuppies and French fries for the troops and around 500 stuffed jalapeños were grilled and quickly disappeared.
As you can imagine, the folks at BAMC love to see us coming. We’ll be there on May 5th this year to do it again.
Warrior’s Weekend has donated time and money to several worthwhile causes and organizations, which serve veterans.
Among these are:
–The Independence Fund, an organization which supplies 3-wheel bicycles for veteran amputees;
–The Fisher Houses which provide lodging for the families of the wounded as they are treated at BAMC;
–Donate supplies for the Warrior and Support Center at BAMC;
–The Returning Heroes Home Fund which, through private donations only, has built the very beautiful Warrior and Family Support Center at BAMC;
–The Texas Army National Guard in Victoria for an internet café so that those heroes can take their training courses online and their families can visit with them online when they are deployed;
–A Stretch golf cart and an additional ATV vehicle to the good folks at BAMC so that the warriors do not have to wait on other means of transportation to get to the hospital and to do the other errands they have to do;
–To the family of a local fallen soldier until their military benefits were realized;
–Toward the building of a home for a local double amputee, injured in the War on Terror;
–Held a Veterans luncheon in Victoria for vets of all eras and will again on Veterans Day this year;
–Sponsored the fund-raising golf tournament for local District 24 of the VFW;
–Hold our Heroes Cup at Baffin Bay where we take 25-30 wounded heroes for a fishing tournament there in September;
–Have engaged local schools to participate in the Warrior’s Weekend Field of Honor whereby patrons sponsor a flag in the name of the veteran they wish to honor—there will be close to 2000 flags in the field this year displayed in Victoria, all with the name of a veteran on them;
–Sponsored a veteran’s luncheon at UH Victoria for their Job Fair;
–Sponsored the rooms for the escorts of the Texas Fallen Heroes Wall coming to Victoria in April this year at the mall.
Our big event here in Port O’Connor is our main focus because we know how much good it does for the attending heroes. I received just today an email from a Command Sergeant Major telling me how the heroes feel when they return from Port O’Connor and what a difference Warrior’s Weekend is making in their lives. They will be sending heroes again as will eight other military installations this year.
We can now announce that our fishing tournament, Warrior’s Weekend Slam & Jam will be held this June 17th and 18th at the Port O’Connor Community Center. This is a fishing tournament and concert to be headlined by a well-known national recording artist to be announced shortly. Please look for the announcement and website to be up and running shortly. This one you will not want to miss.
It is important to note that all funds raised by Warrior’s Weekend are used to enhance the lives of our heroes. You may go to our website, www.warriorsweekend.org to learn more about us and to view our financial statement. So please, discount the rumors out there and don’t hesitate to call any board member—all contact information is on the website—with any questions. We appreciate the continuing and growing support of the good folks of Port O’Connor, Seadrift, Port Lavaca and the entire area. Please mark your calendars for the 21st of May, especially, when 11-12 charter buses of heroes from all over the U.S. pull up to Froggie’s Bait Dock and embark on a day they will long remember. As one of the heroes was about to board his flight home last year said to our police escort, “Nowhere but Texas, sir”.
Ron Kocian, President, Warrior’s Weekend
