Kevin Dupont

I don’t know Kevin, I never met him. I never met his wife Lisa either. I wish I had.

Kevin was a Marine, got out and ended up in the Massachusetts National Guard. I am not going to try to tell his life story, but I am going to share what I read about this man.

He died today. He was injured in an IED attack on March 8^th in Afghanistan.

I learned about him from a friend and began following Lisa and Kevin on CaringBridge (a web site that allows families to share the status of those who are ill or injured) and when you see that there were over 32,000 posts in the guestbook you starting sensing the love and concern that not only family members had, but strangers as well.

There were men and women who wrote from Afghanistan not only wishing him well, but keeping him posted on how the fight was going, and if you read through the guest book, you see every state in the union represented, every branch of service and every kind of friend of Kevin who stopped what they were doing and spent some time with Lisa and her story. You see a post from a Marine stationed on the USS Eisenhower, somewhere at sea, somewhere at war.

A former commander shared that as a platoon leader he set the example for his soldiers every day, and always led the way, never side stepping a mission, no matter how tough. “He was eager to do right” says more than any other words can say about a soldier.

Lisa, herself a National Guardsman, has shown us the face of courage, compassion and commitment. We are all honored by her sharing each day, and sometimes the posts she left were well after midnight, revealing the true nature of not only Kevin but of his “Hero” Lisa.

Hundreds of posts are now coming in as the word spreads of his passing, and while he will be listed as one more casualty of a war far away from our minds and far away from the front pages of today’s news, I know that I am a privileged member of a fan club of this remarkable and unforgettable family.

Lisa, you are amazing. God Bless you and your entire family. Kevin, God Speed, and as one post said, “End of Mission”, but we know that you are already starting the next.

We have all heard the phrase, "We will never forget you" and with the story and life of Kevin Dupont, how could you?

Respectfully,

Roger

3 JUN 09 5050

Good morning from rainy Radcliff Kentucky! We are all excited about lots of things, but at the same time, I am sad that tomorrow is the last day of 5050. 

We have much to  be thankful for when you consider others. I am corresponding or at least part of a Caringbridge for a wounded soldier who is fighting for his life. He has been in the hospital for months, and his wife keeps us posted on his progress which took a turn for the worst two days ago, to the point where the doctors asked her if she thought they should continue to keep up the fight. What a quesiton to be asked. My heart goes out to her and the family and my prayers are for "Kevin". 

To all of you, thanks again, and we will be in touch. I promise. 

Regards and see you tomorrow,

Roger 

2 JUN 09 5050

Two days to go, and then we are off on new adventures. As I said earlier, while frustrating, it is not dissappointing. We are learning about the potential of mobile giving and expanding our understanding of what happens. 

I would ask that each of you take a few seconds and send Jen Fox a note about things that worked and didn't work, and we can learn from that.

But it goes without saying that all your hard work and efforts are appreciated, and for the families that we are helping the payoff is knowing that we are leaving them better off than when they found us. With your help, we can keep doing the good work.

Thanks,

Roger 

1 JUN 09 5050

June 1st already, as you can see Illinois is really doing well. As I know we all did, we hoped that there would be a much better result at this point, but I think as "we" educate our fellow American's about mobile giving, and certainly raising $500,000 by Alicia Keys on American Idol showed us what was possible, I am still strenghtened by the fact that we do have four or five states where folks made an effort.

We have three more days and the campaign will be closed, and I would like to schedule a conference call with all of you and discuss lessons learned and what you found to work or not work. We will be sending out a scheduling email soon.

Thank you so much for your hard work,

Roger 

Mark Wills Cares!

Nashville, TN             Mark Wills announced today that a portion of every sale of his next album “2^nd Time Around” in stores June 16^th will benefit military families through USA Cares and has created a free USA Cares music sampler at www.markwills.com. Just log on to the website, view the pop up window which will allow you to receive three music downloads and an interview with Mark and Dennis Miller talking about their role with USA Cares.  The talented musician has received many acclamations since his debut on the country music scene, including being named as the top new male vocalist by the Academy of Country Music in 1999. Wills followed that up with the hit single, “19 Somethin’” and his new single “Entertaining Angels” is climbing the charts. 

Mark has seen the faces of our military men and women in Iraq, Afghanistan, at home and in the Walter Reed Army Hospital. He knows that military service is more than just a job, it’s a lifetime commitment. Mark also knows that sometimes, the price of service is doubly paid by those who are invisibly wounded with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (or PTSD). Having seen firsthand the good work that Radcliff, Kentucky based USA Cares is doing for these families as they go through rehabilitative care, he knew he had to do more than just add a celebrity voice. 

In their Warrior Treatment Today program, USA Cares provides financial resources to veterans who are reluctant to seek PTSD treatment due to their obligation to provide for their families. The program is already underway in several states, most notably in Texas, where over 6,000 Veterans have been screened and diagnosed with PTSD.  A recent news article noted that the VA has identified as many as 338,000 Veterans who could be suffering with PTSD nationwide. 

During a recent interview by Dennis Miller on his national radio show on Westwood One, Mark revealed his personal experience with the disorder. “When my dad came home from Vietnam, he was different and there is no doubt in my mind that he was suffering from PTSD, we just didn’t know what it was back then.” He went on to say, “Today, that National Guardsman who works at Home Depot on Monday, can find himself in combat the next week, and you just can’t expect that when he comes home that everything will be just  fine and he can go back to working at Home Depot.” 

USA Cares Board of Director, Ron Steptoe, himself a West Point Graduate, is currently devoting time and effort on a national scale to help establish a basic foundation for understanding PTSD and to help limit the enormous emotional and physical toll that accompanies those who suffer from it and their families when it’s symptoms are misunderstood and untreated. From his offices in Washington DC, Steptoe added, “Having a person of Mark’s stature, considering his repeated visits to Iraq and Afghanistan, seeing firsthand what these men and women are facing and then wanting to share his time and talent with those of us who are working to make sure they don’t have to suffer twice is a credit to Mark, his family and his industry.”

 In addition to a portion of the proceeds from the sale of the album, Mark has also put a USA Cares insert inside the case that tells the buyer about USA Cares and asks them to do one more thing; use their cell phone to text the word “TROOPS” to 90999 which will cause a onetime charge to their cell phone bill of $5, which will go directly to USA Cares. Wills said, “The idea of allowing my fans to help make a difference in a Veteran’s life by simply picking up their cell phone is not only cutting edge technology, it is a way that we as Americans can make our voices heard too, and that we take care of our own. So I am going to remind my fans, in audiences and one at a time, to pull out their cell phone and let’s make a difference together!” adding, “And don’t forget to reply with “YES” when prompted!”.