Friends of Flip, First let me start by saying… whew. The last few weeks have been a blur. But I guess that it is time to break my silence. My wonderful wife, Jessie, has done a wonderful job of keeping the photos coming and providing updates about what we are doing. But, I thought it was about time for me to chime in. This is going to be a long one, so if you have not made yourself comfortable yet I recommend that you do so now. A lot of this may be review but I just wanted to make sure that I covered everything that has happened over the last few weeks. So, starting a little over 2 weeks ago we made the trek down to Suffolk, Virginia to participate in “Jump for a Purpose” hosted by Skydive Suffolk and Wounded Wear. A special thanks to Jay Redman (@JasonRedmanWW), Operation Enduring Warrior, and our friend Erik for including us in the event. We had a great time hanging out with other wounded warriors and meeting new friends. I’ve included a few pictures of the jump that you have not seen yet, just for fun. After a relaxing 36 hours back at Walter Reed we hit the road again to attend the 92nd annual reunion for the 2 ID Association in Columbus, Georgia. This was our 1st flight since the injury, and I wanted to extend a special thanks to Luke’s Wings for making it so easy. Jess and I had a great time connecting with alumni of this proud Division and I’m proud to have been made a lifetime member of the Association. I was truly honored to present the remarks as guest speaker at their annual memorial service, especially as they called the names of several fellow Tomahawks, that so many of us know. Despite the solemn environment of the memorial service I was thrilled to see so many familiar old faces; now SFC Brandon Murphy (a former NCO of mine), now CPT Carrick (a former student), Sully and Ingram (several fellow Tomahawks). After completing my time at the conference I was able to reconnect with old boss MAJ Kassulke. It was awesome to catch up with him, Natalie, and the kids. Emma I am sorry I forgot the picture you drew me hopefully I will get it in the mail soon. After the time at Fort Benning, I was able to spend 3 and half days back at Walter Reed making up for lost time. I had a week full of appointments, prosthetics, and therapy. Despite all the fun I have been having it was good to get back to rehab. But, that only lasted so long. Jess and I, had the opportunity to travel to New York City to participate in the Tunnels To Towers Memorial 5K. It was great to see some old friends that we have met over time through the foundation. After my own several minutes in the spotlight (personal photo shoot), a dinner cruise on the Hudson, and a pre-race dinner at the Elevated Acre in Manhattan we got down to business. For those of you who have not heard of the foundation or have only been passively following Tunnels To Towers, they are a top class organization and they put on a first-class race and event. The memorial run is the absolute favorite that I’ve ever attended. It is an honor to be part of the T to T family. As a special bonus I ran into several friendly faces from the past which made the day even better. It was great to see Lugo and Keyton (former Rakkasans), LTC Martinez (former PL 100 instructor and mentor), and finally SFC Cemerikic (former PSG). Oh, and I did get to see Gary Sinise again, and meet Rudy Giuliani, Steve Buscemi, and several other big names. SFC C even took the time to come out last night and have a few drinks with us. It was great to see him and his wife again. On the way home, we took a slight detour to Dover, Delaware. It was great to meet Pete and his sons and thank you so much for all of the help and support during our very difficult last year. We just got home, and the 1st thing I did was write this update. Now I think I am going to take a nap. Until next time, thank you for all the support. Cheers, Flip
Posted on: Mon, 30 Sep 2013 22:49:11 +0000
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