There has been a lot going on in the world and in our country. It is time to bring you up to speed on MSgt. Jonathan White, his wife Peg, son Joshua and the rest of the story on the fund raising and their running of the Marine Corps Marathon October 26, 2008.
I fired off a few questions to Jon, because I was sure I had several inaccuracies in my two previous posts about their run. Sure enough, I did, and the MSgt. was kind enough to point them out to me, for which I was grateful.
I had the times completely wrong!! I also thought that Jon went to the NAPA convention by himself.....nope, wrong again. See what happens when I get excited and jump the gun on a story? Keeping the facts straight is a full time job. So here is the correct sequence of events, the who, what, where and when of it all.
"NAPA was having a semi-annual convention to discuss the upcoming year. One of their family ran across the article YOU wrote and brought it to the attention of their Chairman and Staff. (This is a VERY Patriotic group of individuals) That’s when NAPA got the idea to support the Injured Marine Fund.
It seems that Marines are not the only persistent people in this world. Mrs. Amy Feste was tasked with the job of tracking down and getting hold of the MSgt. "...Mrs Amy Feste went to extraordinary lengths to track me down. They had done a ton of research on Team Semper Fi and why we were running AND because there are a lot of veterans in the NAPA family."
I originally thought that Jon had gone to Atlanta by himself, but after reading the updated comments on their donation page, I realized that perhaps all three had been there at the convention.
"Peg and I went to Atlanta. I flew from 29 Palms in to D.C. at 0130 Friday morning while Peggy and Joshua landed at 1545 Thursday from Germany.
0800 we were on the Metro train to go to registration to pick up our bibs for the race. 1300 Joshua was being picked up from the hotel by his best friend (Joshua Todd) and his dad (which is my long time friend Nick Young).
The two Joshs would catch up while Peg and I went to the Reagan Intl AP to catch an early flight.......which ended up being delayed so we landed in Atlanta and got to the hotel at 0100 Sat.
1000 Sat morning ( I got a Starbucks Coffee before we met the NAPA family. Between the Starbucks and the nice people of NAPA, the trip was well worth it!)"
(Well heck, it is no wonder I had my facts wrong, as fast as the MSgt and Peg were moving! So much for MsMarti thinking they were going to be catching up on their sleep before the big race)
"1545 wearing a suit I might add, we went in and were greeted with a standing ovation that lasted forever."
"I was nervous and did my best to represent the men and women that make up the target community of the Wounded Marine Fund. If this had been for me, I don’t know if I could have faced this audience. I just kept my mantra in my head, “God, please put the words in my mouth so I can represent these heroes and don’t let me embarrass them or my wife”.
I wanted to know what he talked about. Did they have a topic picked out which they wanted you to address?
"The theme was kind of left up to me, but they wanted to hear about the accident. I got to tell them about the Corps, Team Semper Fi, and the Heroes that we want to help."
"I made sure they understood that a wounded warrior doesn’t need pity, that’s not what we are about. In fact sometimes we need to hear some tough love like “Are you done feeling sorry for yourself yet???” sounds cruel, but it is better then a 10 pound aspirin to a Marine."
"Unless we are completely dead, we can come back from just about anything with the proper motivation."
NAPA came through in a big way with their outstandingly generous donation to the Injured Marine Semper Fi fund. I had been thinking that the folks at NAPA were what Jon meant when he said "I have an Ace up my sleeve" and in a way they were.
“An ACE up my sleeve was me having faith that there were Patriotic Americans that would step forward before race day (I did not have any idea that NAPA was going to call me and ask me to come to them to get a check).”
NAPA and all the other donors made for a terrific first marathon for Jon, Peg and Josh! Here are the "correct" times for their run, including Sgt. William "TJ" Edwards time.
OFFICIAL CHIP TIMES:
JONATHAN 4:56:10
JOSHUA 4:56:00
TJ 6:11:01
PEGGY 6:14:15
No matter who you are, it is often easy to spot a kindrid spirit when amongst strangers. This is very true I have been told of those in the military. When Jon and Peg were at the NAPA convention, he told me he met a large number of veterans from all branches of the service, many of whom were fellow Marines. When called a hero by a Marine who had served in Vietnam, Jon was uncomfortable with that, to the point of embarrassment. Why? ".....because his generation is my heroes..."
MSgt. White was correct in his belief that there are still Patriotic Americans out there! Many, many individuals stepped up to the plate and proved him right on that account!
The donation site is still up and running, and donations are STILL coming in. If you didn't get a chance to donate, here is the link.
It seems the MSgt. was so inspired by the running of his first marathon and the support he received, that he is already planning out his course of action for next year's running of the Marine Corps
Marathon.
Below are the links to previous stories we have done about the MSgt and his wife Peg.
Overcoming Adversity: MSgt Jonathan White and the Team Semper Fi Fund effort
NAPA Comes Thru For MSgt. White - He Exceeded His Goal For The Marine Corps Marathon!!
The Marine Corps Marathon October 26, 2008
Marine Corps Marathon October 26, 2008 Updates
Copyright 2008 MsMarti. All rights reserved.
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