Featuring Special Guest, Lt. Michael E. Thornton, Congressional Medal of Honor Recipient, the Highest Honor in the United States
Austin, Texas – The Comfort Crew for Military Kids, a national non-profit based in Austin, Texas, is teaming up with the UT Golf Club to host the Comfort Crew Golf Classic in Austin this November 5. The 2012 Comfort Crew Golf Classic will help raise funds and build awareness to provide support and comfort for military children and their families.
Congressional Medal of Honor Winner, Vietnam Veteran and Navy SEAL, and The Comfort Crew Military Advisory Board’s newest member, Lieutenant Michael E. Thornton will be a featured guest at the golf classic. Lt. Thornton has a long and distinguished military career including establishing and operating SEAL Team SIX. His most prestigious decoration was bestowed for heroic actions on his last tour of duty in Vietnam which resulted in saving the life of a fellow SEAL. For this action during a reconnaissance and intelligence gathering mission, he received this Nation’s highest award, the CONGRESSIONAL MEDAL OF HONOR.
Lieutenant Thornton’s personal decorations include: - The Congressional Medal of Honor - Silver Star - (3) Bronze Star Medals with Combat “V” - Purple Heart - Meritorious Service Medal - (3) Navy Commendation Medals with Combat “V” - Navy Achievement Medal - The Combat Action Ribbon with Gold Star - The Vietnamese Service Medal with on Silver star, Two Bronze Stars and numerous unit citations.
There are more than 2 million military children in the United States who are dealing with really tough issues and are in great need of support. Of those, approximately 1.2 million are school-aged children and more than 1 million children have experienced one or more parental deployments, with a significant number of these parents having been away from their children for as long as 48 months. The Comfort Crew for Military Kids speaks with thousands of military children each year and has developed Comfort Kits with the USO to help children cope with the stress and hardship of having a parent serving our country.
“Our country has been at war for eleven years – a 5th grader’s entire life. Our military children face unique challenges that make it difficult to effectively communicate and connect socially and emotionally with peers and the community around them. This causes them to be more and more frequently placed in “at-risk” groups. Through our programs and resources they learn to build connections with their peers and community, and how to manage their emotions,” said Trevor Romain, Co-Founder of The Comfort Crew for Military Kids.
Trevor Romain and Ronda Englander, Co-Founders of The Comfort Crew for Military Kids, will join Brandel Chamblee, Golf Channel Analyst and former PGA pro, Major Les Davis, Garrison Commander of Camp Mabry, and our brave women and men of the military at the Golf Tournament along with Comfort Crew Supporters.
Chamblee will take pictures with each team, as well as talk at the awards ceremony. The tournament is sold out for this year. Each team-level sponsorship is $1,200, and includes food, drinks, fore caddies, gift bags and prizes. A short awards ceremony and live auction will follow the tournament.
To donate to the Comfort Crew for Military Kids, go to www.comfortcrew.org
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The Comfort Crew for Military Kids
The Comfort Crew for Military Kids was founded in 2007 to support and comfort children managing the challenges of today’s military life, including deployment, reintegration, moving, visible and invisible injuries, and grief. Since its inception, The Comfort Crew has endeavored to meet this goal by working directly with military children and families, recognizing their unique challenges, providing educational resources, and supporting physical and emotional resiliency.
Trevor Romain and The Comfort Crew, in partnership with the USO, work directly with our military children, visiting them on and off bases around the world. The Comfort Crew has also produced a series of comfort kits that are customized to meet the specific needs of military children, including the With You All the Way! Deployment Kit, the Taking Care of You! Support for Kids of Injured Heroes Kit, the PCS: The Great Moving Adventure Survival Kit, and the Helping Military Children Handle Grief Kit. In addition, The Comfort Crew for Military Kids regularly hosts events designed to promote awareness and the physical and emotional resiliency of military children.
Whether visiting with a military child at school, providing a Care Kit to help with the obstacles of reintegration, or educating our community about ways to support resiliency, our goal is to let these children and their families know they do not have to shoulder the burdens of military life on their own — we are With You All the Way!