Sons of the Flag, a Dallas-based organization whose mission is to revolutionize burn care and quality of life for veterans, first responders and families, held its sixth annual Stars & Stripes Luncheon, presented by the Clay Cooley Auto Group, on November 4, 2019, at Dallas Country Club.
After a welcome by Pete Delkus, WFAA-TV chief meteorologist, Donald G. Graves, a 94-year-old Iwo Jima Marine survivor, sang the national anthem. Dr. Rob Carman, pastor from New Mexico, gave the invocation. Those who served or who are still serving were asked to stand to be recognized.
Wayne McCullough, event co-chair and Sons of the Flag board member, told about how he became involved with Sons of the Flag. “Right before I met Ryan (founder), my wife and I were talking about me not getting involved in anymore organizations, and after I met Ryan through a mutual friend, months later, I was jumping out of an airplane (to raise funds for one of Ryan’s organizations).” He introduced his family members who co-chaired the event: his wife, Lissie McCullough, his sister, Libby Hunt, and her husband, David Hunt. Nancy and Herbert Hunt, friends and patriots, were the luncheon honorary chairs.
Ryan "Birdman" Parrott, former Navy SEAL and founder of Sons of the Flag, welcomed everyone. “Thank you for your support today as we’re in our seventh year. This organization started to help one person, and we’re now in 28 states. I want to take a moment to honor someone close to me, with the Sons of the Flag Legacy Award, created to honor special veterans who continue to value the red, white and blue that runs deep within their hearts. They continue to stand for and defend the United States of America. It’s my honor to present the Legacy Award to Brendan ‘Weimy’ Weimholt who is a 20 year ret. Navy Seal, an entrepreneur and my friend.”
Delkus then introduced First Sergeant Matt Eversmann who gave the keynote address. "He is a testament to the true nature of war and heroism. He is immortalized in the epic film Black Hawk Down and the book, which tells the heroic story of a group of elite U.S. soldiers sent to Somalia in 1993 as part of a United Nations peacekeeping operation.”
Eversmann told the harrowing story of the time in Mogadishu and how realistic the movie was. He remarked, “It showed a true accuracy of urban warfare.” He experienced the horrors of war when he and his fellow soldiers were trapped in a hostile district of Mogadishu and marked for death by an angry mob. For his actions on the battlefield, Eversmann was awarded the Bronze Star Medal with Valor device along with many other accolades.
In addition to seeing the bloody battle up close, Eversmann said, “The movie realistically showed how war brings out the selfless servant, shows us courage and helps us do our duty” as he told stories of remarkable heroes who served their country. His parting words were threefold: “Free the oppressed. Night stalkers don’t quit. Rangers lead the way.”
Each year there are more than 486,000 burn survivors in the U.S., with approximately one civilian burn survivor every minute. Seventy-three percent of burns happen in the home and 24 percent of burn injuries are to children under the age of 15. Despite the hundreds of thousands of burn survivors, there are fewer than 200 burn surgeons across the U.S. The Stars & Stripes Luncheon raises money to support burn survivors with critical treatment and supplies, and to increase the number of trained burn surgeons.
Event Sponsors
Luncheon Presenting Sponsor
Cooley Auto Group (Lisa and Clay Cooley)
Brevet Medal Sponsors
The Nancy & Herbert Hunt Family Foundation
Benchmark Private Wealth Management
Corrigan – Goddard Foundation
EnCap Investments / Luke Brandenberg
Lee Financial
Sarah and Ross Perot Jr. Foundation
Steve Silverman
Trammell Crow / Adam Saphier
Service Cross Sponsors
Laura and Ellison Hurt
Louise and Guy Griffeth
Sandie and Steve Woods
Silver Star Sponsors
Libby and David Hunt
Pryor Blackwell / Bandera
Carrie Johnson and Friends
Kristi and Wallace L. Hall, Jr.
JoAnne and Eddy Moore
Stephen Schmidt
The VALO Group
Sue and Jim Woods
Gary Wojtaszek
Bronze Star Sponsors
Jennifer and Noble Nash
Stephen Rogers
Bruce E. White
Sons of the Flag revolutionizes burn care and quality of life for veterans, first responders and families. We believe the future of burn care resides in research and development. Our vision is to accelerate the process of testing leading technologies and push them into circulation for immediate use by burn survivors across the nation. Learn more about the organization and follow its news and upcoming events on Twitter @sonsoftheflag and on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/SonsOfTheFlag.