300 Charity

A student of mine was an officer in Task Force 300 during the surge in Iraq in 2007. He has been instrumental in starting a program to support veterans and the family members of those who lost their lives. For a little background:

More than two thousand years ago, 300 Greek Spartans stood at the Gates of Thermopile (commonly known as the “Gates of Fire”) to deny over a million Persians from invading Greece and destroying the seeds of democracy. All but one died in the final battle at the Gates of Fire to tell the story to the rest of Greece and inspire a nation to defend itself. These Spartans were recently brought back from history in the movie “The 300” and Steven Pressfield’s book, “Gates of Fire”.

Three years ago, America called on 300 Paratroopers from the infamous 82nd Airborne Division to form a Task Force aimed at destroying Al-Qaeda of Iraq in their base of operations just outside of Baghdad during the Iraq Surge of 2007. This Task Force was named appropriately after the Spartans of Greece, “Task Force 300”.

Those 300 modern-day Spartans destroyed the stronghold that Al-Qaeda had established in the Diyala River Valley of Iraq helping to facilitate the success of General Petraeus’ Surge in the highly dangerous region of Iraq. While decisive victory was achieved, it came at an extreme cost. Out of those 300 modern-day Spartans, 98 were wounded in action and another 22 did not make it home to their families, giving the ultimate sacrifice of their lives in defense of our great Nation. Following the success of the campaign, the Diyala River Valley is devoid of Al-Qaeda to this day.

Here is the webpage for the charity, The American 300 Foundation. And here is a nice little article about the student.

Pass on the word.