A Call to all Citizens

My friend Michael Ouzts sent me this email.
Michael is a Lieutenant Colonel in the US Marines.
I think what you are about to read is a noble cause, and I hope that anyone seeing this will help out.
Whether you believe in the war or not, you must support the men and women who enlisted and are now doing what they are told to do; performing the ultimate sacrifice on a daily basis for the love of their country.

I have donated to this, and I urge you to do the same.

Sincerely,

Mick

Read On:
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Friends and family,

Many of the staff members from the 4 Marine Companies located in Frankfurt are running in the ING Marathon in Luxembourg to raise money for the severely wounded Marines from Iraq and Afghanistan. My Ops O sent the below letter to his friends and family in an attempt to raise money for the cause and I thought it would be good to send it to those I know so well and who have supported me and other military members throughout the years.

I ask that you please share with other friends and help these Marines raise money for this great cause. As many of you know, I am an avid runner but am unable to run this race due to other job related commitments; otherwise I would be out there with them trying to beat everybody older than my great friend Ted.

Appreciate the support and God bless our Corps,

Mike
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From: Quy, David C
Sent: Thursday, April 27, 2006 9:47 AM
To: Ouzts, Michael J
Subject: FW: Marathon - Semper Fi Fund

Sir,

The below email is the letter I have sent out to my family and friends. The website for our fund raising and the official charity website are included.

The charity, in itself, says the rest.

I will contact the PAO here on Post. Thanks for the idea.
R/s

OpsO
Captain David Quy, U.S. Marine Corps
Operations Officer, Company H, Marine Security Guard Battalion
U.S. Department of State
Central and Eastern Europe
49-69-7535-3897 (work)
49-175-261-0782 (cell)
This E-mail is unclassified as defined by E.O. 12958

Hello All,

On Memorial Day, a small group of fellow Marines and I are running a marathon to fulfill a "snap-decision" New Year's resolution. We originally agreed to run for a worthy cause, but wanted to withhold any announcement until after we made sure our legs were as strong as our desire to help out our fellow Marines. After almost 15 weeks of training, we are now fully committed.

We have decided to run the marathon in honor of wounded in action Marines, with hopes of bringing attention and support to the Injured Marine Semper Fi Fund.

Over 5000 Marines have been wounded in action since the beginning of OEF/OIF. Few are prepared for the expense. Because of medical advances, Marines are surviving catastrophic injures that were unsurvivable in past wars. They face extended hospital stays and months, if not years, of rehabilitation. Even though the Marine Corps' credo is "Marines take care of their own", there is only so much assistance that Dept of Defense regulations allow. This is the gap that the Injured Marine Semper Fi Fund is working to close.

In an effort to raise funds for the Injured Marine Semper Fi Fund, three of us will be running the Shakespeare Marathon in Stratford, England and eight of us, to include me, will be running the ING Marathon in Luxembourg. Currently, we serve in US Embassies in Western Africa, Western Europe, Eastern Europe, and Eurasia, but we have all completed at least one tour in support of combat operations in Iraq or Afghanistan alongside many friends who are now facing the realities of permanent disabilities suffered from their combat related injuries. The Injured Marine Semper Fi Fund helps support wounded Marines and their families by assisting them during the difficult rehabilitation period.

We are not asking for charity; we are asking for your support, which is a small price to pay for the men and women who are so willing to give the ultimate sacrifice in support of our country.

We have created a website http://firstgiving.com/semperfi to make donations secure and easy. Any size donation is welcome and appreciated. The Injured Marine Semper Fi Fund is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization and all donations are tax deductible.

More information about the Fund can be found at http://www.semperfifund.org/.

Although I won't be competing for first or second place overall, I will be running as hard as I can. My sights are set on beating the other Marines I am running with (of course) and to not let anyone older than my dad beat me overall.

Thank you in advance for the support.

Dave