SURFIN' U.S.A.

Derrick McG learned to surf early and he did it often. Surfed all his life. He loved it. He thought a lot about those big waves and the cold water while serving as a Navy Corpsman in the waterless, hot and dusty sand of Iraq. When he lost his leg in an IED explosion, he couldn’t reconcile that he might never surf again.

So Derrick contacted Operation Comfort -- an all-volunteer organization that works with the wounded men and women recovering at Brooke Army Medical Center in San Antonio, Texas. The volunteers love the wounded and trying to make a difference in the lives of the wounded is all from their hearts. They took amputees to both Lake Tahoe and Breckenridge for adaptive skiing in December. They found sponsors and host dinners for the wounded...

When Derrick approached Janis Roznowski, the Director and Founder of Operation Comfort about going surfing, she told him that if he could find someone who could teach amputees how to surf then she and the organization would raise the money to take them. So Derrick did some looking and he found Rodney Roller of the Association of Amputee Surfers -- Ampsurf.

Now Operation Comfort is planning to take 20 amputees to Pismo Beach August 15-20 for a five day surf clinic and for a Thursday stay at a beachfront resort. Two professional surf schools will teach these military hero amputees how to surf!

Janis tells me, “We need money to purchase the airline tickets and pay for the soldiers’ lodging and food. This is an expensive trip. We have cut the cost down to $35,000 depending on how much we end up paying for airline tickets. We have about $15,000 raised… If we don’t raise the full amount we will have to cut down on the number of amputees we can take.”

SO HERE’S THE DEAL: GET ON OVER TO OPERATION COMFORT’S WEBSITE AND MAKE A DONATION VIA THEIR PAYPAL LINK (send a separate email with the amount of your PayPal donation and indicating it’s for the surfing trip.)

OR YOU CAN SEND YOUR DONATIONS TO
Operation Comfort
P. O. Box 4010
Lago Vista, Texas 78645

Please make a note on the check that the donation is for the Surfing Trip.

The Organization would also gladly accept the donation of airline miles…

If you can otherwise help send these guys surfin’, feel free to email Janis: jroz123@operationcomfort.org or call her at 1-512-297-8972

LET’S SEND SOME GUYS SURFIN’ USA!!!

ASKING THAT YOU PASS THIS ALONG TO FRIENDS, FAMILIES AND CROSS-POST THE HELL OUT THIS.... FEEL FREE TO COPY AND PASTE. WHATEVER IT TAKES TO GET THIS DONE.

If everybody had an ocean

Across the U.S.A.

Then everybody’d be surfin’

Like californi-a

You’d see ‘em wearing their baggies

Huarachi sandals, too

A bushy, bushy blonde hairdo

Surfin’ U.S.A.

-- Chuck Berry/Brian Wilson


And you should tool around the Operation Comfort website and see the fantastic things they are doing for the wounded at BAMC -- laptops for the wounded barracks, adaptive sports equipment, outings, trips, dinners… The needs are great, but these people are so awesome in their resolve and dedication.