Warriors and Rodeo, Racing, and Recreation
Military, Law Enforcement, EMS, Firefighters
Check back this week to see the new and updated W.A.R. website!
We have huge news – we are going to be featured at the Bob Feist Invitational for a Fourth time!
If you haven’t heard of The Feist, we will make sure you have all the information, links, and videos to find out more about our biggest support of all time!
Signing off until Monday…. Sheri Smith, former CTI U.S. Navy and President of W.A.R.
Warriors and Rodeo mourns the loss of one of our board of director officers, CW3 Robert (Bobby) Ibrahim. Ibrahim served in the 160th SOAR Night Stalkers, which are highly trained special operations pilots who are trained in nighttime flight operations. Bobby is known for his incredible and sincere kindness toward everyone. His heart for his family, nation, and fellow mankind has changed lives around the world. We miss him terribly and pray for his family and friends.
Bobby’s wife, Melissa, has shared with many people about donating to Warriors and Rodeo in memory of her husband. We are humbled and honored. There are a few ways to donate:
Many more photos to come….
Warriors and Rodeo VP and Director of W.A.R. Gaming will be representing our media team at The American again this year.
When not volunteering for multiple projects with W.A.R. or working full-time in the technology industry, Air Force Veteran Colt Ainsworth is DJing in Reno, NV, and around the Dallas/Ft. Worth area.
Colt and his wife, Britni, have done interviews, photography, and video at multiple rodeo events throughout the years and we look forward to partnering with Western Media and Sports, SmithPRO Magazine, and SmithPRO LLC in providing unique media coverage of the one and only The American event in March 2023.
It is our honor to once again enter the Navajo Nation land to provide the opportunity to team rope with Professional Team Ropers Erich Rogers, Derrek Begay, and Aaron Tsinigine.
To find out more click on the following links:
While it is our first clinic of 2023, it is our second bull riding clinic with Pale Horse Ranch in Big Sandy, Texas.
This clinic was an amazing experience for me, as president of W.A.R. I’m going to tell you the real story of this clinic and why it is a great example of our mission – Operation Not Forgotten.
For a year now, the owners of Pale Horse Ranch, Merrill and Gina Kidder, and I have been discussing some of the possible events and projects that we could partner on. In October, we launched the first of many bull riding clinics! With little time to announce the event, we did our best to get the word out. Numerous veterans and active duty military attended and our clinicians were veterans themselves! To top it off – the owners of Pale Horse Ranch are veterans, too! Such an incredible team to work with! Thank you, Robert Long, U.S. Army Veteran, for instructing this clinic and for the others who put in the time to instruct our students!
January snuck up on us, with the holidays and a family crisis in my home. The next thing we knew, the second clinic was upon us without much time to plan. I didn’t want to cancel; I’ve found something will always come up to derail great events and I was hopeful that it wouldn’t happen again.
After discussions with Merrill Kidder and Chad Rutan, Army Veteran bull riding instructor for the January clinic, we all agreed this clinic would go on even if only one person came. And sure enough, we had one person come – and he was well worth the effort.
One of our mottos is, “We can’t help them all, but we can help some.” That is exactly what we did. While we can’t put on clinics everywhere in the country to help every veteran or first responder who rodeos, we can do what we can, with the volunteers we have, and the donations we receive. I firmly believe that helping even one is worth it and that is why we partner with many other non-profits and organizations – because together we can reach so many more!
Warriors and Rodeo is proud to have law enforcement from around the nation as an integral part of this organization. Nathan Hollenbeck represents our northern brothers & sisters-in-arms in service to our great country via the Alaska State Troopers. When he’s not protecting the citizens while on patrol, he’s representing Warriors and Rodeo in the arena on the back of a bull and chute dogging.
Written by Nathan Hollenbeck:
I have served with the Alaska State Troopers for three years. Originally from Colorado, I grew up riding horses and tending to the care of livestock. I developed a passion for animals and rodeo at a young age. I continued that passion while living in both Oregon and Alaska. I have been a contestant and volunteer with Rodeo Alaska for the past five years. Riding bulls helped prepare me for the challenging career in Law Enforcement. I discovered a brotherhood in rodeo similar to that in my detachment. The high stress job has a tendency of bringing depression and anxiety. It’s nice to escape into the rodeo world with my rodeo family and I ride at every opportunity. It’s a great way to blow off steam and I know that my rodeo family or brothers in blue always have my back if I ever need them. Pulling rope/giving cover… at a moment’s notice someone will always be there. I am fortunate to serve my community and I am excited to be a part of W.A.R and hope to reach out to others who may face the same challenges. I would not be able to serve or ride without the strength and support of those closest to me.
Find out more about the Alaska State Troopers:
A PRAYER BY GEORGE WASHINGTON
Almighty God: We make our earnest prayer that Thou wilt keep the United States in Thy holy protection; that thou wilt incline the hearts of the citizens to cultivate a spirit of subordination and obedience to government, and entertain a brotherly affection and love for one another and for their fellow-citizens of the United States at large. And finally that Thou wilt most graciously be pleased to dispose us all to do justice, to love mercy and to demean ourselves with that charity, humility and pacific temper of mind which were the characteristics of the Divine Author of our blessed religion without a humble imitation of whose example in these things we can never hope to be a happy nation. Grant our supplication, we beseech Thee, through Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen.
Library of Congress, Rare Book and Special Collections Division, Printed Ephemera Collection
Members of the U.S. Military raise the American flag and the POW MIA flag during a flag raising ceremony in honor of Flag Day Sunday, June 14, 2020, on the South Lawn of the White House. (Official White House Photo by Tia Dufour)
June 14th is observed as Flag Day each year because on June 14, 1777, the Second Continental Congress adopted the Stars and Stripes for the flag of the United States.
The first national observance of Flag Day took place 100 years after the original resolution on June 14, 1877.
President Woodrow Wilson issued a 1916 proclamation for the national observance of Flag Day on the 14th of June. Read the Presidential Proclamation as printed in the June 3, 1916, issue of the Congressional Record.
H.J. Res 170 (81st Congress) was signed into law by President Truman on August 3, 1949 (see the August 9, 1949 issue of the Congressional Record). This made Flag Day a permanent observance as you can see in 36 U.S.C. 110.
This history of Flag Day is recorded in Senate Document 109-18, Our Flag, which briefly describes the history of the flag and sets forth the practices and observances appropriate to its display. You’ll find out much more about the flag in this publication including these fun facts:
Flag proportions were designated by President Eisenhower’s August 21, 1959, Executive Order.
A flag should not be stored wet which can cause permanent creases.
If a flagpole is 40 feet, the flag dimensions should be 6 by 10 feet.
The custom of flying flags 24 hours a day over the east and west fronts of the Capitol building started during World War I.
The original “Star-Spangled Banner,” was 30 by 42 feet and made by Mary Pickersgill in her home in Baltimore, Maryland from 1807 to 1857.
The 2nd Cavalry Regiment hosted Fight Night as the culminating event to its modern Army combatives training program, May 24, 2022, at Rose Barracks, Germany. 2CR Fight Night is an annual combatives event that enables Soldiers to challenge each other physically and mentally while receiving recognition among their peers. (U.S. Army photo by Spc. Ryan Parr)
U.S. service members unfurl the United States flag during a Memorial Day ceremony at the Intrepid Sea, Air, and Space Museum as part of Fleet Week New York in New York City NY, May 27, 2019. Memorial Day honors the fallen men and women of the U.S. Armed Forces. Fleet Week NY is an opportunity for the American public to meet their Marine Corps, Navy, and Coast Guard service members and experience America’s sea services firsthand. (U.S. Marine Corps photo by Cpl. Tiana Boyd)
NEW YORK CITY, NY, UNITED STATES 05.27.2019 Photo by Cpl. Tiana Boyd 2nd Marine Aircraft Wing
“The appearance of U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) visual information does not imply or constitute DoD endorsement.”
Issued on: May 21, 2020
Since the first shots fired in the Revolutionary War, Americans have answered the call to duty and given their lives in service to our Nation and its sacred founding ideals. As we pay tribute to the lives and legacies of these patriots on Memorial Day, we also remember that they sacrificed to create a better, more peaceful future for our Nation and the world. We recommit to realizing that vision, honoring the service of so many who have placed love of country above all else.
As Americans, we will always defend our freedom and our liberty. When those principles are threatened, we will respond with uncompromising force and unparalleled vigor. Generation after generation, our country’s finest have defended our Republic with honor and distinction. Memorials, monuments, and rows of white crosses and stars in places close to home like Arlington, Virginia and Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, as well as far-flung battlefields in places like Flanders Field in Belgium and Busan in Korea, will forever memorialize their heroic actions, standing as solemn testaments to the price of freedom. We will never take for granted the blood shed by these gallant men and women, as we are forever indebted to them and their families.
This year marks the 75th anniversary of the Allied victories over Nazi Germany and Imperial Japan in World War II. As we commemorate these seminal events, we also remember the tremendous cost at which these victories came. More than 400,000 souls of the Greatest Generation perished during this titanic struggle to liberate the world from tyranny. In his address to the Nation on Japan’s surrender, President Truman’s words remind us all of our enduring obligation to these patriots for their sacrifice: “It is our responsibility — ours the living — to see to it that this victory shall be a monument worthy of the dead who died to win it.” As we pause to recall the lives lost from the ranks of our Armed Forces, we remain eternally grateful for the path they paved toward a world made freer from oppression.
Our fallen warriors gave their last breath for our country and our freedom. Today, let us pause in quiet reverence to reflect on the incredible dedication of these valiant men and women and their families, invoking divine Providence as we continue pursuing our noble goal of lasting peace for the world.
In honor and recognition of all of our fallen heroes, the Congress, by a joint resolution approved May 11, 1950, as amended (36 U.S.C. 116), has requested the President issue a proclamation calling on the people of the United States to observe each Memorial Day as a day of prayer for permanent peace and designating a period on that day when the people of the United States might unite in prayer. The Congress, by Public Law 106-579, has also designated 3:00 p.m. local time on that day as a time for all Americans to observe, in their own way, the National Moment of Remembrance.
NOW, THEREFORE, I, DONALD J. TRUMP, President of the United States of America, do hereby proclaim Memorial Day, May 25, 2020, as a day of prayer for permanent peace, and I designate the hour beginning in each locality at 11:00 a.m. of that day as a time when people might unite in prayer.
I further ask all Americans to observe the National Moment of Remembrance beginning at 3:00 p.m. local time on Memorial Day.
I also request the Governors of the United States and its Territories, and the appropriate officials of all units of government, to direct that, on Memorial Day, the flag be flown at half-staff until noon on all buildings, grounds, and naval vessels throughout the United States and in all areas under its jurisdiction and control. I also request the people of the United States to display the flag at half-staff from their homes for the customary forenoon period.
IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this twenty-first day of May, in the year of our Lord two thousand twenty, and of the Independence of the United States of America the two hundred and forty-fourth.
DONALD J. TRUMP
Official White House portrait of President Donald J. Trump taken by Shealah Craighead on October 6, 2017 in Washington, D.C.