Salute to our Military

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Veterans Day Weekend - 20121082 viewsA soldier stationed in Afghanistan took this picture of my father, Colonel John Sorensen, a member of the Army Reserve Medical Corps, and a huge Steelers fan.

Even during surgery overseas, he represents. The picture was taken sometime in October (I don't have an exact date).

I had to crop the picture because of the rest of the content. Hopefully, it will still work for the website.

Emily Sorensen

Veterans Day Weekend - 20121227 viewsMy son Evan Vogelsberger in Ft Benning, Georgia.

This Picture was taken at Graduation from Boot camp, within the past year. He is a Private First class, currently in the Reserves, and living here in Pittsburgh.

Michele Goyak

*Click on any photo for a larger version!

Veterans Day, 20111437 viewsDear Ben and the Steelers!!!

"My name is Jennifer Thompson. I am sending this email on behalf of my husband Sgt. Garry Thompson. See my husband is now medically retired from the Army after 17 years of service but he will always carry the military with him. It is who he is. He has always been in law enforcement in one aspect or another since the age of 18 years old. He has been in the military police corp as well as a cop in Cocoa Florida. It's a part of him.

'On May 28th of 2008, I received a phone call no Army wife ever wants to get. A spokesman from the Department of Defense called to inform me my husband had been critically injured and partially paralyzed from the waist down after being shot twice to the back one shattered his spine and the other is still lodged in his side. I am not writing this to depress you rather it is quite the opposite. My husband Garry still loves the military and his comrades more than ever. He always states to me he would do everything again even if he knew what the outcome would be. He is wheelchair bound but it doesn't get him down. It's just a challenge to continue doing the things he loves just in a different way.

'He spent time with the Steelers players for the 'Heroes at Heinz Field' event and it made his year. To know you care enough to go out and spend time with these heroes is amazing and I am so very thankful. I have never seen another team do what you do. We spend our quality time together during the games cheering you on, sometimes a bit too loudly but our neighbors understand. I just wanted to send an email letting you know how blessed I am to have this hero in my life and to thank you for all you do!!! Goooo Steelers!!!"

Sincerely, Jennifer Thompson

Greg Ferrell945 viewssent a photo of his wife, deployed with the Kentucky National Guard, showing off her Steelers pride in Africa!!

Veterans Day, 20111403 viewsâ€œBen, throughout history men have won and lost great battles. For the ones that are lost doesnâ€™t mean that the war is over so continue doing the amazing job that you do and in the end you will become victoriousâ€¦I also want to take this opportunity to say I am very grateful for all the support you and the Steelers show our military, going to war is one of hardest things a soldier must face but knowing we have support, helps us to remember why we serve in the first place. God Bless and Go Steelers!â€

Veteran Corporal Gregory Yakubik
1st BN 5th Marines, Charlie Company
United States Marine Corps

*Click on any photo for a larger version!

Veterans Day, 20131046 views"This was taken in Kuwait in December 2011. Most of the season I watched the games at 2am (streaming on a computer) waving my towel around a bunch of Kuwaiti air traffic controllers. They just didn't get it! lol. Thanks again Ben for supporting us! Proud to serve my STEELER NATION!" -- SSGT Holly Stene, United States Air Force, hometown: Johnstown, PA.

#WarriorWednesday - Toy Soldier Edition797 viewsWe received an email from Senior Airman Casey Hulllette, USAF (one of the â€œtoy soldierâ€ recreators below) that he wanted us to share with you!

â€œFirst off, I want to thank you Ben for your support of the troops and all military veterans. Second, I want to introduce myself. Iâ€™m Casey Hullette, a Senior Airman in the United States Air Force.

Iâ€™m originally from the small town of Lincolnton, NC, and my beautiful wife, Caroline, and I have been blessed with 2 amazing little boys, Tripp 4 and Finnley 2. We are currently stationed at Dover AFB in Delaware.

Now just wanted to give you a little run-down of the other 3 guys, some of the best friends Iâ€™ve ever had, and together we made it through our deployment to Bagram AFB in Afghanistan, where this picture was taken. We are all Air Transportation Specialists (we do all of the cargo and passenger movements).

The toy soldiers from left to right: SSGT Alex Franklin (currently serving in Korea); Senior Airman Kyle Bowman (currently stationed at Joint Base Lewis-McChord in Washington state); Me â€“ with both weapons in the air; and Technical Sgt Russell Meredith (who just returned from another tour in Iraq).

From all four of us we thank you for sharing our picture with Steeler Nation.

And Ben, again, we want to make sure you understand the appreciation we have for your support of the troops. Congratulations on your success in the NFL.â€ â€” Casey.

Casey, Alex, Kyle & Russell: thank you so much for the email, and especially for your service. God bless all of you and keep you safe!

Steeler Pride far far from home!1017 viewsJake Robinson (in the #7 jersey) sent this photo of his Unit serving in Afghanistan. We used it for an Armed Forces Day post on the website's home page:

http://bigben7.com/today-is-armed-forces-day/

Veterans Day, 20131100 viewsJake Robinson stops to pose with his Terrible Towel outside of Baghdad. Jake is with the West Virginia National Guard.

Veterans Day Weekend - 20121155 viewsJason Kayla and his friend Don Fell in Baghdad, Iraq 2011.

*Click on any photo for a larger version!

Veterans Day, 20111210 viewsPFC Gordon of A- Troop 4-7 Cav. U.S. Army, Camp Hovey South Korea -

"Great job week in and week out, young guys are stepping in and working through adversity only makes the team more cohesive.
The Steelers (you guys) are the reason why I wake up at 0200hrs on a Monday morning to watch football. Its not just football, it motivates me to work hard and do what has to be done, just so I can see next weeks game. Its the reason why my peers knock on my door because they hear yelling and screaming coming out of the room down the hall. Football has always been a pastime, and the best way to enjoy it is to sit back and watch the only NFL team that brings back the good memories, warrior, and optimist out of me. The team boosts moral like no other, and makes me Proud to be an American Soldier Serving the great country, The United States of America
Added a picture of approx 12 miles north of where I am, known as the JSA.
Through my time here I've been on the hope that Hines Ward would visit, come by and me get an autograph, (lol that and the WHOLE team.) Now lets go get another ring for the other hand. (7)
Heading back stateside in December, I'm looking into attending my first ever Steelers game, keep up the great work and thank you for taking time to read this.

STEELER NATION IS AROUND THE GLOBE!

Veterans Day Weekend - 2012989 viewsHere is that photo I promised for BigBen7! This is a photo of me holding my Terrible Towel in front of the Korean War Memorial Museum in Seoul, South Korea!

Loving my Steelers, and even though I'm far from home and from my wife and kids, they are supporting me and the Steelers as well! Happy Veterans Day!

Josh AKA SteelGambit

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Big Ben 7

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