I have taken this explanation from the website http://herotohero.us/.
So just how did this all come to be?
Back in 2003, as the anniversary of 9/11 loomed near and the word 'Hero' was being tossed around pretty freely, I asked a soldier how it felt to be a Hero. He smiled, and replied, "Ma'am, I'm not a Hero ... just doing my job". So, since I tend to be an inquisitive person, I asked who he considered to be a Hero. "When I am deployed, I need to focus. I can't be worried about my family. Those people who make sure my family is safe... the Firefighters, the Cops, all of them... those are the Heroes."
Of course, I'm not only inquisitive... but persistent. I wanted to see how Firefighters and Police would respond. Asking a handful of the First Responders, the answers were very similar - with a slight twist. To summarize, the collective response when they were asked the same question asked of the soldier was "I'm no Hero... just doing my job. To me, since 9/11, all of those soldiers serving in Afghanistan and Iraq... THOSE are Heroes.â€
So, we had a mutual admiration society among men and women who live lives of service above and beyond the norm. We needed a way to get them together even though they were spread all over the world and didn't know each other. We could create an avenue for the Stateside Heroes to show their support of those Heroes in the desert, but how?
Around this time, the logo on the shirt of a Firefighter caught my eye. It was placed over his heart and had the hometown for which he worked. “Hmmm,â€, I thought, “all of our Troops are from a hometown somewhere, and isn’t the ultimate show of support the act of giving the shirt off your back?†It was someone else’s idea to write messages of support on the shirts, and it was a great idea!
Thus, Hero to Hero (or “H2H†for short) was born. We changed the name to HeroToHero.US after the second national tour when we learned that another effort was using the .com and it was causing some confusion. So, if you can remember our name HeroToHero.US, you then know our website address.
The first year we had a mere eight weeks to get the shirts collected and shipped. The second year we had a lot more time to get the word out. We decided to kick the project off on 9/11.
The idea had been to get these shirts to Washington State Troops from our hometown departments, and things were progressing smoothly. When Jake was killed and his #55 jersey was retired, the idea took wing to “Drive 55†for Jake, James, and all of the others, as well as their loved ones.
Jake and James died within 24 hours of each other, both in their respective lines of duty. We did not want them to be forgotten, we did not want them to be another number in the casualty list of their career fields. We reclaimed the number 55, and it has been at the heart of all we do!
And with that was born the annual national tour to 55 hometowns , over 10,000 miles, and a month on the road. We have now traveled the circumference of the earth in this effort, and we will continue to do so until they all come home.
In our first three years, we have shipped over 11,000(!!!) shirts off the backs of our hometown Heroes to our deployed Heroes. And while we would love them to all be home and safe, we will continue to be here for them as long as they are away!
No matter your politics, no matter your position on the war…
Remember, Honor, and Support Our Troops
I thought this story would be great to share as it gets their cause recognized worldwide and allows for individuals on Blueline to help out if they so desire.
Cheers!