Our Finest

George Phillips

George Phillips was once in the heating and plumbing business, and is the kind of guy who would rush to help his customers when they had an emergency during holidays and after hours. He was activated for the conflict in Iraq in 2003 after having been in the military on and off since 1984. This latest assignment took him to Camp Pendleton for training in the Field Medical Service School to become a corpsman.

As fate would have it, he never made it to Iraq. George's injuries came about in a much more unexpected way. During a long hike at Camp Pendleton, the rigorous combat-related training took its toll on him, and he injured his back. An MRI revealed a severely-pinched nerve, with surgery being the only way to relieve the pain. When he woke up from surgery, George was paralyzed from the chest down--the doctors at Balboa Naval Hospital hit his spinal cord during surgery--a contusion in the C5 region that meant he would never walk again. George was transferred to the military's spinal cord center in Jefferson, Missouri, and while there was fitted with leg and knee braces and then sent home to Barnhart, Missouri.

George, his wife, and his three children have struggled both physically and financially due to his unexpected and sudden disability. He received some emergency relief from the V.A. and Red Cross; however he does not have a 100% disability rating and even the income he was receiving was reduced. Nonetheless, George is not bitter. He says of life and family, "We are still happy 'til this day! It's what life is all about--being content with what you have."

George's Dream is to own his house free and clear, and be able to concentrate his finances to fund the children's college education. Our Finest is currently reviewing George's circumstances to determine where best to assist.

How OurFinest.org is helping George:
Providing personal coaching/setting up action plan
Financial assistance

How you can help George:
Cash donation
Moral support

Alfredo Hurtado

UPDATE! Since this writing, Diana Hurtado has been given a scholarship to Grand Canyon University through Our Finest, so she may obtain her Master's in Education! Congratulations to the Hurtado family.

In July of 2000, Alfredo Hurtado took the advice of his brother and joined the Army, "because he would be at home more than in the Marines." It was his dream to later join the U.S. Marshalls or another law enforcement agency. So off he went, with the support of his wife, Diana, and three-year-old daughter, Angelina.

Right after September 11, 2001, he was called to Washington, DC, to guard the Pentagon for seven months, followed by deployment to Afghanistan for nine months. By April, 2004, he was a team leader in Iraq escorting convoys on supply routes (MSRs). One night while traveling home on a supply route, they could see the lights of the village ahead turning off as they approached. "This was generally a sign of insurgent activity," Alfredo explained.

Minutes later, they ran over an IED (improvised explosive device). Alfredo's vehicle was the closest and took the worst hit, and others did not immediately come to their aid as the vehicles had been travelling in the dark with their lights off. Of his team members, Brian Carroll (20 years old) sustained internal gastro-intestinal injuries, and Victor Ortiz (also 20) lost his hand. Alfredo was knocked unconscious, and when he awoke, there was blood everywhere. He sustained head wounds which caused 15 staples to be attached to his skull, and almost lost his thumb. At that point, says Alfredo, "I knew what happened, radioed in a call for help and drove our vehicle, which luckily was still operational, to the closest truck."

A friend who works in Fort Bragg was watching Fox News on Memorial Day, and called Diana. Alfredo's wife contacted OurFinest by email so that we may help him continue his education. David McGee, Managing Director of OurFinest, comments that, "We are in the business of helping these returning heroes and we depend on the referrals from our clients. This is the best way to help, and that crucial trust component is there from the start." The Hurtado's were contacted immediately.

Alfredo already has 25 credit hours in college and had taken many of the required general education courses. As mentioned, he was originally interested in a career in law enforcement, but later considered possibly becoming an x-ray technician. However, when OurFinest asked what his DREAM was, he paused and said, "I love to cook. My friends love what I cook, and you could say I'm passionate about it and I love to see the reaction from people who eat my dishes." In addition, his immediate needs are to find a job by August in the Raleigh/Durham area, go back to school, and provide his wife and young daughter with stability and a good home. "I just want to be there for them," he stated simply.

When asked about how OurFinest is helping to meet his needs, Alfredo explained, "They are a lot of help, because I'm in a position where I don't know exactly what I'm capable of doing and all of a sudden I have to change my whole lifestyle." In addition, one of Alfredo's favorite activities has been hampered--he loves playing his guitar and now has great difficulty holding the guitar pick.

OurFinest helped Alfredo and his family by looking into culinary schools so that he may become a chef or create a business in the food industry; however, the school was too far away. Instead, Alfredo is pursuing a career in real estate and mortgage brokering. The organization will also be setting up an action plan and a personal coach to help him achieve his goals. It is a balance of meeting short-term needs and long-term goals to help a family mend. Alfredo's wife, Diana, explains, "Thank you for helping my husband and our family when we truly were lost. Your organization could not have come into our lives at a better time."

In the meantime, is still jokingly "angry" with his brother for his advice, and still feels connected with his team--they talk daily. At Alfredo's request, OurFinest will be contacting Brian and Victor to see what their DREAMS are.

How OurFinest.org is helping Alfredo:
Providing personal coaching/setting up action plan
Providing scholarship/student loan assistance
Will assist in Dream job placement

How you can help Alfredo:
Cash donation
Dream job placement upon graduation

Richard Orta

Richard Orta says he has always set high goal for himself, and luckily always obtained them. Upon graduation he sought a very big goal: he joined the Marine Corps to save for his upcoming education.

Orta's job entailed flying with two Presidents (Clinton and Bush), traveling to 36 countries. While this might seem glamerous to some, most weeks Richard put in over 85 hours. It was in this capacity that he was injured.

While on the job in Thailand, Richard fell off the top of a helicopter with a 90-pound tool box. He severely injured his right shoulder and left knee, and has had two corrective sur geries where 12 screws were inserted into his shoulder...and it's not over. It was during this time that Orta met a Certified Registered Nurse Anesthetist (CRNA), observed the healing and caring involved in the job, and decided that was what he wanted to do with his life.

While Richard says he does not believe that, "Money can or will ever hold me back from attaining my goals," he does know the financial implications of an education are daunting. He looks at it as one more battle to be won. Unfortunately, after will out over 65 scholarship applications, he has not received one yet. Still, he attends Emory University to be an anesthesiologist.

Our Finest is contacting Emory to see what we can do to help, and Richard thanked us by sending us two boxes of M&M's from Marine 1.

How OurFinest.org is helping Richard:
Providing personal coaching/setting up action plan
Contacting Emory for possible scholarship assistance
Will assist in Dream job placement, if required

How you can help Richard:
Cash donation
Dream job placement upon graduation

David Pettigrew

David Pettigrew isn't someone who sits around and waits. He's all action. That's why, after being injuried in Tikrit, Iraq, he bought a ranch house. Since Pettigrew had lost his leg, it made it easier to get around that way.

While admitting that he cried about that loss only once, his view is optimistic when he compares himself to some of his comrades. "My very last roomate [at Walter Reed Medical Center] had no hands. I can empty the dishwasher. I can take out the trash. I can't run, but I hate it anyway. That guy has no hands. There's someone out there who can put what happened to you in perspective."

Pettigrew joined the Army's 4th Infantry division because he needed the $20,000 enlistment bonus to pay for the educational debt he had incurred out of high school. He shot guns for the first time. He fell in love with his wife, Ann, and was married in 2001. And then in 2003 he was shipped to Iraq where his life changed in a less predictable fashion.

David and two other soliders were on midnight patrol in two Bradley Fighting Vehicles on July 7. "We had made one of our loops through half of the town and were fixing the rest of the patrol and just out of nowhere got shot at," he said. David was standing in the turret, the top third of his body exposed. "The first thing I remember is that I couldn't move my right leg any more. All my weight shifted to my left leg."

An armor-penetrating, rocket-propelled grenade had pierced the Bradley. "I remember thinking, 'something is very wrong and to fix it I have to get off this vehicle.' I started screaming my head off." Pettigrew hoisted himself to the top of the Bradley and fell 11 feet to the ground.

Two months after losing his leg, David returned to Colorado Springs. He has been fitted with a $100,000 prosthesis, but because he doesn't have a knee, it must be strapped around his chest and is, in his words, "bulky, hot, cumbersome and awkward." He also has two wheelchairs but doesn't use them. "I'm adaptive. I really am," he states. "There's nothing I can do to change anything that's happened. There's not a whole lot of point in my mind in moping."

Pettigrew is currently in school to become a math teacher and currently receives full support from the government. Our Finest will be standing by to do anything we can to assist this hero.

How Our Finest is helping David:
Meet future educational needs not covered

How you can help David:
Make a donation
Moral support

Terry Saffron

Terry Saffron is a 16-year career soldier and a veteran of the Gulf War, so it was no surprise when he was deployed to Iraq with the 1-21 Field Artillery of the 1st Cavalry Division of Fort Hood in March of 2004. Less than two months later, while his disabled humvee was being towed, an IED detonated, killing two of his comrades and injuring Terry and another.

Terry suffered debilitating injuries--a large portion of his lower right jaw was blown off, all but four teeth were lost, most of his bicep and part of the tricep in his right arm were ripped open, and numerous shrapnel wounds covered his side and legs. However, the injury goes beyond physical. Terry Saffron and his wife, Colleen, are only one example of how a military injury affects the entire family.

Terry's injuries caused debt to accumulate due to a loss in income. Colleen is herself severely hearing disabled and had just started school, working on the side cleaning houses and decorating to pay for books. With his injuries, Terry was unable to do many of the cost-saving tasks he normally would have, and others had to be hired to do such things as fix the Saffron's old automobile. In addition, expenses included special food and clothing to accommodate Terry's injuries.

Terry and Colleen have three children, ages 11, 12 and 15. Nonetheless, Terry's dream is to get back to active duty, if possible. When military personnel are retired, they lose their government benefits if they work at other jobs, and they need those benefits for their medical care!

OurFinest will be helping Terry and his family by offering financial assistance and attempting to reduce their debt. The organization will also be setting up an action plan and a personal coach to help him achieve his goals.

How OurFinest.org is helping Terry:
Providing personal coaching/setting up action plan
Providing student loan and debt assistance

How you can help Terry:
Cash donation
Moral support

Brandon Olson

Although Brandon Olson was shy as a boy, he has always loved to hunt. So when he joined the Army as part of the 101st Airborne Division just a few months after the September 11, 2001 attacks, he was saddened to leave his home in North Dakota. He told his mother it was something he had to do.

As a former outside-linebacker on Hazen High School's football team, his coach, Todd Johnson, recalls that, "He was only 160 or 170 pounds at best, but he made it up with his big heart and all." Johnson, who is now retired, states, "He was fearless...wasn't afraid of anybody."

That courage came to the fore one Halloween night, when an explosive erupted two feet from him while he was on foot patrol in Mosul, Iraq. His right leg had to be amputated just below the knee at Walter Reed, and he has undergone more than 20 surgeries since. During that time, President George W. Bush visited him with a Purple Heart and a commemorative presidential coin. His parents, Deb and Doug Olson, stated, "We're...thrilled and grateful that President Bush stopped by personally to present Brandon with the Purple Heart. It's a well-deserved honor for him, and an honor for our entire state." Brandon is currently at the Malone House, an outpatient facility affiliated with Walter Reed, where he is receiving physical and occupational therapy.

The government can't do it all. OurFinest.org contacted Brandon to see how we could help him, and asked him the question: "What is your Dream?" Brandon already had a college education underway, but would now like to work with prosthetics. As a "rough and tumble" kind of guy, Brandon keeps breaking his prosthetics and could contribute toward better design!

How OurFinest.org is helping Brandon:
Providing personal coaching/setting up action plan
Providing scholarship/student loan assistance
Will assist in Dream job placement

How you can help Brandon:
Cash donation
Dream job placement upon graduation

Matthew Welch

"My daddy was shot by the bad guys." That is what Nathanial Millis, son of Corporal Matthew Welch (age 23) tells the people he encounters. Matthew Welch never thought he would be seeing the inside of a hospital only two weeks after leaving his home town of Cornith, New York, for Iraq to rejoin his unit, C Company 2/108th Infantry New York Army National, after a two-week leave.

He remembers turning left onto "Heat," a name they gave to a particular street near Samarra, when everything suddenly changed. Welch was the only passenger in a humvee when the roadside bomb (IED) detonated. He was hit with schrapnel that blew a large hole in his left knee and caused other injuries to his legs and hands. He now faces the long recovery--a story that is becoming commonplace for those suffering the wounds of war. His wife, Diana, stated, "He has no feeling in his left leg." Fortunately, his father-in-law, Mike Millis, says that he will not lose his leg, which was a possibility.

Matthew's Dream is to continue his education in business management and become the owner of a custom auto shop. He stated that a custom auto shop was always his dream but now it's ingrained because, "I like doors around me...they make me feel safer. That's why I chose to work with cars." He is also unable to carry heavy objects, has difficulty walking, and cannot drive a standard transmission.

Matthew learned about OurFinest through his family readiness group leader, who emailed his wife. He says that the efforts of OurFinest, "Have far outreached my expectations. This is the first organization that has made an effort to help." He also sends his thanks to the medic that treated him in the field and his family, friends, company, and the city of Corinth for their support and kindness.

The great news is that Matthew's son Nathan is about to welcome a baby brother or sister in the near future! OurFinest will be there to support them all the way.

How OurFinest.org is helping Matthew:
Providing personal coaching/setting up action plan
Providing scholarship/student loan assistance
Will assist in management training and dream job placement

How you can help Matthew:
Cash donation
Dream job placement upon graduation