On June 3rd, our lives changed forever with the sudden passing of Bob Brinker. Bob was a U.S. Army veteran who served in Vietnam from 1969 until 1971. He was also the vice president of UAW Local 160 in Warren, Michigan; UAW Local 160 veterans’ committee chairperson and served as trustee for the Great Lakes National Cemetery in Holly, Michigan. He was so much to so many but for me, he was my dad.
He was my role model, my disciplinarian, my support system and my biggest fan. He always told me that I could do anything as long as I put my mind to it and believed I was doing it for the right reasons. He made it clear that he would always be there for me (and everyone he cared about) and that I would never have to face anything alone. His family meant everything to him–biological and honorary–and he knew we could achieve great things if we did it together.
Years ago, my sister and I came up with an idea to send care packages to our troops overseas. Everyone was sending care packages at Christmas but what about the rest of the year? What about other holidays? So we decided to start Operation Easter Basket. We brought the idea to Dad and as a family, we made it happen. We created an event with the help of AnySoldier.com, General Motors, the UAW, our VFW Post 6756, the boy scouts, the girl scouts, friends and family. We wound up sending over a thousand packages to our troops serving overseas. So we did it again the following year, Operation Thanks-for-Giving, reaching out to over 4,000 men and women in our armed forces.
Dad gained the reputation of being someone who would get the job done when it came to helping out our active military and veterans. A group of Blue Star Mothers reached out to him for assistance. They had been trying for a year to get Detroit Lions t-shirts to send over to their sons in Iraq who were training the Iraqi soldiers. The Lion was a symbol of strength and courage to these men. The Lions denied their request time and again so they asked Dad for help. He reached out to the Lions as well. They offered dog tags, pencils and bumper stickers but declined the t-shirt request. Dad did take their offerings but refused to give up in regards to the t-shirts. So he went through the UAW and directly to the Ford Motor Company. Dad worked his magic and obtained 100 Detroit Lions t-shirts for the Blue Star Mothers. The presentation of the t-shirts made front page news in Detroit.
Dad was always going above and beyond for his fellow veterans. At his funeral, so many vets came up to us and told stories of how they met Dad when they were homeless. The first thing Dad asked them, “Are you a Veteran?” He would talk to them, buy them a meal and take them to places like Vets Returning Home. He would talk to them about the benefits available to them and different job programs. Each of these men that approached us at the funeral said that Dad changed their lives.
When a funeral home tells you that your father’s funeral was the largest ever for them, you get confirmation that your Dad was a special, unique soul who touched the lives of so many. Over 1500 people attended Dad’s funeral. It was standing room only in the chapel with tailgating in the parking lot. A friend of mine said it was a forty-five minute wait from the guest book to the casket. Dad would have been truly honored–I know we were.
After the funeral, Dad’s friends told us they wanted to hold a memorial fundraiser in the parking lot of the UAW Local 160 union hall. They organized and promoted the event that raised money for Vets Returning Home, Dad’s favorite charity. VRH was trying to raise $10,000 in order to receive a matching donation from Spirit Airlines. With the donations we collected at the funeral and at the fundraiser, we helped them reach their goal. We knew this was truly Dad’s legacy–his friends and family came together to help veterans, to continue the work he started.
My sister told me that we had to keep this going, for Dad. She said that we needed to start a memorial foundation so we can keep helping out veterans but not just homeless veterans. We also want to help veterans suffering from PTSD or those who find themselves about to become homeless. We want to keep doing what Dad would have done and bring back the events that we did together as a family. This should be a foundation run by those who loved Dad and want to keep his legacy alive.
So here we are, starting the Bob Brinker Memorial Veterans Foundation. We have already received an outpouring of love and support from friends and family who want to help. So stay tuned because this is just the beginning. The Bob Brinker legacy of helping and honoring veterans lives on.
~Kelly
