Team Red, White & Blue

press release: T eam Red, White & Blue will host local Gold Star Mother Krista Meinert on October 26, 2019, for a presentation about how she used resilience to overcome the grief of losing her son, who was killed in action in Afghanistan during Operation Enduring Freedom. Ms. Meinert will talk about how she got through grief and continues to deal with it, channeling those feelings into personal achievements and goal-seeking.

Trigger warning: The presentation may include content that is disturbing to some attendants, so we encourage everyone to prepare themselves emotionally before the presentation begins. Attendants, who feel at any point that they need to leave, may choose to do so.

Team Red, White & Blue includes veterans from all branches and eras of service, Active Duty, Guard and Reserve service members, civilian supporters, and key sponsors including:

 ○        Edgewood College Military and Veterans Services

○        Starbucks

 About Team Red, White, & Blue: Team Red, White & Blue (Team RWB) is a nonprofit organization founded in 2010 with the mission of enriching the lives of America’s veterans by connecting them to their communities through physical and social activity. Team RWB has over 192,000 members spread across more than 200 chapters and communities located throughout the country. To learn more about Team RWB, visit teamrwb.org.

From Krista Meinert:

“My son Jake, a US Marine, was killed in action, and I went numb. I became an empty shell of skin and bones walking around this earth, pretending to be normal, and pretending to live. I seek professional help but don’t accept it. I try to hold on to anything that is ‘nailed down’ but I can’t see clearly, so I make choices that turn out to be bad, wear false smiles and cry myself to sleep if I can make it all the way until then. Then, something out of the blue happened - I climbed a mountain in Colorado. That was a large step out of my comfort zone. It felt amazing and, dare I say, I felt alive. I wanted that feeling again so I came up with a plan to climb the highest point in each state. I had to trust the journey and see where it led.”

To hear her full story, please join us at the presentation.