Operation Meatball

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San Antonio, TX
Operation Meatball

Honoring Veterans and Connecting Them With the Youth of Today | Est. 2014 ||

Operation Meatball is a 501(c)3 non-profit dedicated to honoring WWII, Korean, and Vietnam veterans and connecting them with the children of today.

11/11/2025

Veteran’s Day weekend with the || I can’t possibly condense into a short paragraph what a beautiful weekend it was.

Every year AVC hosts an educational symposium honoring the veterans who have helped to keep America free. Students from military academies around the country come out to learn first hand the meaning of our American Citizenship and duty. Who is teaching them? The ones who came before. Veterans of WWII, Korea, Vietnam, and GWOT.

It was a genuine honor to be invited back to help with their WWII contingent. This year AVC brought out 40+ WWII veterans from around the country. The average age was 100. One panel alone had over 500 plus years of cumulative history between the 5 WWII veterans speaking.

To say the amount of history walking around the hallways of our hotel would give you chills is an understatement. Imagine walking into a Time Machine, selecting any era or subject of in the last 100 years of American history and pressing Go!

More than once I had random people come up and tell me with tears in their eyes how impacted they were by the veterans - and they were not even a part of the event!

Later I’ll have to get into the camaraderie and brotherhood the veterans (and Rosie’s) shared together this week. There are dozens of cute anecdotes, some that will bring a tear to your eye or a deep laugh from the belly.

I highly recommend you go to the YouTube channel to watch the interviews they performed.

Finally: One veteran shared with me that he didn’t understand why he was still around at a 100+ years. He’d outlived all his family. He was happy, but he also wasn’t sure of his purpose.

I told him it was for weekends like this. It was to give the youth of America one last chance to learn from him and his fellow brothers.

Thank you for caring for the legacy of our American history so well and giving our country’s national treasures (now in the twilight of their lives) the opportunity to share their final words of wisdom and stories of heroism with the younger generations.

Happy Veterans Day.

06/20/2025

Falling at the age of 92 is usually something to be avoided. But falling at terminal velocity?? Is something to be encouraged.

Yesterday, cool as a cucumber (napping in the plane as it climbed to 10,000 feet) 92 year old Jerry Brown made not one, but TWO tandem skydives at It was a dream come true to do this double adventure.

A few years ago Jerry made is first parachute jump and got the bug. Ever since then he’s been asking me just about every month “when are we going jumping again?”

After his precious wife of 69 years passed away last month, I knew we couldn’t wait any longer. Calling him up I said “let’s do this.”

“Oh I’m excited.” Said Jerry. “Remember, I want to do 2 jumps. Then I’ll have 5 and can get my [honorary] jump wings.”

With his longtime friend, “Mr Mustache Man” (himself a veteran of Vietnam 1st Cav) grinning with excitement and “let’s get this done it’s hot outside” energy, these youngsters made their jumps.

Over pizza afterwards they recounted all the feelings of the moment: soaring above the clouds, the free fall, how tiny the plane was, and the pure liberation of the moment, proving that courage doesn’t fade with age—it only grows bolder.

With a few tears and a choke in throat, Jerry read us a poem afterwards that he had been saving for years for just such a day.

I have slipped the surely bonds of earth and danced in the sky.

I have joined the tumbling sun split clouds and done a hundred things… things you have not dreamed of.

Wheeled and soared and swung high in the sunlit in silence, hovering there.

I have chased the shouting wind along,
And freely flung myself through the air and wind.

Swept heights with easy grace where not even eagles have flown.

And while I have tried the sanctity of space, I have put my arm out and touched the face of God.

06/05/2025

Crisbecq Battery, Normandy France: A one in a million shot:

One of the most fascinating scars of war I’ve seen in Normandy is at the Crisbecq Battery in Saint-Marcouf.

This particular bunker was originally built as a 2-room shelter with a very clever yet simple trolley system that transported the munitions. It also included a water reservoir that was connected via the trolley.

On June 8, 1944 a 105 mm shell was fired at the battery missing its target; however the shell passed *down* the narrow flight of stairs into the bunker without destroying them and ultimately hit the wall l am sitting on.

It truly is a one in a million shot. If you look at the second slide, you will see how perfect the shot was, especially considering the direction of the stairs.

The Crisbecq Battery was left to be taken over by the foliage of the French countryside until the 60th anniversary of DDay when it was restored and reopened for the public. 10/10 recommend making a stop at this incredible witness to DDa

06/04/2025

DDay 81!

04/10/2025

Big .telese is turning the big 100 ! Let’s make it super special. He just got out of the hospital after 5 months! Send cards

04/05/2025

This youngster here is 82 years old. Mike made 110 jumps when he was with Marine Recon back in the 60s and 70s. Last week he went through the extended airborne refresher course with and made his first jump since July 7, 1974!! Guys - that’s over 50 years ago.

Mike absolutely blew us all away with his energy, his youth, and gung ho. He works out regularly, dates younger women (but the minium is 8-10 years older than his daughter to keep the peace at home and so as not to”to be that guy”), and has never stopped moving. It was awesome to have him come through, and hopefully more like him in the future. He’s proof that (if the knees are okay), than age is truly just a number and humans have unlimited potential.

01/23/2025

Lunch date with my C47 pilot John W. John got his driver license renewed yesterday so I’ve been having him drive me around Fort Worth today. He’s only 101 and “It’s good till I’m 103!” He told me. Don’t worry, he’s an excellent driver; though we did miss a few exits as he recounted stories of dropping OSS agents into Czechoslovakia during WWII and going on a first date with his wife when she was 13 and he 16 (she chased him for 3 years. They were finally married when she was nearly 18). The stories from his test pilot days are pretty wild, and we hardly even touched on his missions in Vietnam. One of these days I need to just do a IG live so y’all can ask him questions.

At 101 John lives by himself, takes no medications, walks a couple of miles every week, and we are planning on doing a parachute jump together in the near future. John is the best.

12/22/2024

We are so grateful to our 2024 donors and we want to thank you. If you made a donation via Facebook, would you mind sending us a message with your mailing address so we can send you a thank you?

12/18/2024

Dear Friend of Operation Meatball &
Bridge to History,

Thank you for your enthusiastic support and contributions to Operation Meatball and our student Ambassadors this year. With your help, we were able to have an incredibly successful program for the 83rd anniversary of Pearl Harbor. Our students were each assigned to a WWII veteran for the week to shadow and to learn from. It was a life-changing experience for all.

We also hosted FIVE B2H stateside programs and continued our life-enrichment programs through Operation Meatball, serving the last veterans of WWII all over the United States and continuing to incorporate our precious veterans from the Korean and Vietnam Wars. 2025 bids to be an exciting year as the 80th commemorations wrap up and we cherish the very last few moments with the Greatest Generation.

Thank you for giving us the opportunity to make this all happen. The children of America are the bridge from the past, the key to the future. Your investment in them will be put to good use as we work to encourage and inspire the next Great Generation of Americans.

With blessings and gratitude,

Liberty Phillips
President/Founder Operation Meatball & Bridge to History

Www.operationmeatball.com/donate

12/09/2024

When Griffin (center) submitted his 3-page essay application to Bridge to History, he expressed, “I got hooked on learning about the war when I was building the USS Missouri Lego, then I wanted to know more about the war and my grandpa started telling me stories. And I started doing my own research.”

I was thoroughly impressed! Parents and grandparents tell me all the time how their kids are “addicted to their phones.” My response is always, “who gave them the phones??” Honestly! It’s not that complicated. If a Lego set could inspire a kid to study history, the possibilities are unlimited!

When I decided to organize a Pearl Harbor program with Bridge to History this year, Griffin was at the top of my list. I knew he had to visit the USS Missouri.

Today, he had the opportunity to tour the Mighty Mo, and it was a truly awesome experience. I am delighted to have witnessed Griffin and two other boys exploring the ship. It doesn’t take a lot to spark an interest in meaningful and valuable subject – merely a bit of attention and time, similar to the experience of building a Lego set.

12/07/2024

Day of Infamy.

Address

PO Box 700182
San Antonio, TX
78270

Website

http://OperationMeatball.com/

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