“If Not Me, Then Who…?” - 1st LT Travis Manion, USMC, KIA 29 APRIL 2007
By Kenneth Reige The Travis Manion Foundation is an organization which was established as a memorial fund, and has taken off by leaps and bounds. They travel the globe helping communities and families deal with the loss of a service member. For more information on the Travis Manion Foundation and to find out how you can help, please visit www. travismanion.org.
of what we are doing here at the Comfort Suites. It was the last night the group was here and we were hosting a cookout in their honor. All were sharing wonderful stories, and tears of laughter and sorrow, when one of the Gold Star Wives asked if she could speak with me. She began to tell me the story of her husband, Chief Warrant Officer Bryan J. Nichols, and how he was KIA (Killed In Action) on 6 August 2011. This touching story she was now sharing with me included an event that had happened at the Comfort Suites. She stated that first she doesn’t want me to think she is crazy, but her husband had come to her, not in a dream, but was there with her. He reached out his hand to her and stated that he knows she will always love him, but she was too young to be alone and he needed her to move on with her life. She then produced a dog tag that she had made in his honor that she had worn every day since his funeral. She stated that if it were
Let’s look more into the statement that Manion made that has become this organizations motto: “If Not Me, Then Who…?” This is a very powerful statement and those who wear or have worn the uniform of our country understand its meaning. We “get it” and gladly accept the challenges that come with taking an “oath” to protect and defend our way of life. We are also called “The Elite 1%” and know that freedom comes with a cost, and that cost sometimes includes Travis Manion Foundation and would be traveling to Gallup, NM. We told her that making the ultimate sacrifice for others. we were from Gallup, which caught her by complete surprise. Later that week we (The To me, this is what Travis meant by, “If Comfort Suites) hosted a cookout for their Not Me, Then Who…?” As a Marine Officer entire group and found out a little more about in a combat unit, he knew the dangers and Travis Manion and the foundation that was volunteered to go into harm’s way, and as a created in his honor. result, laid down his own life to protect his fellow Marines and to help us live under the Fast forward to 2017 when the Travis blanket of freedom and to make something Manion Foundation returned to Gallup. It was real and good of our lives. during that visit that I became fully aware of the power of this organization and the power So, who/what is the Travis Manion Foundation and how did they come about visiting Gallup, NM? About four years ago as I was traveling with Hershey back to Gallup, we encountered Ms. Cindy Dietz who was wearing a t-shirt with the name “The Travis Manion Foundation.” I was curious, so we struck up a conversation and she told me about her son Danny Dietz. Danny Gold Star Memorial at the Comfort Suites, was a Navy Seal who made the ultimate honoring Specialist Lori Piestewa who made sacrifice during what was called “Operation the ultimate sacrifice for our freedom on 23 Red Wings.” Also fellow Navy Seal Lt. March 2003. Michael Murphy made the ultimate sacrifice during this intense battle. Lt. Murphy would not for the Travis Manion Foundation, she (posthumously) receive our nations highest would never have been able to move on in award for valor, The Medal of Honor. life. The next morning as she was leaving, There was a book and movie that was made I accompanied her to our Battle Field Cross regarding Operation Red Wings called, “The where she placed that same dog tag of Chief Lone Survivor.” The Dog Tag of Chief Warrant Officer Bryan Warrant Officer Bryan J. Nichols; a memory J. Nichols and others which are proudly on Upon our arrival at the airport, Ms. Dietz display on the Battle Field Cross at the Comfort here for all to see. told us she was meeting with the rest of the Suites in Gallup. 32 June 2019
