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Veteran Supporter of the Year:
– by Kiersten Gunsberg
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Photos by Karen S Lueck at amomentcaptured.net
Veteran Supporter of the Year: Coach Tim Wooer
Marine Sgt. Justin Hansen was only 26 when he was killed in action while pursuing a high-value target on July 24th, 2012. Though the encounter was fatal, Justin’s last mission proved to be integral to taking down a bomb-maker who was responsible for many U.S. casualties in Afghanistan. A member of the Second Marine Special Operations Battalion, Special Operations Command serving overseas, Sgt. Hansen had told his loved ones that if he were to give his life while serving his country, he wanted his former football coach, Tim Wooer, to give his eulogy. So, on a sweltering August afternoon, Tim stood before all those who loved Justin and did just that in the gymnasium where he’d once mentored the fallen soldier.
Sgt. Justin Hansen Justin’s mother, Vickie Hays, knew the Kingsley Stag’s football coach and his family growing up. A few years older than him, she recalls his parents, who were also educators at Kingsley High. Tim’s Dad was a biology teacher while his mom served as a substitute within the school system. Tim has a brother with special needs and grew up always involved in Dean’s care. Tim took a hands-on role with his brother’s care right alongside his parents. Having grown up in a strong family value system, Tim proved to be dedicated to helping, being a supporter of those in need, and inspiring others to be the best version of themselves. “Tim is an awesome leader because he is all in. He does not sugar coat anything and expects the same level of dedication and commitment from himself that he asks for from his team,” Vickie shared. Teaching a commitment to “others first” has inspired Tim to require community service hours from his football players. Many do the “Justin Road Clean Up” in honor of Vickie’s fallen son and players volunteer at Tim’s family nonprofit, Rainbow of Hope Farm, they began several years back.
Vickie remembers, “Justin loved football. He was pretty competitive.” Justin was in his freshman year when Tim came to Kingsley to take charge of their football program. Tim brought new life and a serious level of dedication to the whole program he was now in charge of and had played in himself during high school. Justin and his core group of friends/players were inspired by the passion Tim brought. Justin spent the entire rest of his schooling focusing his activities around football and his team. He wrestled, ran track, and was a powerlifter, but it was all about football and helping him be the best he could be for Coach Wooer and his team.
Vickie said she watched as Tim grew over the years into an impactful leader who leads by example and saw that culminate in a longterm role when he became her son’s coach. Over the years, Justin and Coach Wooer took turns inspiring each other, beginning with Tim creating a football program that engaged players from elementary straight through high school, “Justin was really all on board,” says Vickie, “Because Tim was affirming what Justin believed all along, that this could be an amazing football program.”
Indeed, Justin’s dedication to the game seemed like it would carry on past graduation and into college, but when the time came, in 2003, the United States was at war in Iraq and Justin told his mother that he couldn’t “just step back and watch people die and [not] be part of the solution.” Though he went thousands and thousands of miles from where Coach Wooer taught him to be a team player, Justin put those lessons into practice in Afghanistan right up until his last mission. Having served to start in Reconnaissance and then being promoted to a MARSOC (Marine Corps Special Operations Command) Raider role, Justin found himself embedded with the Afghan locals handling special operation missions.
Justin was killed in action in Afghanistan when, after receiving intel that a high-value target was close by, his team pursued the target in hopes of apprehending or eliminating him. During the pursuit, Justin was shot by the insurgent. This man was a dwarf, so the angle of the shot went in under Justin’s protective gear. Amazingly, Justin was able to deliver a fatal shot back and take this enemy down before he died. This was a great feat as this particular target had been very difficult to hunt due to his size. He had evaded capture and elimination by posing as a child, boy or girl. While Justin lost his life in the operation, he had played an integral part in taking down this guy who had long evaded their attempts to capture or kill him.
The season following Justin’s death, Tim was coaching at West Senior High in Traverse City where he was inspired by his friendship with the football player turned hero to create The Patriot Game. Since 2012, the event is a yearly tradition of bringing together West’s Titans, and their opposers, Central High’s Trojans, to a pre-game assembly to commemorate those who serve/served their nation. It features special speakers and, as the Gold Star Mother puts it, “cultivates peace between the players who normally harbor a lot of rivalry towards one another before their usual games.” Together, the teams must put aside their differences and decide jointly which nonprofit to donate the proceeds to that were raised during the event. This past year the high-schoolers chose Veterans in Crisis, Inc. - a foundation that provides immediate aid to veterans facing financial emergencies across northern Michigan.
For Tim, coaching isn’t just about drilling his players on how to win a game, it’s about instilling the importance of looking out for others both on and off the field. It’s those values that he passed on to a teenage Justin that ultimately saved countless American lives. It is our honor to name Coach Wooer, Veteran Supporter of the Year. (Pictured above is Coach Wooer with Justin's Dad.)
