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Email Me To Leave A Message For Melissa
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Hi Melissa!
Wow! What an amazing story! You’re outlook , strength, and determination truly inspire! I want to wish you the best of luck in your upcoming race, you are such an inspiration! I will be rooting for you, be sure to let me know how it goes! Thank you for being a true American Hero Melissa.
With much love,
Amanda Beard
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Melissa,
You are an inspiration to all of us! Thanks for showing us how to continue when adversity strikes - a good attitude and faith to support that positive outlook will keep you from falling into that terrible place called self-pity. I pray that you will never fall into that trap and continue to be a great role model.
GO ARMY!
Laurel McMahon
Mother of WP Graduate
Class of 2008
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Hi Melissa,
Thank you for your service to America! God Bless You!
With Gratitude, Ann Pierce
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May God Bless you in all you endeavor. Thank you for your service to our country. YOU and all your brothers and sisters who serve are in our prayers…
Love, The Johnson Family
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I first met you at walter reed when i was injured in 2005 you were an inspiration to me then and you still are congrats on the olympics
Thank you for everything. Robert Bonner
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Thinking of you as you are competing.
I know that this has been a long road.
They say that the journey is the prize.
My thoughts are with you that you fully enjoy the ride down this road.
With much pride and appreciation.
Jon Levin
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GOOD LUCK!!! You deserve more accolades and praise than Michael Phelps.
Thank you for serving our country!
Valerie Cooper
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Go Melissa, Go!
We are all rooting for you and are inspired by your strong will. You are an inspiration to all of us and especially to the young girls. I will bring this story to my 4th grade classroom in Indiana, and remind them about people like you when we say The Pledge of Allegiance.
Meg Basker, Mishawaka, IN USA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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Dear Melissa,
I just want to send to you my prayers and cheers. You are just an amazing person as well as an athlete with endless energy. I wish I was there in Beijing where I once lived 20 years ago. It is a new city in a new country and finally they have you there to show them what victory means. Stay in touch and no matter what happens in the race you have already won.
Love, Bob Woodruff
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Go USA! Thank you for the sacrifice you made to defend our country and the spirit of the USA!!! We’re proud of you and wish you not only a gold medal moment in Beijing but a gold medal existence here at home! Good luck Melissa!
Jodi Sweatland
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Melissa,
Good Luck and God bless. You are an inspiration for us all.
The Anderson Family
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Melissa,
We are all rooting for you. Good luck and our prayers are with you.
Kevin Cooper
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Melissa,
You are the heart of America!
Ellen Lewitt
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Dear Melissa,
You are an inspiration and I wish you the best of luck in your competition.
Alex Lerner
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Melissa,
I thought Michael Phelps was doing extraordinary things in the water-he has nothing on you! Best of luck in Beijing.
You are awesome.
Frances
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Dear Melissa,
First of all thank you for your service to our country.
Best wishes to you in the Olympic games. I don’t watch the games because my daughter was serving in the war one year during the Olympics, and they kept calling the athletes “American Heroes”. I found that a bit unsettling, and haven’t watched since. But with you there now , I think I will resume watching by starting with you. I’m a military Mom who has had three children serve in the military, and a son in law. My son in law is still serving proudly. I take my hat off to all of you who put their lives on hold to keep us free. Thanks again so much. For who you are, what you do, and for the real inspiration you are to my children.
God Bless You,
Susan Bell
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We are all watching and knowing that you are proudly swimming for gold for the USA!!! Swim hard…
Diane and Roger, Temecula, Ca
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Melissa,
You bring so much inspiration to me. I want to wish you the best of everything, not just next week, but always. Your the best! Go Girl!!
Bonnie H. Las Vegas, NV
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Hello Melissa!
You are truly an inspiration and a great model to many of us around the world! I wish you the best of luck in getting your Gold medal. You deserve it! God Bless You!
Sincerely, Carmenza U. Gonzalez, Orlando, Florida
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GOOD LUCK MELISSA!!! I WILL BE CHEERING FOR YOU!
YOU ARE A TRUE HERO AND WE ARE ALREADY PROUD OF YOU!
SUMMER SANDERS ‘92 OLYMPIC GOLD
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WE ARE PROUD OF YOU! Thank you for serving our country and God Bless You as you compete for your gold medal in China. Our thoughts and prayers are with you thanks for what you do….The Scotts
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Go Melissa Go, I know you can do it. I’m so proud & glad to see you young women really doing it for the USA. We will always owe you & all the others from Iraq a real debt of gratitude as you are super Americans
An old soldier salutes you.
H. A. Cooper LTC USA Ret. Korea & Vietnam
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Go for the Gold! Keep pursuing your dreams!
-Aaron & Joyce Rosenbery
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Melissa,
Thank You so very much for protecting me and my family from harm. God has Truly Blessed us with Hero’s like you who know Freedom isn’t Free and is worth fighting for. i wish you all the Love, Luck, Courage, Faith, Hope and Freedom you so deserve in your life.
GOD BLESS YOU !!!!
Sherry Helm
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Hey Melissa,
I am so proud of you and all you are doing! Praying that you will perform to the best of your ability during the Games. Thanks for working so hard and inspiring so many.
God bless, CH (LTC) John Morris MN ARNG
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Melissa….you go girl! We are proud of you on so many levels and we consider you a medal winner already.
Thank you for all that you have done, gone through, sacrificed….and for all that you continue to do. GO FOR THE GOLD!!
Sincerely, Heidi and Trent Witthoeft, Charlotte, NC
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Melissa,
I wish you all the luck and am proud of you. My husband is in the Air Force and spent time in Kuwait and Saudi Arabi…you make us both proud.
:) Heather Oates
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Hey Melissa!
Hope you ROCK in Beijing and show everyone what a real American Hero is made of! You make all of us so very proud!
I personally want you to know that I am humbled by your willingness to serve and sacrifice for our country! Your strength and unflagging spirit are inspiring beyond my wildest imagination!!
I’ll be praying for you as you journey to China for the ParaPlympics! Best wishes for great sucess in Beijing!
Dot Furbay, Nazareth, PA
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Dear Melissa,
As a former Marine Corps 1st Lt. I salute you and wish you success in the Paralympics. As an above the knee amputee who also lost his left leg in Vietnam when I was 23 I know what you have gone through and am very proud of what you have accomplished. Stay strong , keep the faith and bring us home a medal!
Semper Fi, Jim Bligh
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Wishing you all the luck in the Olympics! We are proud you represent us in America!! Thank you, Melissa!!
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Thank you Melissa. Thank you for letting me tell your story. For making me a better person in the process and inspiring me at times when I needed inspiration. You have taught me so much, not through words as much as through the sense of happiness and possibility with which you approach life. You are one of the most decent and most genuine people I’ve ever met. I hope you have a magical time in Beijing and swim the races you want to swim. No matter the result, you’ve have for certain already won. Go USA!!!!
- Patrick Gray, New York, NY
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Thanks for everything you did, I’ve been in your shoes as a fellow Iraqi Freedom veteran but luckily I made it home safely. I can’t even begin to think how this has changed your life, I’m so proud that you’re representing the USA in the Olympics. GOOD LUCK, GODSPEED, and thanks for your sacrifice for this great country!
- A grateful fellow veteran, North Texas.
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You go girl!!!!! It would be tough to make America even more proud of you, but go for it!!! Best of luck!!!
- Courtney Caricato, Marine wife
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I have purchased some shirts from this site before not only for fashion but the simple fact that some of the money goes to those who fight for us to have the freedom to make a living in the first place. Melissa is a true inspiration to not only me but my whole family and we would like to congratulate her on her chance of a lifetime and also thank her for the courage she displayed then when joining the fight on terrorism and now by never giving up. Thanks for being an all around hero and never giving up on life, GOOD LUCK MELISSA AND GO TEAM USA!!!!
- Aaron Williams
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As I read the email and saw your picture as you dove into the water - it brought back memories of my own husband who died 7 years of diabetes/complications and who was a double amputee. He too was “full of life” and didn’t let anything stop him.
I am saying a special prayer for you today and I am sure that many prayers have already been lifted up to our Lord. We are very proud of you and most of all, your accomplishments. Keep up the good work, as your spirit shines within you and know that you are touching lives as I write this.
May God continue to bless you and yours.
- Irene Salazar - Houston, Texas
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Way to go!! We will all be cheering for you. Thank you for all you have sacrificed for our freedom.
- Debbie Filson
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Good luck!!!
- Donnie Ethier - Freeport, NY
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We are all behind you in our family! We wish you the best in the para-olympics!!! You are what makes America! We are so proud of you and all that you do and have done. We are free because of brave soldiers like you!
All the Best, The Barthelme Family - Carmel, IN - USA USA USA!
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I am a critical care nurse and if I would have had an IV that contained 1/10th of your determination, positive attitude, and strength, many of my patients would have benefited from that drug.
You are indeed a wonderful role model for America. God Bless you and guide you to achieve all your dreams. But more than that, thank you for your sacrifice. It is an unpopular war but Americans do acknowledge the personal sacrifices our armed forces are making.
- Jane Martinez - Oshkosh, WI
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Thank you for all you do for our great country. We wish you the best of luck and will be cheering for you from Colorado Springs!!! Go Team USA!
We will keep you in our thoughts and prayers.
- Kim and Matt King (three time Paralympian, tandem cycling)
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I said a prayer for you. I am very proud of you! Have a great day. YOU GO GIRL!
- Denette Dixon, Camp Vision
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Stronger tells the story of Melissa Stockwell and it is the most inspiring story TakePride has ever told.
It starts on a hot day in April of 2004 on a desolate stretch of road near Baghdad. Melissa was 23 and living her dream – wearing the uniform of the United States and doing her part to make the world a better place. She was leading a transport convoy through the city. Somewhere off in the desert men hit a button…click….boom. The sound was deafening. A roadside bomb tore through her Humvee. When the smoke cleared, Melissa saw blood and realized it had also torn through her…‘I think I’m hurt.’ Melissa had become the first American female amputee of the war.
The story culminates in Summer of 2008 when Melissa will again board a plane and fly thousands of miles to proudly wear the uniform of the United States. Melissa is going to Beijing. She has the distinction of a happier first: she was the first Iraq War veteran, male or female, to qualify for the Paralympics. She is getting to live another dream.
Through her own words, Stronger tells her story from Baghdad to Beijing. In just four short years she has:
In reflecting on her injury Melissa says “I’m glad it was me and not someone else. As to the Paralympics, she hopes that her efforts will motivate other disabled veterans. “I’ve done more with one leg than I ever did with two. I have bigger dreams. I don’t know if things are meant to happen, but I’m very happy.”
The men in the desert who hit that button in the hopes of killing Americans, did succeed in ending Melissa’s Army dream, but in the white hot flash that took her leg, so many other dreams were born. Those men hiding alongside that Baghdad highway must have smiled thinking that they had destroyed an American life. What they didn’t realize, nor could they ever understand, was that they only made Melissa Stockwell Stronger.
We are going to give a higher percentage of revenue from Melissa’s shirt and to the Wounded Warrior Project. Please help us make Melissa’s story known far and wide. People should know her story and through telling it, we help to raise tens of thousands of dollars for other wounded warriors. To give directly to Wounded Warrior Project, please go to their website here.
Please Write A Message To Melissa On Her Fan Board!!
Below are links to stories and interviews featuring Melissa as well as the text that is printed on the Stronger t-shirt and Stronger Athletic Bag.
LINKS [this list is not exhaustive. For additional stories about Melissa Google “Melissa Stockwell”]
Please Write A Message To Melissa On Her Fan Board!!
Check out p. 21 in the July 2008 issue of Entrepreneur Magazine. It already hit newstands in NYC and should be out already or coming out in the next few days everywhere else. Click the banner above to check out the full article.
Thanks to Tcritic.com for posting about TakePride and our latest shirt; a boy, a bear & a soldier. Check it out.
We received an awesome email a few months back from Scott Godbey, a supporter and former member of the 10 Mountain Division. Scott wrote to let us know that he was getting the TakePride logo tattooed on his arm. A week or two after that email he sent us another one with photos showing us that he did infact go ahead and get it done. Your the man Scott. Check it out.
Scott reccomended American Bodyworks in Springfield, MO.
