All he knew was darkness. The horrors of war had followed him home, and Marine Staff Sergeant Tre Tremillo was suffocating beneath layers of despair and anger. Images of death haunted him. His heart ached for fellow Marines still hospitalized with battle-related injuries. He mourned friends who had committed suicide. “I found myself sitting at…
Franklin Graham
Newsletter March 2024
Franklin Graham Update | March Franklin Graham Update | March Marching Ordersin the Army of the Lord Dear Friend, The Operation Heal Our Patriot reunion is always a powerful testimony of how our Lord is working in the lives and marriages of wounded veterans. This year, 700 couples joined us in Aurora, Colorado— our largest reunion ever. On the first night, Pastor Greg Laurie gave…
Discipleship, Education & Training
Operation Heal Our Patriots 2023 Special Report
2023 Special Report
Embracing Joy Again Together
Marine Sergeant Austin Dickinson and his wife, Cass, an Air Force Senior Airman, stood just out of reach of the thundering waterfall where they had hiked—from the boat to the remote pebbled shore of Alaska’s Lake Clark and up the trail lined with devil’s club to the cove where the water gushed from a high…
Discipleship, Education & Training
Military Couples Start Fresh During Alaska Adventure
Mike Woodard’s muscular frame stands six-foot-four. During his time as a soldier in the U.S. Army, there’s no doubt the enemy should and would have feared him in close quarters. He served bravely in a 2011-12 combat tour to Afghanistan, though it came at great cost. He got blown up three times—once each by a…
Hope for Wounded Lives and Marriages
As his unit rolled out on regular patrol that day, Army Specialist Marco Fernandez took his position in the mounted gun of a Stryker armored vehicle. They were transporting an officer to another base and then checking out Iraqi villages to look for potential threats. As Marco’s convoy sped past a town on that sunny…
Discipleship, Education & Training
Military Couples See Prayers Answered in Alaska
He was shivering so violently he could hardly stand still. The wind had suddenly picked up, the sun was nowhere in sight, and the air was noticeably chillier than it had been all week. Not even the crackling fire on the beach offered much warmth. But it didn’t matter. Army Sergeant First Class David Larson…
Discipleship, Education & Training
Never Left to Fight Alone
Nearly 500 military couples were encouraged to rely on Jesus Christ, to read and believe God’s Word, and to stay connected with fellow couples at the 2023 Operation Heal Our Patriots Reunion, April 28-30, in Orlando. The annual event kicked off Friday evening with an address from Samaritan’s Purse President Franklin Graham who invited attendees…
Our Ministry
Operation Heal Our Patriots 2022 Special Report
Hope for the Journey Dear Friend, The wounded veterans who participate in Operation Heal Our Patriots tell us some heartbreaking stories. After multiple combat deployments, many return home with post-traumatic stress disorder, traumatic brain injury, and other physical and emotional wounds. All of the couples who come to our Samaritan Lodge Alaska are in fragile…
Discipleship, Education & Training
God Answers Prayers to Save a Military Couple’s Marriage
Sean and Brandy Karpf’s teenage romance began one summer as they both worked the late shift at their local McDonald’s. They spent until the early hours of the morning breaking down equipment, cleaning, and closing the store. Some fleeting high school crushes are quickly forgotten, but this one lasted three years and culminated in an…
