Doug and Kim LaViolette featured on CW 14's Robert Hornacek show!

Robert Hornacek of CW 14 in Green Bay, Wisconsin approached Brian's Foundation to be featured on his Sunday morning show.

During the half hour interview program, Robert was very kind and we were able to reflect on Brian, as well as the growth of his Scholarship Foundation that honors 70% other people in addition to Brian. If you missed the original air date, you can view it in its entirety online here!

We do hope you take the time to check it out and share with others!

Special Opportunity in 2014

We have some very special news for 2014-a Sharing an American Story" European Cruise and Tour!

As you know, we established the General George S. Patton Scholarship of Honor in Plzen, Czech Republic. It is awarded during the Liberation Festival which every May celebrates the liberation of Plzen by General Patton and US Third Army in 1945.

And thanks to Foundation board member Bob Nueske and WLUK-Fox 11 News we brought you the documentary "Sharing an American Story" about Plzen's 2013 Liberation Festival, its citizens and Brian's Foundation. 

"Sharing an American Story" which premiered at our special event on 11.12.13, has inspired a very special idea-  the "Sharing an American Story" Cruise and Tour for Brian's Foundation members and World War II veterans, their families and friends to the 2014 Plzen Liberation Festival so that all can have the chance to experience the joyful reality of "Sharing an American Story". 

Join a wonderful community and heroic World War II veterans as guests of honor at the Plzen Liberation Festival. Be there when the General George S. Patton Scholarship of Honor is awarded. Plzen and its citizens will really appreciate our coming and make us feel so welcome. You will make new friends, get a unique insight into their way of life and truly understand how and why their American liberation in World War II is so important to them. 

On the way to Plzen, we have a wonderful six-day Danube river cruise visiting some of Europe's finest cities. Starting from Hungary's capital Budapest on April 27,we cruise via Slovakia's capital Bratislava to Austria's capital Vienna, through the World Heritage Wachau to medieval Regensburg in Germany. Then we disembark and drive via Hitler's Third Reich Nuremberg cross-country in the footsteps of Patton's Third Army over the Czech border to Plzen. After all the excitement of the 2014 Plzen Liberation Festival, we finally arrive in the beautiful historic Czech capital Prague, where we hope to have a Farewell Grand Reception with the US Ambassador on on May 7.

Our Danube cruise ship will be the upscale Austrian 'Amadeus Royal'. Go to www.amadeuscruises.com  and view the 'Amadeus Royal' in the "Fleet" section. The major US tour operator Gate 1 has chartered it, and you can see a good explanatory video on YouTube, called "The Gate 1 River Cruise Experience". This gives you a real feel for our cruise and features many of the places we will visit like Budapest, Bratislava, Vienna, Melk, the Wachau, Regensburg and Nuremberg. Most of the video features the cruise ship 'Amadeus Symphony'. But our 'Amadeus Royal' is exactly the same, just two years younger! 

Patrick Hinchy

We are fortunate to have Patrick Hinchy as our Tour Director. Multilingual Patrick has a master's degree from Oxford University and is one of the most experienced and expert guides of World War II veterans tours in Europe. He met Doug LaViolette and Bob Nueske at a previous Pilsen Liberation Festival and as a result became very interested in Brian's Foundation, admired what it had achieved and wanted to support it. 

As an expert Tour Director, Patrick offered to create, plan and organize this "Sharing an American Story" Cruise and Tour and to make a generous personal private donation to Brian's Foundation.

For more details and full itinerary, booking and payment details of the Brian LaViolette Foundation 'Sharing an American Story" Danube Cruise and Tour to Plzen Liberation Festival and Prague April 27-May8, 2014, go to MilSpec Tours  www.gomilspec.com. MilSpec Tours is a reputable, long established specialist veterans tour operator. Its CEO Butch Sincock is a decorated Vietnam veteran and Executive Director of the 25th Infantry Division Association. 

If you want to join our "Sharing an American Story" Cruise and Tour, please don't delay booking. Patrick cannot take more than 40 people but needs a minimum of 20 for it to take place. The earlier you book, the greater your choice of cabins on our cruise ship, the 'Amadeus Royal'. Finally, if you book during January, you will receive a $700 discount.  

Click here for Cruise Brochure and how you can join Milspec Tours on the once-in-a-lifetime trip!

Medal of Honor recipient, Sal Giunta on Brian's Foundation and the scholarship in his name

The Sal Giunta Scholarship of Honor is awarded annually at his alma mater, John F. Kennedy High School in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. The scholarship will honor the soldiers he tried to save, SGT Josh Brennan and SPC Hugo Mendoza. It will continue Sal’s legacy and allow SGT Brennan and SPC Mendoza's spirit to live on.

It had been over 40 years since a living Medal of Honor recipient was awarded our nation’s highest military honor. SSG Sal Giunta was the first living person to receive the United States Armed Froces' highest decoration for valor for actions that occurred after the Vietnam War.

You still have a chance to see 'Return to Pilsen!'

General Patton's Grandson, George Patton Waters the night of 11.12.13

Thanks to WLUK-FOX 11 in Green Bay, Wisconsin, we were able to share and premiere a very special documentary on our General George S. Patton Scholarship of Honor in Pilsen Czech Republic on 11.12.13.

The documentary also highlights the love the citizens of the Czech Republic have for Americans for helping liberate their country.  You won't want to miss it!

The film rebroadcast, commercial-free thanks to Amerprise Auto and Home Insurance on these dates:

December 14 – 5:00 PM

And on on CW14
Sunday, December 8:00 AM at 12 noon

You can also view it online here! http://www.fox11online.com/news/us-and-world/return-to-pilsen

What a night! 11.12.13

We knew the numerical day of 11.12.13 was a special one, but for Brian's Foundation it was amazing and memorable. We hope our 900 guests felt the same.

We packed a lot into one night, but thanks to dozens of folks behind the scenes and our amazing friend, board member and master of ceremonies, Darrel Burnett it was flawless.

As I sat next to Mom and Dad in the beautiful Meyer Theatre, I was in awe. I recognized many people from our community and also many people who I was seeing for the first time. The people around us laughed, they cried at touching moments and when they clapped I could feel their love and support with each sound.

Mayor Martin Baxa, Pilsen Czech Republic

We had many people who traveled to Green Bay, Wisconsin during the week of November 12th. For some it was their first time in the United States! The Mayor of Pilsen in the Czech Republic, Martin Baxa arrived at the very, very quiet Green Bay Airport on a Saturday night beaming, "This is my first time in the U.S." 

My first reaction to Mayor Baxa's comment was, "oh and it is winter weather here in Green Bay already" but we couldn't have been happier. Most of you know I live in North Carolina and when I travel back to Wisconsin, I am reminded of the kindness, the friendless and the warmth of the area...it is the heartland of America.

FOX 11's Mark Leland in Pilsenthis past May

Mayor Baxa gave a heartfelt speech that night (In English!). It was very powerful and energized the audience. We will share his special speech and the entire evening with you when we receive the recording from the event. It was incredibly moving. 

One of the reasons for their visit was for the premiere viewing a documentary done by WLUK FOX 11 on Pilsen's liberation festival, their love for Americans and our Scholarship there. 

Another special moment was having our first Brian LaViolette Scholarship recipient in town from South Carolina. He is no stranger to the cold weather, since he grew up here and was actually friends with Brian. Thanks to a board member's donation of air miles he could join us! 

We loved having him with us and know the audience was happy to see our first recipient... 20 years later. 

 And there was MAGIC! Justin Flom was astounding and performed many tricks, including an interactive card trick with the audience. As you know there are 52 cards in a deck and we have 52 scholarships presented annually. The audiences' costume deck featured one of our scholarships on each card! 

Look at my face as he performed this one...ha ha,but seriously how did he do that?!  

The Green Bay Preble Chamber Choir performed beautifully. Several soloists were also past scholarship recipients! Green Bay Preble Chamber Choir We had many more impactful speeches and touching moments on 11.12.13, including that our 'foundation family' has grown even more. 

 *All these beautiful photos (except the one of Mark Leland) are by friend and board member, Kim Klein Photography