Leading Americans Serve with Mission Serve for Veterans Day 2011
Social Media
Dwayne Johnson, known by his ring name The Rock, is an American actor and professional wrestler in the WWE - the first third-generation superstar in the company's history. In 2006, Johnson began "The Dwayne Johnson Rock Foundation", which is known for its charitable work with at-risk and terminally ill children. Johnson's first leading role as an actor was in The Scorpion King in 2002. He has since appeared in several blockbuster movies such as The Rundown, Be Cool, Walking Tall, Gridiron Gang, The Game Plan, Get Smart, Race to Witch Mountain, Planet 51, Tooth Fairy, Doom, Why Did I Get Married Too?, The Other Guys, Faster, and most recently Fast Five starring opposite Vin Diesel and Paul Walker.
Miley Cyrus is an American actress and pop singer/songwriter. She achieved wide fame for her role as Miley Stewart/Hannah Montana on the Disney Channel sitcom Hannah Montana. With the success of the Hannah Montana franchise she established herself as a teen idol. She has released several successful albums and starred in the 2010 film Last Song. Cyrus ranked number thirteen on Forbes' 2010 Celebrity 100.
New York
Joe Girardi is a former Major League Baseball catcher and current manager of the New York Yankees. During a 15-year playing career has he played for the Chicago Cubs, the Colorado Rockies, the New York Yankees, and St. Louis Cardinals. He also previously managed the Florida Marlins in 2006, where he was named National League Manager of the Year. Before managing the Yankees, Joe worked for the YES network as a sports commentator and won an Emmy Award for hosting the network's Yankees on Deck series.
Major General Melvin Spiese was commissioned via the NROTC program after receiving a Bachelor of Science degree in Civil Engineering from the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign. Following his tour at Headquarters, he attended Marine Corps Command and Staff College, graduating in May of 1990. After graduation, he was transferred to Marine Corps Air Station, Iwakuni Japan and assigned to Marine Aircraft Group 12 as the Assistant Operations Officer and Ground Combat Liaison. In March of 2005, Brigadier General Spiese assumed the duties of Commanding General Training Command, Deputy Commanding General Training and Education Command. Melvin G. Spiese was selected for Brigadier General in February 2005. He served as the Deputy Director for Strategy, Policy and Assessments, U.S. European Command from October 2005. He served as Commanding General of Marine Air Ground Task Force. His current assignment, as of September 2010, is Deputy Commanding General, I Marine Expeditionary Force, and Commanding General, I Marine Expeditionary Brigade.
Marie Tillman is the Founder and Chair of the Pat Tillman Foundation. A native of San Jose, California, Marie graduated with honors from the University of California, Santa Barbara. After her husband's death, Marie established the Pat Tillman Foundation in 2004, created to honor Pat by investing in veterans and military families through educational resources, building a new community of veteran scholars and advocating on behalf of military families.
John Tien recently joined Citigroup as a managing director in their Global Operations and Technology organization. Prior to joining Citigroup, as an active duty U.S. Army colonel, he served as President Obama’s Senior Director on the National Security Council staff overseeing all policy related to Afghanistan and Pakistan. He also served in the Bush Administration as a Director for Iraq policy and in the Clinton Administration as a White House Fellow in the Office of the United States Trade Representative.
Washington DC
Senator Lisa Murkowski is the first Alaskan-born Senator and only the sixth United States Senator to serve the state. The state’s senior senator, Lisa Murkowski is a third-generation Alaskan, born in Ketchikan and raised in towns across the state: Wrangell, Juneau, Fairbanks and Anchorage. Since joining the Senate in 2002, Senator Murkowski has been a strong advocate for Alaska on the important issues facing the state, including energy, health care, education, military/veterans’ affairs and infrastructure development. Only the 33rd female to serve in the United States Senate since its founding in 1789, Senator Murkowski has assumed leadership roles quickly. She is the senior Republican member of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee and also serves on the Senate Appropriations Committee, where she is the ranking Republican of the Interior and Environment Subcommittee. Senator Murkowski is a member of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee – the first Alaskan to serve on that panel – and also is a senior member of the Senate Indian Affairs Committee.
General Stanley McChrystal is a retired four-star general in the United States Army. His last assignment was as Commander, International Security Assistance Force and Commander, U.S. Forces Afghanistan. He previously served as Director, Joint Staff from August 2008 to June 2009 and as Commander, Joint Special Operations Command from 2003 to 2008, where he was credited with the death of Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, leader of Al-Qaeda in Iraq.
Deputy Assistant Secretary Robert Gordon, III, a member of the Senior Executive Service, is assigned to the Office of the Secretary of Defense, serving as the Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Military Community and Family Policy. Mr. Gordon is responsible for policy, advocacy, and oversight of all community support to service members and families. Included within the purview of his office is advocacy for quality education for all military students and defense-wide policy responsibility for the Department of Defense Education Activity. His oversight includes the Armed Forces Retirement Home, casualty and mortuary affairs, and military funeral honors.
John Gomperts serves as Director of AmeriCorps at the Corporation for National and Community Service. Mr. Gomperts has extensive experience as a senior leader in government and the nonprofit sector. He is a leader in the national service movement for more than a decade. He served as Chief Operating Officer the Public Education Network in Washington, DC. He served as Chief of Staff for National Service, which administers AmeriCorps, Senior Corps and all other domestic volunteer service programs. He also was an adjunct professor at Georgetown University Law School. Mr. Gomperts serves as Director of CityCares and ImpactOnline Inc. He is currently a national board member of VolunteerMatch and Hands On Network. Mr. Gomperts clerked for a federal judge, practiced law at a major law firm, and worked for a leading civil liberties organization. Mr. Gomperts held key policy positions, first as Sen. Harris Wofford's (D-PA) legislative director and then as deputy director of the Senate's Democratic Policy Committee.
Koby Langley is the senior adviser for strategic planning and outreach in the Office of Wounded Warrior Care and Transition Policy. In that role, he is responsible for the development of strategic plans and outreach related to wounded, ill, injured and transitioning Service members. Langley in the creator, editor, and principal contributor to the award winning blog www.warriorcare.mil and has published op‐eds for Military.com and The History Channel, and has conducted interviews for Rueters, MSNBC, NPR outlets, the Army Times, Fox News, and various local news outlets.
Honolulu
Gabrielle Reece is a professional volleyball player, fashion model, and actress. She became the first female athlete to create a shoe for Nike in 1994 and was Nike’s first-ever female cross-training spokesperson (1993-99). As a professional volleyball player, she was a member of the team that won the first-ever Beach Volleyball World Championships in 1997, and has recently returned to professional beach volleyball's AVP tour as captain of Team Nike. She has appeared on the cover of Sports Illustrated for Women, Travel & Leisure Golf, Women's Sports & Fitness, Outside, Elle, Shape, Self, Harpers' Bazaar, Volleyball and Fitness magazines. Gabby is currently the creator and host of The HoneyLine, a fast-paced, magazine-style broadcast that delivers realistic solutions to women’s questions concerning style, health & fitness, relationship challenges in the home, food and the environment.
Alex O'Loughlin is currently starring in CBS's Hawaii Five-0 as Lieutenant Commander Steve McGarrett. His best known earlier roles include Kevin Hiatt in The Shield, Mick St. John in Moonlight, Dr. Andy Yablonski in Three Rivers on television, and on the big screen opposite Jennifer Lopez in The Back-up Plan. Before coming to America, O'Loughlin appeared on television and film in his native Australia where he received a nomination as the "Best Lead Actor in Television" from the Australian Film Institute Awards in 2005 and as "Most Outstanding Actor in a Drama Series" from the Logie Awards in 2006 for The Incredible Journey of Mary Bryant mini-series. He is the current ambassador for Donate Life America.
Scott Caan is an American actor, director, and writer. He stars in the CBS television series Hawaii Five-0, for which he was nominated for a Golden Globe award. Caan also appears in the feature film trilogy Ocean's Eleven, Ocean's Twelve, and Ocean's Thirteen. Caan plays Detective Danny Williams in Hawaii Five-0. In 2011 he was nominated for a Golden Globe Award for "Best Supporting Actor – Series, Miniseries or Television Film" for this performance. In addition to acting, Caan has also pursued a career in photography. In 2003, Caan made his directorial debut with the film Dallas 362, which won a prize at the 2003 Las Vegas Film Festival.
Daniel Dae Kim is a Korean American actor, best known for his roles as Jin-Soo Kwon in Lost and Chin Ho Kelly in Hawaii Five-0. Prior to his casting as Jin in Lost, he was best known for numerous recurring roles in the genres of science fiction and fantasy. He has been seen in CSI: Crime Scene Investigation as a treasury agent, as well as episodes of Angel, 24, Star Trek: Voyager, Star Trek: Enterprise, Crusade, Charmed, The Shield, Seinfeld, NYPD Blue, ER, and The Andromeda Strain. His film credits include Spider-Man 2 and Crash, the 2005 Best Picture Academy Award winner. Kim was also named one of People Magazine's "Sexiest Men Alive" in 2005.
Masi Oka is a Japanese-American actor and digital effects artist. He has performed in numerous feature films and TV series, most prominently as Hiro Nakamura in the NBC TV series Heroes from 2006 until its cancellation in May 2010. His portrayal of the role earned him a Golden Globe Award nomination that year in the "Best Supporting Actor on a TV Series" category and an Emmy Award nomination for "Best Supporting Actor in a Drama Series", the only actor on Heroes to be nominated for both awards. Oka plays the American-born coroner Max Bergman in CBS' Hawaii Five-0 reboot. In addition to his work on the show, he continues to work at ILM up to three days a week as a Research and Development Technical Director, writing programs that create special effects. His special effects credits include work on all three Star Wars prequels and Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest.
Grace Park is an American-born Canadian actress. She gained recognition as Sharon Valerii on the critically acclaimed television series Battlestar Galactica, as well as Shannon Ng in the Canadian television series teen soap Edgemont, The Immortal, Jake 2.0, and Stargate SG-1. In 2008, she had co-starring roles in the A&E series The Cleaner and the CBC series The Border. Park currently plays Detective Kona Kalakaua in CBS' remake of Hawaii Five-0. In addition to her film and television work, Park has expanded her range in the stage productions of The Boys Next Door, as Sheila and West 32nd, as Lila Li.
Los Angeles
Brandon Routh is an American actor and former fashion model. He has appeared on multiple television series throughout the early 2000s. In 2006, he gained greater recognition for his role as the titular hero of the 2006 film Superman Returns. Following this, he has had several supporting roles in film including Life is Hot in Cracktown, the independent drama Fling co-starring his wife Courtney Ford, and Todd Ingram's Scott Pilgrim vs. the World. On television, Brandon was a recurring character on Chuck. Most recently, he portrayed the eponymous protagonist of comic book film Dylan Dog: Dead of Night.
Megan Fox is an American actress and model. She began her acting career in 2001 with several television and film roles, and played a regular role on Hope & Faith. In 2004, she launched her film career with a role in Confessions of a Teenage Drama Queen. In 2007, she was cast as Mikaela Banes, the love interest of Shia LaBeouf's character, in the blockbuster film Transformers which became her breakout role. Fox reprised her role in the 2009 sequel Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen. Later in 2009, she starred as the titular lead character in the film Jennifer's Body. Fox appeared with Dominic Monaghan in the music video for Eminem and Rihanna's single "Love the Way You Lie".
Tampa
Representative Gus M. Bilirakis was first elected to Congress on November 7, 2006, to represent Florida’s Ninth Congressional District. He is currently serving his third term in the United States House of Representatives. Gus currently serves on the Committees on Homeland Security, Veterans’ Affairs and Foreign Affairs. He has also been named Vice Chairman of the Veteran’s Affairs Committee, where he will advocate for veterans and oversee the Department of Veterans Affairs. Additionally, Gus is Chair of the Veterans’ Affairs Task Force for the Republican Policy Committee, and is Co-Chairman of the Military Veterans Caucus.
Command Sergeant Major Frank Grippe entered the United States Army in April 1981, where he trained as a light infantryman and graduated from Airborne School at Fort Benning, Georgia. Before being assigned as the Command Sergeant Major of I Corps and Joint Base Lewis-McChord, Washington in August-December 2007, he held a number of duties and organizations. He has recently served as the Multi-National Corps-Iraq Command Sergeant Major from March 2009 to March 2010. CSM Grippe is presently the Command Senior Enlisted Leader for the United States Central Command located at MacDill AFB, Florida.
San Diego
William Venable is a Major League baseball right fielder for the San Diego Padres. In the 2005 Major League Baseball Draft, he was selected by the Padres in the seventh round. He is the son of former Major League outfielder Max Venable as well as the older brother of former Boise State safety and 2010 Fiesta Bowl champion Winston Venable. He also played basketball for Princeton University, as well as San Rafael High School. He is the twenty-fifth Princeton alumnus to play in the Major Leagues and the first African-American alumnus. He was the second athlete to earn first-team All-Ivy League honors in both baseball and basketball.
