Evan Williams Celebrates American-Made Heroes

Members of the military community are reluctant to call ourselves heroes—even when we’re recognized by commanding officers, family, friends, and our communities. We’re just doing our jobs. Others have given more. Too many have made the ultimate sacrifice.

But every hero deserves to tell their story—especially when that story can help others. This is the driving force behind Evan Williams’ American-Made Heroes program https://rly.pt/EvanWilliams.

Now in its third year, Evan Williams Bourbon invites anyone to nominate a military hero through their website. From the thousands of entries, they select six veterans who exemplify what it means to serve: not just as members of the Armed Forces, but as “hometown heroes” who volunteer in their communities. The winners are featured on their custom red, white, and blue American-Hero Edition bottles, which become available in May. Evan Williams also makes a donation to each veteran’s chosen charity.

Many of you are intimately familiar with some of these organizations and may have benefited from them firsthand. Perhaps you passed through one of the U.S.O.’s 200 international centers, which were visited over 7 million times last year. Michael Siegel and Michael Stinson, who each served more than 20 years in the Army and Navy, respectively, have both chosen local chapters to receive funds.

Siegel, who retired with the rank of Sergeant Major, tagged the U.S.O. Club at Fort Leonard Wood, where he currently works as Director of Columbia College and mentors fellow soldiers. Stinson, who served as a Chief Hospital Corpsman, selected the U.S.O. of Wisconsin. Today, he continues to serve his community as a police officer with the Milwaukee Harbor Patrol.

Amanda Runyon, also a former Corpsman, chose her local post of Veterans of Foreign Wars. First established in 1899, and today backed by 1.7 million members, the VFW supports legislative action and provides financial support to veterans and their families. Runyon now works as a registered nurse in her hometown school district. Her priorities align with those of fellow veteran and healthcare professional, Archie Cook, Jr.

Cook served seven years in the Air Force as a dentist, and today runs his own private practice in North Carolina. He provides free or discounted care to homeless and low-income veterans at his clinic and supports the mission of Veterans Empowering Veterans (VEV). VEV provides essential services—including food, shelter, job training, and substance abuse counseling—to over 800 veterans in the North Carolina area.
Finally, there are veterans like Tyler Crane and Chris Baity, who established their own organizations to address specific needs. Crane, a former Army Ranger, took up fishing after suffering career-ending injuries. He launched Veteran Excursions to Sea (VETS) as a way to promote “healing through reeling,” working with local guides to take veterans and their families on fishing charters.

Baity turned his passion for animal training into a charitable cause. Using the skills he learned as a working dog handler and kennel master with the Marines, he founded Semper K9 Assistance Dogs: training rescue dogs to help veterans cope with physical and psychiatric challenges, including PTSD. Since 2014, he has graduated more than thirty teams. Both Crane and Baity provide their services free-of-charge.

Whether through their own organizations, or by supporting existing ones, the 2018 Evan Williams American-Made Heroes do everything they can to improve the lives of active service members, veterans, and our communities. They represent the best of the Army, Navy, Air Force, and Marines, and we are proud to support them. Learn more about them at https://rly.pt/EvanWilliams, where you can also nominate your own inspiring hero.




U.S.O. (http://www.uso.org)

U.S.O. Club at Fort Leonard Wood (http://www.usomissouri.org/what-we-do/facilities/ft-leonard-wood/)

U.S.O. of Wisconsin (http://www.usowisconsin.org)

Veterans of Foreign Wars (http://www.vfw.org)

Veterans Empowering Veterans (http://www.veteransempoweringveterans.org)

Veteran Excursions to Sea (http://www.veteransempoweringveterans.org)

Semper K9 Assistance Dogs (http://www.semperk9.org)