These photographs were taken at the dinner remembering the 5 years of providing this service to the newly injured troops. We invited some of the past patients to join some of the newly injured patients and some distinguished guests at this special dinner held at the Capitol Hill Club on October 17, 2008. This is a wonderful club that has been allowing us to hold our Friday dinner there once a month for the past few years. We want to thank the distinguished guests that attended to honor the service of these wonderful people that were/are patients at Walter Reed and National Naval Medical Center.

We were joined by: Secretary of the Army – The Honorable Peter Geren, Chief of Staff of the USAF – General Norton Schwartz, Senior Military Advisor to the Deputy Secretary of Defense – BG James Hyatt, Ambassador from Italy – Mr. Giovanni Castellaneta, Executive Director of the American Legion – Mr. John F. Sommer, Executive Director of Rolling Thunder – Mr. Walter Sides, The infamous Doonesbury Cartoonist – Mr. Garry Trudeau, President of Finmecannica – Dr. Steve Bryen, Special Project Director for JINSA – Ms. Shoshana Bryen, President of the Blinded Veterans of America Foundation – Mr. John Fales (alias Sgt. Shaft), Former Deputy Secretary of Defense – The Honorable Dr. Paul Wolfowitz, The Phelps Family – Brian and Tracy with sons Carl and Eric.

The Aleethia Foundation supports recently injured troops in their rehabilitation upon returning home. We are a small non profit dedicated to helping the newly injured troops. We are just a few people, all volunteers, trying to aid in the initial phase of recovery. We do this by providing dinners, short term recreation outings and small grants. We have been doing dinners every Friday night since October of 2003. We occasionally take pictures and post them on our website. The dinners are paid for by contributions from individuals and a few from corporations. Your support for the troops is greatly appreciated.

"Aleethia" is the Greek word for Truth. The Truth about war is that there will be casualties. Also, Truth is the essence of what the "Friday Night Dinners" convey – that America appreciates the sacrifices of these fine men and women, that they will heal and regain their lives with their families and that they can be proud of their service.

The National Republican Club of Capitol Hill, 300 First Street, SE, Washington, DC has hosted many of the Friday Night Dinners.

The Aleethia Foundation was started to provide a method of tax-deductible contributions to fund Friday Night Dinners at Fran O’Brien’s Stadium Steakhouse. In the process of providing the dinners, we found some of the troops in need of small financial grants ($1,500 to $2,500) to bridge different financial situations. We then expanded our mission to providing as many of these small grants as we could. We also found a need to do more than just the dinners, so we started supplying other short-term recreational activities such as siteseeing drives, trips to movies, and smaller dinner situations. We are a small group of volunteers. There is no paid staff and no overhead. We spend all collected money on the troops.

While most of the troops are combat wounded, some have been injured in other ways. We support all troops that have put on the uniform for this country. How the injury was received is not of concern to us. We appreciate all service. Some of the injuries are from accidents in a combat zone, just not inflicted during a combat operation.

While injured troops receive medical care to heal their physical wounds, The Aleethia Foundation honors them with opportunities to enjoy some time away from the hospital environment. Troops say these occasions make them feel truly 'at home'.

The doctors have determined that it is beneficial for the newly injured troops to get out of the hospital environment occasionally. Our mission is to help them get out for meals, movies, sightseeing, and visits to interesting sites. Our main focus is the Friday Night Dinners for the wounded troops from Walter Reed National Medical Center and National Naval Medical Center.

CBS's David Martin did an interview with wounded warrior Chris 'T-Rex' Bain prior to tonight dinner.

Chris 'T-Rex' Bain and David Martin.

Joe Bowser gets the nights festivities started

Sgt. Robert Bartlett leads us in the blessing.

The Honorable Dr. Paul Wolfowitz, Aleethia Advisory Board member with two of tonight honored guests

Tom Maier Aleethia Vice President aka “The Milkshake Man”

Hal Koster, Aleethia Founder and President sharing a moment with Walt Sides, Executive Director of Rolling Thunder

Robert Bartlett explaing what the Friday Night Dinners mean to him

The Aleethia Foundation Volunteers: Hal Koster Founder and President, Tom Maier Vice President, Lisa Lourake Secretary, The Honorable Dr. Paul Wolfowitz Advisory Board, Ron Aument Advisory Board, Shoshana Bryen Advisory Board, Diane Hartmann Advisory Board, Ed Meagher Advisory Board, Joe Spina Advisory Board, Melanie Taylor Advisory Board, Don Woodall Advisory Board