It's always a special moment before every FC Dallas home game when we have our Toyota Salute to a Soldier, but we wanted to share a very cool story from last weekend's game against Vancouver.
Captain Jake Murphy, a platoon leader from Fort Drum, who was injured in an IED blast in Afghanistan, was honored at Sunday's match. Jake and his wife Lisa recently purchased a home in Flower Mound and have given birth to a son, Nolan Steele Murphy.
Little did Murphy know that FC Dallas Season Ticket Member John Wells, who was deployed together with Murphy back in 2011, was in the crowd. The two were able to meet up after the game and Wells sent us this note:
While our paths may have only crossed a few times back at Ft. Drum, it is a small unit(2-87 Infantry Battalion) that we deployed together with back in 2011. It goes to show what a small world this can be, him being from Massachusetts and myself being from Ohio and five years since I would have last seen him in Afghanistan, we end up in Frisco, Texas at an FC Dallas game. So while Cpt. Murphy has had to deal with more physical and mental rehabilitation, it has helped me to reach out to guys that we served with, some who I hadn’t talked to in years, helping me with the emotional healing. So again, I cannot thank you and the nice young woman escorting Cpt. Murphy’s group, enough for allowing me that time. #DTID
If you would like to nominate someone to be recognized at a future FC Dallas game, visit FCDallas.com/salute.
