To Operation Welcome Homes and all the volunteers who support it: My name is Robert Malnik and I would like to tell a story of how Operation Welcome Homes allowed my wife and I to celebrate our anniversary for our first time in two years. I recently returned from a 14-month tour in Iraq on June 1, 2005. I married my wife Joanna shortly before the deployment, and it was a long hard year for both us, especially being 10,000 miles away. Once I returned home we decided to hold on to our money, start working, buy a new home to start a family and finally settle down like a married couple should. We wanted to take a short vacation, but with school costs and buying a new home, it was really out of the question. My wife and I worked all summer, bought our small home together and started school. About mid August I went to get a haircut and I happened to run into a gentleman by the name of Ronald Oppedisano (A Trustee for the village of Norridge, IL). I was talking to the barber about Iraq because he had a few pictures of soldiers on his mirror. Ron overheard our conversation, walked up to me and asked if I would be interested in a little Rest and Relaxation. Like any normal person I said yes with out hesitation! Ron introduced me to Don Rubin who is the founder of Operation Welcome Homes, and he set us up with a wonderful trip to Fish Creek Retreat in Door County, Wisconsin. If you ve never been there I definitely recommend that area. Don Rubin planned it out for us to go on our first vacation for our 2nd anniversary on December 31, 2005! How cool is that?! New year's Eve, a nice Jacuzzi and a bottle of champagne. My wife and I had a fabulous time and it's all thanks to people like Don Rubin and his family who volunteered their time, effort, and home so veterans like us can actually enjoy moments such as these! Operation Welcome Homes is a wonderful idea and I hope it continues without any problems. As long as we take care of other people's property and treat it like our own, I see no problems for the volunteers who lean toward our service and thank us for our duty! We all have to work together and show some dignity and respect when it comes to special treats such as these& For the rest of you who become a lucky part of this, enjoy every minute of it and remember what you did for our country. God Bless! Thanks Don Rubin for Operation Welcome Homes!!!!