Community Corner

Sentinels of Freedom Earns National Recognition for Service to Wounded Veterans

Mike Conklin started the scholarship foundation for wounded soldiers shortly after Sept. 11, 2001. His organization has now gone national and helped dozens of veterans get back on their feet.

The Daughters of the American Revolution awarded their most prestigious honor to a local organization dedicated to helping wounded veterans.

, a San Ramon Valley-based nonprofit, received the DAR's Medal of Honor last week at a Southern California DAR convention attended by U.S. military dignitaries and other public officials.

Thirty-year San Ramon resident Mike Conklin, who founded Sentinels over a decade ago , said he couldn't be more humbled by the recognition.

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"This is the highest honor we, as an organization, could receive because it came from women," Conklin said. “It has been women who traditionally have been the ones that have had to pick up the pieces and help veterans put their lives back together.”

The DAR is made up of women who are proven descendants of Revolutionary War-era civil servants, soldiers and others who supported U.S. independence.

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Conklin, whose three sons currently serve or have served in the U.S. Army, founded Sentinels of Freedom in 1998 as a way to recognize San Ramon Valley high school students who set their sights on a military career.

After Sept. 11, 2001, Conklin narrowed his nonprofit's mission to helping severely wounded veterans re-enter civilian life.

In 2003, U.S. Army Spc. Jacob Brown, of San Ramon, returned handicapped after being crushed by a tank while serving in Germany. He underwent 26 surgeries.

Sentinels provided Brown with rent-free housing, helped him enroll in college and get a management job at UPS.

Today, Brown, now 29, works as an operations manager at SYBASE in Dublin and is pursuing his master's degree at St. Mary's College in Moraga.

Since Brown, Sentinels of Freedom has helped 64 veterans get back on their feet and lead independent lives despite their injuries.

As CEO, Conklin travels the country to identify wounded ex-soldiers to help. A Sentinel canddate is anyone who on or after 9/11 sustained an injury in the line of duty that resulted in permanent, life-changing disability.

Then, for the next four years, that Sentinel will receive whatever help it takes for them to achieve self-sufficiency. Scholarships may include rent-free housing furnished housing, career placement and training, a car, education, medical treatment and financial and personal mentorship.

For more information about the Sentinels of Freedom Scholarship Foundation, visit www.sentinelsoffreedom.org.


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