Meet the Warriors

If you see this guy walking around, give him a big thanks. Kevin was our guest speaker in 2019 and taught us that many injuries sustained by our Warriors are not physical, but psychological, and in many cases more damaging. Kevin serves as a handicapped skiing instructor with the Adaptive Sports Foundation – thanks to connections forged at a WWP Golf Clinic and assists with the WWP handicapped SCUBA diving program. Kevin knows that some of the younger wounded service members look up to him, and he’s comfortable with that. Most of all, he wants to live by his credo: “The more you give, the more you get. And the more you get, the more you should continue to give.”

Robert Swierbitowicz is a 20-year Marine vet. He served from 1993-2013 as a food service specialist in the Marines. He was stationed at Camp Pendleton, Marine Corps base Hawaii, Okinawa Japan, Camp Lejeune, and 14 months in Fallujah Iraq. Robert is involved with Troops to Teachers, an organization that assists the transitioning Service members and Veterans in beginning new careers as K-12 schoolteachers in public, charter, and Bureau of Indian Affairs schools. Robert is currently a Business teacher at Derby High School and is a member of the VGA (Veterans Golf Association) with a 3 handicap!

Rob Ramirez is originally from Puerto Rico and grew up in Philadelphia, PA. He became a Sergeant with the 34th Infantry Division (Red Bulls) of the Iowa Army National Guard. Operation Iraqi Freedom veteran (Al Asad, Iraq airbase). Rob did 8 years of service in his only tour overseas. The tour was very long and documented on 60 minutes since he was boots on the ground for over 18 months, the longest deployment in OIF at the time. After 8 years of service, he left the military due to injuries. Rob is currently a service-connected veteran who is a Producer for ESPN and ABC and lives in CT.

Wes Houghton joined the military in 1997 and served for 17 years in both the Marine Corps and Army. He deployed to both Iraq and Afghanistan numerous times from 2003 through 2011. Deployments included 3 pumps to Iraq 03, 04, 05 and one deployment to Afghanistan with the Army in 2011 where he was wounded in action. His Purple Heart is enshrined at the National Purple Heart Hall of Honor located in New Windsor NY. He is currently an Environmental Health and Safety Manager for a large national mattress company. He loves to play golf as time permits. Wes is married to his wife Leslie with whom he has 3 beautiful children.