Orange County Fire Fighters Join Vested Interest

April 22, 2010 – Orange County, CA Local 3631 and the Orange County Fire Authority (OCFA) are partnering with participating CrossFit gyms to hold the 4th Annual Trevor Win’E Memorial Day CrossFit Challenge and Fundraiser in support of active duty military personnel who are currently deployed in the Middle East.

The May 31 fundraiser is a one-day worldwide event taking place at CrossFit gyms everywhere. Participating teams donate one cooling vest to a deployed military service man or woman in Iraq or Afghanistan. The “Trevor” challenge includes 300 pull ups, 400 push ups, 500 sit ups and 600 squats. Two team members exercise at a time and all repetitions must be completed before moving on to the next exercise.

All donations are used to buy and ship cooling vests to troops. All fundraising costs are donated by participants and sponsors.

The team entry donation is $200 per team. Teams can designate their cooling vests be provided to any unit, branch or hero.

Specialist Trevor Anthony Win'E, of Orange County, California, joined the Army in May 2002, and was deployed to Iraq assigned to the Petroleum Platoon in the 24th Quartermaster Supply Company with the 44th Corps Support Battalion in November 2003. The unit provided critical support to the 3rd Brigade through Fuel Systems Supply Points and refuel operations at the Kuwait/Iraq border. Win'E and his fellow soldiers were given 12 hours notice to move out from Camp Udardie to the border to provide fuel support to the brigade and the Corps Support Battalion so they could conduct their tactical road march into Iraq.

Because of his professional knowledge and ability to make any mission happen, Win'E was handpicked to serve as the petroleum specialist on the mission at Forward Operation Bases Diamondback, Freedom, and Fulda. He was also chosen to be the Gunner on the company's gun truck.

On April 30 2004, while serving as the Gunner on the lead truck in a convoy, Win'E was injured in an attack by an improvised explosive device (IED). He died May 1 from injuries sustained from that attack.

He wasn't wearing a vest when his truck exploded, but the desert camouflage military vest was shipped back to his mother, Debi. The vest, part of a specially constructed "Modular Combat Cooling System" that includes a helmet liner and neck scarf, was one of Debi’s last gifts to her son. To her surprise, it also became a gift that family, friends and dozens of people she has never met are bestowing on more than 850 other soldiers.

Nearly $30,000 has flowed into the Trevor Win'E Memorial Fund, a trust she and her husband, Rick, set up to purchase the high-tech, lightweight cooling system for soldiers in Iraq.

Click here www.ocpfa3631.org for more information or download a registration form.