Mr. John Roure,
We wanted to thank you and everyone with Operation Enduring Support and the Triad Fund of the Dallas Foundation as well as Mr. Alberto Lopez with Paesanos.
We had a wonderful time in San Antonio this weekend. With all of your donations we were able to spend the day at Seaworld and tour some of San Antonio while staying at the Hilton, which was a great hotel. The dinner at Paesanos was excellent. The staff was kind and courteous and gave us two complimentary deserts after our meal.
It is great to know that their are people out there that truly do care about the sacrifices military families make and are willing to donate their time and resources to give us a great family retreat. It is a great way for us to reconnect. Everything that was donated is greatly appreciated, once again thank you to everyone!
SSG. J.B. and family
John,
My Wife and I would like to thank you very much for the trip that you allowed us to go on. Everyone from the Hotel to Paesanos Restaurant were excellent they treated us very good. The Room from the Hotel was great and so was the food at Paesanos. John if you get a chance will you let the Hotel Staff and also Alberto know that we want to thank them so much for their Hospitality, and again I want to thank you.
Thank you all for everything,
--M. & T.D.
John,
Thank you so much for providing us with our weekend getaway to San Antonio. The hotel was wonderful and we enjoyed sitting outside by the fire. The Fiesta San Antonio was an added plus for the weekend and downtown was full of activity.
We also enjoyed our great dinner out at Peasanos 1604. It was a nice treat to get away just the two of us and if it wasn't for your oranixation and the wonderful friends that watched or kids, it wouldn't have been possible. We have enclosed a few pictures, mostly of the view from our balcony.
Thanks again!
--SSG J. & L.W.
Dear John and Operation Enduring Support,
We would like to take a few minutes to thank you and the organization,Operation Enduring Support, for a wonderful, relaxing weekend in San Antonio.
It is not often after being at war for six years that we see this kind of support for our soldiers. Granted there are programs of support, but nothing like this right now. After 4 deployments for Tom and our family, this weekend was welcomed with open arms.
Our hotel was beautiful with wonderful services and very relaxing. The day spent at Sea World gave us time alone that was well deserved. Our dinner Saturday night was spectacular. The restaurant, Paesaono’s, treated us like royalty and all of our needs were meet with a smile.
We’d like to thank you all again for a very nice weekend. We would be glad to speak to other couples or families that are chosen for this weekend if needed.
Thank you again,
--T. G.
Hello,
John and I wanted to thank you all for our Take a Break, Soldier!
weekend. We are very grateful that we were chosen to enjoy a wonderful weekend away. This is our second time in our almost 3 yrs of marriage that we have gone away together. Taking time away for ourselves unfortunately comes last, with our training schedules, our deployments, and trying to spend time with our child. The accommodations were great at the San Antonio Hill Country Resort and Spa, and we really enjoyed our dinner at Paesanos 1604. I have attached a photo of us at Paesanos.
Words cannot express how your kindness toward Military families is
appreciated. May God Bless you all.
--J.L.
John,
I would like to say thanks to you and to the people in your organization for your support to the 2nd Battalion Warrior Transition Brigade.
My wife and I are truly grateful to have experienced the trip to San Antonio. After multiple tours to Iraq and the quick pace back here at the garrison, we have never had time for ourselves to enjoy life like most people get to. With this trip to San Antonio we were able to relax, which is very rare for soldiers.
My wife and I enjoyed the Hilton Hill Country Resort and Spa and Paesanos restaurant was outstanding. The service at Paesanos was great and the food was great! The Spurs game was the best ever (the seats were a dream come true) and my wife was able to see her dream beau “Manu Ginobili!."
Once again I want to thank you and to the wonderful people in your organization who make it possible for my Soldiers and their families to enjoy these trips.
Bless you all.
--CSM G.Z
On behalf of my family and myself I would like to thank everyone that made the trip possible. My family and I had a great time. We really appreciate what your organization did for us and the rest of the Marines. John and the organization made things really easy on us. We did not have any issues with any of our reservations. Everywhere the organization suggested was great. It was great to go to a sports event like the San Antonio Spurs game because that is our favorite NBA franchise. We appreciate what your President John Roure did for us. He was more than willing to help me with any issues we had. He made himself available for anything we needed. It was great to be out of the Dallas/Fort Worth area and to a different city. The trip was fun we got to go to the River Walk and as well to just different malls. The restaurant that was suggested, Peasanos, was great because it had a nice atmosphere and also had great food. The trip was great and I hope the organization keeps helping military personnel.
Sincerely,
--SGT. R.R.V.
Thanks again for the opportunity to go on this getaway. We really enjoyed ourselves in San Antonio and would recommend this program to any service member. This just goes to show that there really are people in America that do support the troops. My fiancé and I were very fortunate to have participated in this great program. Again, thank you so much.
Respectfully Submitted,
--Sgt R.A.
I would like to thank you for giving me the opportunity to go on this getaway with my family to San Antonio. My family and I had a blast at the Spurs game.
On another note Alberto from Paesanos, treated us very well at dinner and John, the bread pudding that you said to try there was awesome. Once again thanks for what you and your organization does for us and we will continue to live strong. I’m grateful there are people like you who support us on what we do.
--H.A.
Thank you for the memories!
Jill and I just wanted to let you know how much we appreciate the trip we were able to go on this past weekend. As new parents (our daughter is 11 months old), we really needed the time away! We had pretty much forgotten what it is like to sleep through the night or drive in the car without constantly replacing a pacifier.
San Antonio was a BLAST! The Spurs game and Terrace Level Suite at the ATT Center was fantastic… The hotel was perfect and the jaunts downtown were fun. We went to the Mexican Market, watched the rodeo parade, ate some of the Tex-Mex for which San Antonio is famous for, and spent Saturday night eating at Paesano’s (GREAT restaurant!) and relaxing at Pat O’Briens while watching the dueling pianos.
All in all, this trip was just what the doctor ordered. Thank you again for all that was done for us, I can’t say it enough. I’ve
included some pictures of the trip (and one of the baby Elizabeth, Jill insisted) and I know that we made some memories that will not soon be forgotten.
Thank you!
T.P.
29 May 2010, my wife and I recieved a gift certificate to this restaurant from Take A Break Soldier. The minute we walked in, the staff greeted us with smiles and seated us right away. Our waiter John Kelly (aka Panch) did a wonderful job, his knowledge of the Paesanos history and recommedations for our main courses were supurb and the desserts were almost sinful. His timing was excellent, always there when we needed something or our glass needed a refill, but not so much as to be a pest or annoying. One other point that we noticed right from the start was how all the wait staff helped each other and covered tables when one of them was engaged elsewhere, very refreshing. We will be back to this restaurant again, everyone from the GM to the wait staff made us feel as if we were VIPs, this is a great place and will tell everyone about it.
--P. E.
Killeen, TX
Dear John,
My wife and I would like to thank you personally and everyone involved in Operation Enduring Support for the best weekend we have had together in a long time. The weekend was a success in every way and ran smoothly from beginning to end. San Antonio is a very lovely town and had an overwhelming number of nice attractions for us. The Doubletree Hotel check in went off without a hitch and the Doubletree breakfast was a great way to begin the mornings. The first night we ordered pizza and just stayed in the room. That in its self was great because it was a break from the grind and routine of everyday work and life. On Saturday, we visited the Alamo, a mirror filled fun house, and the San Antonio Zoo. The Zoo was definitely our favorite attraction. We enjoyed several hours there just walking around and enjoying the beautiful weather.
The highlight of the day however was our Saturday night dinner at Paesanos restaurant. We rarely eat at such nice restaurants. The whole experience was a delight from the moment we pulled up. They were able to seat us right on time and the food was AMAZING. In Fort Worth, we have Texas De Brazil and Ruth's Chris as some of the finer restaurants we have eaten at and neither one could hold a candle to Paesanos. My wife Amanda especially enjoyed her experience at the restaurant.
We had to leave early on Sunday, due to my grandfather's sudden health issue, but we were able to stop in Austin and have lunch with John and his wife at Saltlick BBQ. The Saltlick lunch was also a remarkable time and restaurant.
The gift cards made the weekend so much more enjoyable because we were not counting pennies all weekend or worrying about the budget. If this letter sounds inflated, I assure you it is not, the weekend was just that good.
Thank you again for the awesome weekend!
Sincerely,
D. & A. C.
Sgt, USMC, 14th Marine Regiment
