2 Soldiers 1 Family
Sapp and Mario like many other soldiers, veterans and their families had a strong friendship. They both had love for music and humor, they spent countless days and nights together playing the ukulele, singing songs and laughing. They both deployed to Iraq in May of 2009, this experience created yet another struggle in which both had one another to lean on during this tribulation. On June 16th 2009 they experienced their first loss of a fellow soldier and friend. SGT Joshua Soto whom was Killed In Action during combat operations in which Sapp and Mario had been apart of. This tremendous loss was heartfelt and brought both closer together than ever before.
One of these brotherly bonds consisted of Mario and his best friend Sappuro B Nena. They connected with one another while serving together at their first duty station. The relationship was instantaneous and the kind you so often hear about when understanding the brotherhood of military comrades. Sapp was an islander who lived in Hawaii all of his life but was of the Micronesian islands, the state of Kosrae. Mario is a Southern California native and even with the difference in cultural backgrounds they found they had a lot in common. They returned home a year later in 2010 after serving in Operation Iraqi Freedom. This is where the families started bonding, before leaving for deployment.
Mario's family knew what it felt like to have a son on the other side of the world & not have very much access to speaking with him and knowing he was okay. The Robles family took Sapp in as thier own and would try to communicate with his mom and make her feel at ease that her son was being loved and supported. Mario and Sapp went on with their separate lives after that first tour of duty.
Sapp continued on in the Army stationed at Fort Lewis, Washington and Mario coming back to San Diego, CA. Our families continuing to have contact & eventually in September 2012, while being deployed to Afghanistan, Sapp was killed in action (KIA) on September 16th 2012 two weeks after his 25th Birthday. This was a devastating loss and affected our son tremendously. Too many soldiers lose their best friends.
It is something many military families deal with but the agony of not being able to attend Sapp's funeral services back on the island of Kosrae where his parents were, made it that much worse. We as a family have been grieving along with Sapp's family for three years now and it is now time to help our son through the grieving process, he has done a lot of work on himself to be able to get through this.
Our goal is to be on the island at Sapp's gravesite for this Veteran's day November 11th, 2015 and deliver Sapp's Class A uniform to his family. This is a very costly trip and we would appreciate all the help we can get.
The Robles Family journey to connect with the Nena Family. Please help both military families find peace with each other. Thank you with Peace & Love
Our challenge is to be in Kosrae Micronesia by Tuesday November 10, 2015 a day before Veteran's Day.
Also see this link for the movie documentry of Island Soldier featuring Sapp Nena and his Family.
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1738241852/island-soldier-micronesians-fighting-in-americas-w