Casino mogul hosts wounded soldiers in Vegas

kansascity.com/ap ^ | 5-26-08 | Oskar Garcia

[STARWISE]

All too familiar with the gambles of war, Jimmy Kinsey, Kyle Riley and a few dozen fellow soldiers landed in the desert. But for these guys this Memorial Day, the most at stake is a few bucks.

The soldiers-turned-high rollers took a private jet to Las Vegas over the weekend for an all-expenses-paid getaway with all the perks normally saved for casinos' richest regulars.

They were greeted at the airport by Wayne Newton, chilled backstage with the guys from Blue Man Group and hobnobbed with Sheldon Adelson, the billionaire casino mogul who runs Las Vegas Sands Corp. and paid for the trip.

The trip, organized by the Armed Forces Foundation, brought 40 wounded soldiers from Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington and the National Naval Medical Center at Bethesda, Md., to the Venetian Resort Hotel Casino on the Las Vegas Strip.

"I'm gonna be bragging about this for a long while," said Kinsey, 23, while hanging out in his penthouse overlooking the nearby Wynn Golf Course.

*snip*

Kinsey, a Marine corporal from Foley, Ala., who lost part of his left leg to an improvised explosive device in Iraq in 2006, said he hadn't spent too much time gambling - just a few slots.

"On a scale from one to 10 I gave this trip a 15 when I got on the plane," he said.

Riley, a 21-year-old from Catlett, Va., who also lost part of his left leg to an IED in Iraq, was so overwhelmed by the trip he decided with his fiancee, Alyssa Mergler, to make it their wedding weekend. They planned to wed Monday on a gold and white gondola, courtesy of Adelson, whom Mergler said insisted on having his staff handle the plans.

[STARWISE]

Marine corporal Cleve Kinsey, 23, left, and lance corporal Kyle Riley, 21, relax in their penthouse suite at the Venetian hotel-casino Sunday, May 25, 2008, in Las Vegas. Both Kinsey and Riley were wounded in separate instances in Operation Iraqi freedom. Las Vegas Sands Chairman Sheldon Adelson and his wife Miriam welcomed 40 injured service members from Walter Reed and National Naval Medical Center to a complimentary holiday weekend at the Venetian. The Armed Forces Foundation organized the trip.

Army specialist Matthew "Doc" Reilly and his wife Katherine relax on an outdoor patio at the Venetian hotel-casino Sunday, May 25, 2008, in Las Vegas.

Marine corporal Kyle Riley, 21, and his fiancee Alyssa Mergler, 21, are shown in their penthouse suite at the Venetian hotel-casino Sunday, May 25, 2008, in Las Vegas. Riley was wounded while serving in Operation Iraqi Freedom. Las Vegas Sands Chairman Sheldon Adelson and his wife Miriam welcomed 40 injured service members from Walter Reed and National Naval Medical Center to a complimentary holiday weekend at the Venetian. The Adelsons have volunteered to give the couple an all-expense paid wedding on Memorial Day tomorrow at the Venetian.

~~~~

God bless patriotic and caring Americans like the Adelsons.

[STARWISE]

~~PING!

[STARWISE]

Spokesman Doug Stone said the trip would be the first of many, ..... said Adelson wanted to eventually extend the all-expenses-paid offer to every veteran who had been admitted to the two hospitals.

[2ndDivisionVet]

Thank God there are still men like these soldiers and Marines, and also patriotic Americans that support them! We need to support this gaming company with our business if so inclined...

From Wiki:

Philanthropic gifts and Political Involvement

Adelson currently has funded over $25,000,000 to the M.I.S Hebrew Academy in Las Vegas to build a high school. Currently, the high school has a 9th and 10th grade and will add more grades annually.

In 2005, Adelson was among 53 entities that contributed the maximum of $250,000 to the second inauguration of President George W. Bush.[10] [11] [12]

In 2006 Adelson contributed $25,000,000 to the organization Birthright Israel, which finances Jewish youth trips to Israel. The gift is anticipated to be given annually for the foreseeable future [13]

In 2007 Adelson founded Freedom’s Watch, a group that advocates America’s continued involvement in the war in Iraq, and is run and supported, in part, by former officials of the Bush administration. Also in 2007, Adelson pledged another $25,000,000 to the Birthright Israel program, allowing for approximately 20,000 people to take part in the program. [14]

Adelson also has funded the Boston based Dr. Miriam and Sheldon G. Adelson Medical Research Foundation. AMRF is a private foundation committed to a model of open and highly integrated collaboration among outstanding investigators who participate in goal-directed basic and clinical research to prevent, reduce or eliminate disabling and life-threatening illness. [15]

This foundation initiated the Adelson Program in Neural Repair and Rehabilitation (APNRR) with $7.5 million donated to collaborating researchers at 10 universities. [16] Adelson has publicly pledged billions to medical research and has encouraged researchers to contact AMRF with ideas that need to be funded.

[uglybiker]

They planned to wed Monday on a gold and white gondola, courtesy of Adelson, whom Mergler said insisted on having his staff handle the plans.

What?!

C'mon! This is Vegas! Bring out the Elvis impersonators! :-P

[Syncro]

Well this is cool!

[PA Engineer]

Wow. BTTT.

[STARWISE]

What dear, generous souls. May God
continue to smile on them.

[STARWISE]

~~PING!

[AmericanInTokyo]

Nice, average kids.

Just good, giving, duty-bound Americans.

Can see it on their faces and in their eyes.

[Tex Pete]

Very awesome gesture for very deserving warriors. All involved are to be commended.

[STARWISE]

~~PING!

[WVKayaker]

Sheldon Adelson, the CEO of the Las Vegas Sands Corp. and one of the wealthiest men in the world, is an important financial backer of a number of individuals and organizations who promote hardline security policies for the United States and Israel. He is a member of the Board of Directors the conservative Republican Jewish Coalition (RJC) and a financial supporter of Freedom's Watch, a neoconservative-aligned advocacy outfit created in 2007 to push public support for an aggressive U.S. posture on Iran and continued U.S. military involvement in Iraq. Through his charitable foundation he funds Israeli causes and groups. He has reportedly also tried to influence Israeli policy away from negotiating a peace with the Palestinians.... more here...

[wastedyears]

Our counter to Soros?

[river rat]

This is a righteous warrior Jew..
Soros is a self loathing Jew.

[Recovering Ex-hippie]

thanks...so right!

Adelson...A “righteous warrior Jew.”....

...and Soros should be ashamed, very very ashamed.

[Recovering Ex-hippie]

thanks for posting...

I wish they would televise the wedding of corporal Rile and his fiancee..that would be awesome !

[E.G.C.]

BTTT

[KingofZion]

I’ve been meaning to stay at the Venetian...they definitely deserve my business now.

[GOP_Lady]

Wow, the Venetian along with everything else. God bless the soldiers and their families and the ones who paid/organized this. I hope they had a great time.