General H. Norman Schwarzkopf at WorldSailfish 2007...

.

General H. Norman Schwarzkopf

US Army (Ret.), Tampa, FL

"A charismatic American leader, General Schwarzkopf captured the hearts of people everywhere when he led his troops to victory during Operation Desert Shield and Operation Desert Storm in the Persian Gulf War. Throughout his 35 years of service in the United States Military, the General was awarded many prestigious honors including three Silver Stars, three Bronze Stars, two Purple Hearts and the Presidential Medal of Freedom. Author of the best-selling autobiography, It Doesn’t Take a Hero, General Schwarzkopf is a senior analyst with NBC News."

http://worldsailfish.com/2005/celebrity_sightings.htm

The General has been a important part of the WorldSailfish Tournament for many years and is an avid fisherman. He has represented the charity group which he co-founded "Camp Boggy Creek" for many of the Tournaments history and has become a focal point of the Tournament Charity events... In fact the painting in the above photo to the right of the General was painted on-site by Marine Artist Guy Harvey who is famous for his paintings related to Marine Sportfishing. Each year Guy Harvey paints an exclusive painting for the charity auction and last years painting brought in $61,000 for the charity event. This year the above outstanding painting of Sailfish balling and chasing baitfish was auctioned off for an incredible $200,000 for the charity group...

The General went on to describe the Camp Boggy Creek program with the help of Hall of Fame Catcher Johnny Bench...

"We are a year round camp for seriously ill children and offer weeklong summer sessions for the children and family retreat weekends for the whole family. There is no charge to the children or families who come to Boggy Creek. We invite you to explore this site and open your hearts to the magic of serving these brave children. Once you do, we hope you'll join us."

http://boggycreek.org/2006/home.asp

The General also enjoyed spending time with the staff during "Pirates Night" and made several rounds of the event tent during the night...

I had the opportunity to meet and talk with the General and found him to be a very interesting and powerful man. He took the time to listen to my request and was very interested when I asked to take a photo of him with the above flag. I explained to the General that the flag had been sent to a local Virginia Hero Ssg. Herb Harman who was serving his country in downtown Baghdad with his squad, the "Four-One Element" of the 654th MP CO., and each Squad member had signed the border edge of the flag. The General stated "It would be my honor" to have his photo taken with this same flag...
http://fromrhearts.blogspot.com/2006/03/note-from-baghdad.html

"Challenge Coins" that were issued to each member of the 110 fishing teams that took part of the WorldSailfish Tournament 2007...