Catholic University’s Cardinal Stadium will host the Third Annual CUA Hero’s Charity Lacrosse Tournament. The tournament, to be held on Saturday March 6, 2010, will feature four high school preseason games played throughout the day. There are a number of individuals and organizations that work together to make the tournament a successful day for everyone involved.

Each year, the proceeds raised by the charity tournament are dedicated to a different cause. The First Annual Hero’s Tournament was held in honor of U.S. Army Specialist Thomas “T.J.” Barbieri II, of Gaithersburg, Maryland who died on August 23, 2006, south of Baghdad, Iraq when his patrol countered enemy forces small arms fire during combat operations.

T.J.’s parents, Carol and Tom, have been devoted members of the Catholic University community. Tom has been an assistant coach for the Cardinal football team and their son Matt, one of T.J.’s three brothers, was a midfielder on the lacrosse squad.

This year, proceeds from the event will benefit organizations that battle various cancers and causes that benefit wounded soldiers at Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington, D.C.

President and Mrs Obama marked Veterans Day with the traditional visit to Arlington National Cemetery where Mr Obama participated in a wreath laying at the Tomb of the Unknowns. The President then delivered remarks in which he paid tribute to the determination of those who serve in uniform.

“In this time of war, we gather here mindful that the generation serving today already deserves a place alongside previous generations for the courage they have shown and the sacrifices that they have made,” Mr Obama said to a crowd gathered in the rain at the cemetery’s Memorial Amphitheater.

“In an era where so many acted only in pursuit of narrow self-interest, they’ve chosen the opposite. They chose to serve the cause that is greater than self; many even after they knew they’d be sent into harm’s way. And for the better part of a decade, they have endured tour after tour in distant and difficult places; they have protected us from danger; and they have given others the opportunity for a better life.”
President Obama places a presidential challenge coin at the grave of Specialist Ross McGinnis who was killed in Iraq.

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Fox News covered the story this past weekend on the Marine Corps Marathon and on the handcrank cycle that has been dedicated in TJ Barbieri’s honor. TJ Barbieri is the son of CUA Assistant Football Coach Tom Barbieri and his wife Carol. The Barbieri’s other son Matt currently plays on the CUA Lacrosse team. The Lacrosse team, along with the Barbieri’s and Genna Griffith of the Achilles Freedom Team of Wounded Veterans, worked together to raise money to purchase the cycle at the First Annual Hero’s Charity Lacrosse Tournament featured in the story. This year’s Second Annual Hero’s Lacrosse Tournament will take place on March 21, 2009.