SI.com’s Peter King Works To Improve Life for Our Troops Overseas

It was a chance meeting that SI.com's Peter King never forgot. In 2005, King — one of the nation's premier sports writers — happened to sit next to Army Sgt. Mike McGuire at a St. Louis Cardinals game while on his training-camp tour of NFL teams.

They started talking football, but the conversation quickly turned to McGuire, who impressed the "Monday Morning Quarterback" columnist with his bravery and selflessness  — considering that McGuire and his troops have "the most dangerous job in the world," finding hidden bombs, says King.

"By the fifth inning," King wrote in his Feb. 28 column, "I wasn't watching the game anymore. I was listening to the riveting military story of McGuire, now 39. His company specializes in ridding the landscape of IEDs (improvised explosive devices) on the roads of Iraq and Afghanistan, so others in the military can do their job safely. If you've seen The Hurt Locker, you know what Mike and his men do. They put their lives on the line for 12-hour shifts every day. 'We're trained to do a job and to do it well,' McGuire says. 'We just focus on the job, not on the danger — though we're not kidding ourselves. We know how dangerous it is.'"

Over the years, King kept in touch with McGuire, giving his readers frequent updates about how he and his troops were faring in Iraq; doing his best to keep the sergeant and his troops in the forefront of people's minds.

Now he's doing more than that. King has joined forces with the USO and is asking the public for donations of $5 toward the Five For Fighting project to help McGuire and his troops in Iraq, who are going to be sent to Afghanistan later this year.

King's efforts are paying off. Literally. The columnist Tweeted on March 3: "Incredible Five For Fighting response: $92,400 donated to US troops! You guys=best."

USO online marketing VP Jeremy Albritton told King in his March 2 column that the USO was beyond impressed when the donations reached close to $60,000 in the fundraiser's first 24 hours. "Those are the kinds of numbers we see only on New Year's Eve, when people are trying to beat the tax deadline for donations,'' Albritton told King. "This is an incredible display by your readers.''

King says he got the name for his fundraising project in part from singer-songwriter John Ondrasik's band, Five For Fighting. Ondrasik, he writes, "graciously loaned me the name."

Indeed, Five For Fighting is a perfect name for the effort, since King is "asking for $5 for this project," he writes. "A manageable $5 — or whatever you'd like to give. I am asking you, if you are able, and if you have followed the courageous McGuire over the past five years in this column, and enjoyed getting to know him, to link to the USO's page for the benefit and consider helping McGuire's soldiers, who go to war later this year. It'll be McGuire's third deployment in the area."

The USO hopes the program will help not only McGuire and his troops, but as many of the men and women fighting to defend our country as possible. "For troops at the front lines, it's hard to get away from the war," says the USO. "Stuck on remote hilltops and in dusty villages, these soldiers can't stop by a USO Center. So we are bringing our centers to them. We call it USO2GO. Let's help them to enjoy some of the comforts we take for granted back home: gaming systems, DVD players, athletic equipment, snacks, furniture and tons more. But we can't do it without your support. That's why Peter King is challenging you to make it happen. Please give whatever you can today."

King writes that he spoke to McGuire, who is stationed in Germany, on Friday Feb. 26, the one-year anniversary of the death of one of the troops in his outfit. "'In the last week I've been sleeping horribly,' he said. 'Subliminally, maybe I knew this day was coming. But you just have to keep going. The rush of finding something in the road and knowing you've saved lives is a great feeling.' He's grateful to have heard from many of you over the years. 'We've got a lot of pressure on us every day we're deployed,' McGuire said. 'To have the people back home think enough of us to help with some equipment to enjoy our down time is absolutely awesome.'"

All it takes is a $5 donation.

"And if we get more than the money needed to help McGuire's platoon, we'll help others," King writes, "hopefully scores of platoons and companies."

To donate to Five For Fighting, please visit www.uso.org or send checks or money orders, payable to the USO to: USO World Headquarters, Department WS, PO Box 96860, Washington, DC 20090-6860.

Tonic will match the first $5,000 we help raise for the cause, and also donate $5 out of every Tonic Shop sale to Five For Fighting.

Photo courtesy of NBC Sports.