My name is Aaron and I am an honorably discharged Marine Raider and Marine Scout Sniper.

I would like to bring your attention to a travesty of the worst degree happening right now to three honorable special operators, personal friends of mine, and their spouses, children, and extended family as they are drug through the muck of an unjust judicial system.

Currently there are three of our own, humble and quiet professionals, from the Raider/Reconnaissance/Sniper community who, for over a year, have been in an uphill and grossly unfair battle against a dangerously biased Military Judicial System. They have been continuously tried under the presumption of guilt until proven innocent, this despite clear video evidence and multiple supporting witnesses proving their innocence. All of this while blatant careerism and bureaucracy have been used to coerce witnesses to silence and kept an entire community based on brotherhood from taking a stand for what is right. All this, while putting their spouses and children through the turmoil of potentially losing their husbands to injustice after sacrificing so much. I encourage you if you do not know the details to visit the links I have provided at the bottom of this letter.

When faith is lost in what once was sacred, we preach with our feet:

On May 26th I will be departing Oceanside California via bicycle and riding to Wilmington North Carolina. I am self-funding my travel and estimate this trip to take around 40 days with a goal arrival date of no later than July 4th. This totals to roughly 2700 miles.

My Mission is 3 fold:

#1) To raise national level awareness of the plight of our three brothers along with other cases of gross injustice against those who have sacrificed and served honorably. Ultimately to hold those in authority accountable for failing their men in the moment of need and not upholding the special trust and confidence given to them as service members in positions of authority.

#2) To fundraise for United American Patriots, the group who has fought for them and their rights thus far and continues to carry the torch in defense of our nation’s warfighters. The donations raised will primarily go to UAP to cover legal expenses for these Danny, Eric, and Josh.

#3) To serve as a call to action and unification among the Raider/Recon/Sniper Community to support our own, stand for what is right, get involved, and do something about it. A percentage of the donations will go to the Brothers In Arms Foundation who continually serve in the shadows taking care of our warfighters and their families in their moments of need.

We have the chance now to stand for what is right and stand beside our brothers and their families in a very dark an isolated time. This is a defining moment where we can put our actions where our words have been or shrink back and be damned by our own silence. Please join me in standing for what is right and let’s get our brothers exonerated.

To read more on the case, please check out this letter written by Destiny Draher, wife of Gunnery Sergeant Danny Draher:

https://www.uap.org/post/destinydraher

To read an Op-Ed written by UAP’s CEO, LtCol David “Bull” Gurfein, please visit this link: https://www.marinecorpstimes.com/opinion/2020/03/07/what-would-a-warrior-do-in-defense-of-marine-raider-charged-with-manslaughter/

Share our donation link: https://www.uap.org/raiderride2020

WHAT CAN YOU DO TO HELP:

• Contact your Representative – You can find their info here

• Contact your local news stations

• Activate your network and share our message on social media

• Donate to UAP

Thank you,

Aaron Vanderbeck

Editor’s note: This article was originally published by United American Patriots.