Greater Milwaukee Men

Brass Rooster Caps photo courtesy of Brass Rooster Brass Rooster , a local Milwaukee hat store and hat maker whose work we have celebrated before , has come out with new products that have socially responsible aspects to them. They are both recycled products and charitable items. The new Brass Rooster Caps include big apples, 8/4, ivy & drivers Caps using vintage patterns and all the caps are made from Military blankets. Hand quilted lining, blankets from WWII-current. Brass Rooster will donate 10% to different Veterans foundations.

Yesterday, Save The Soldiers Home , a partnership between The National Trust for Historic Preservation and the Milwaukee Preservation Alliance , made an announcement that will have a great impact on the Milwaukee community. The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) has selected a local team's proposal to rehabilitate and restore six of the Milwaukee Soldiers Home District's unused buildings for their original purpose - the service of veterans. The six buildings will be turned into 100 housing units with supportive services for veterans and their families who are homeless or at risk of becoming homeless. I can't say how much I love the fact that this will be a double rehabilitative effort - both on the buildings and then their use to rehome and rehabilitate veterans. It's a one-two punch to improve Milwaukee. It's always a shame to lose historic buildings and this effort will keep these with such a rich background. They will also provide a much needed servi...

Harley-Davidson Motor Co. has long been associated with the US military and vets, such as their special deals for current and former military, and they continue to honor them with Veteran's Day coming up in a week. The Harley Museum is holding a three day Veteran's Day Celebration along with their  Rock the Rumble benefit rock concert.

If you believe Dogs Are People this great shirt will help you pronounce it We are true believers here that dogs are 'man's best friend', I personally believe that they are an important part of the development of human society, and can't understand when people don't treat them as if they have the feelings we know they have. Two recent news items however highlight the ever increasing understanding of not only what they mean to us but also us to them. In the world of gaming , Call of Duty: Ghosts ,  the most anticipated game of the season, features a service dog as one of the playable characters while the world of science a recent study shows that dogs equal humans in emotional response.

This year, in addition to the players, MLB  and People Magazine are recognizing people who are true heroes, military men and women, via their Tribute For Heroes program. From thousands of nominees three people were selected for each team. One winning candidate from each team will win a chance to attend and be recognized at the 2013 MLB® All-Star Game® in New York, and one will be featured in PEOPLE magazine. So head on over and vote, you can do as many times as you want. The three outstanding representatives for the Brewers are here .

Two American vehicle manufacturers will be forever linked with our military, Harley-Davidson and Jeep. With their ties to military history, both go beyond what they have provided on the battleground to provide for out troops once the return. Last November we told you about what Harley is doing , and here is what Jeep is doing for our heroes to welcome them home.

Milwaukee's own  Harley-Davidson  has long been what one might consider a 'patriotic' company. Their brand has been a proudly American one for as long as most of us can remember. That patriotism has always extended to the military and veterans from providing motorcycles to the military (a Harley retrospective can be seen  here ) to incorporating veterans as riders and members. Members of the United States military deployed overseas have the unique opportunity to purchase a Harley-Davidson with special military pricing (program details  here ) and then new Harley riders in the military are automatically added to the Harley Owner's Group  for free . Not to mention all the special badges and accessories for bikes to show they are a veteran. But Harley goes beyond that to help veterans as they return to civilian life.

Potosi Brewing Company and the Iron Horse Hotel are teaming up to help out a local hero tonight. You can't come up with much better of a Well-Met type of event. A local brewery, a non-profit to boot, the epitome of local Milwaukee coolness for a location, and serving a deserving man.

Justin Timberlake's praises are being sung for accepting the request of Corporal Kelsey DeSantis after she asked him for a date via a YouTube video. DeSantis herself was was inspired by another member of the military who scored a date with Mila Kunis, Timberlake’s  Friends With Benefits  co-star.

Any good deed by any person, any man, always warms my heart, but for some reason tales of public servants going above and beyond for us always gets me even more. Stories like postal service employees replying to letters to Santa or religious figures are common, but here is a new one. In Washington State, two transportation department employees recovered a lost teddy bear for a girl that meant the world to her. The bear was given to the girl by her father Sgt. Claudio Wadsworth, who is with the Army in South Korea, and the bear serves as a sort of replacement for him, hence the bear's name 'daddy'. She lost the bear on a trip and when word went out via social media to the department the employees stepped up and two men actually found and returned the bear to the girl. Kudos to the department for starting the effort and the two men that found the bear.

It is well known, especially here at Well-Met, that dogs can be better and more loyal friends and family than human counterparts. This image is a haunting reminder of the bind that a man and his canine companion can have in life - and death. At the funeral of Navy SEAL Jon Tomlinson, one of 38 killed in Afghanistan in the Chinook helicopter taken out by a rocket-propelled grenade, his Labrador retriever was present and came up and lay at the casket and would not move. More of the story and a video of the scene can be found here .

The Pentagon has created a new program to help troops returning from active duty deal with their experiences by having them create graphic novels or comics. The program has a typical government/military convoluted name: “ Online Graphic Novel/Sequential Art Authoring Tools for Therapeutic Storytelling ". Art therapy is an interesting process where, per the American Art Therapy Association , therapists "use the creative process to help people of all ages improve their emotional well-being". Basically by creating art that can display emotions, the artists can release and explore those emotions. What makes comics or their longer versions - graphic novels - especially effective is that the artists not only make works of art but also use narrative to write a story. So it is in essence a dual outlet - they can put into words via another character how they felt and are feeling in addition to the visual elements. Wired Magazine has a full article  detailing one soldier...