ABC TV's Woodruff to Help Honor Joint Chiefs Chairman

Wounded war correspondent to speak at Oct. 29 dinner honoring 2009 Soldier On
Award recipient Mullen

HOLYOKE, Mass., Oct. 22 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Award-winning journalist
Bob Woodruff will be among the speakers taking part in an Oct. 29 dinner event
honoring Admiral Mike Mullen, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff of the
United States Armed Services. Woodruff, who was seriously injured in a 2006
IED explosion in Iraq, is the founder of the Bob Woodruff Foundation and
ReMIND.org, which provide support to injured service members, veterans and
their families. He will speak during a ceremony at which Admiral Mullen will
be presented with the 2009 Soldier On Award in recognition of his efforts on
behalf of homeless veterans. The invitation-only event, presented by the
Northampton, Massachusetts-based non-profit Soldier On, will take place at the
Log Cabin in Holyoke.

Woodruff has worked closely with Admiral Mullen both as a journalist and as a
result of his efforts with his foundation and ReMIND. A former co-anchor of
ABC's World News Tonight, Woodruff began reporting in depth on the plight of
service members injured Iraq and Afghanistan following his own recovery from
the traumatic brain injury he suffered while covering the war. Woodruff's
reporting on veterans issues earned him a Peabody Award in 2008. The Bob
Woodruff Foundation and ReMIND, seek to "empower communities nationwide to
take action to successfully reintegrate our nation's injured heroes back into
their communities so they may thrive physically, psychologically, socially and
economically."

Rene Bardorf, executive director of the Bob Woodruff Foundation, will
accompany Woodruff to the Soldier On Award dinner.

Soldier On has been working to get homeless veterans off the street since
1994. The organization, which operates a shelter in Leeds, Massachusetts, and
a transitional living facility in Pittsfield, Massachusetts, provides veterans
with housing, counseling, job training, education and access to medical and
psychological health services. Soldier On is currently preparing to begin
construction on a historic, first-of-its-kind limited equity housing project
for formerly homeless veterans.

Earlier on the day of the tribute dinner, Soldier On will hold a
groundbreaking ceremony in Pittsfield, Massachusetts for a 39-unit limited
equity housing project. Intended to serve as a national model, the project is
an effort to change the end of the story for formerly homeless veterans.
Veterans who have successfully moved through Soldier On's shelter and
transitional housing facilities will have the opportunity to complete the
transition from homelessness to home ownership by purchasing an equity share
in one of the project's apartments. A second limited equity housing project is
currently planned for Leeds, Massachusetts.

Presentation of the Soldier On Award to Admiral Mullen recognizes the support
the chairman has shown for Soldier On's mission over the 22 months since he
first met with Soldier On President & CEO Jack Downing at the Pentagon.
Admiral Mullen made a commitment at that meeting to support Soldier On in its
ongoing efforts to create a permanent solution to veteran homelessness and to
begin implementing strategies that will help military personnel and their
families readjust following a return from conflict. In June 2008 Admiral
Mullen, at Downing's request, made a public policy statement at the National
Coalition of Homeless Veterans conference in Washington, D.C., announcing his
formal commitment to solving the problem of homelessness among veterans.

Admiral Mullen is the 17th and current Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.
He is the highest ranking officer in the United States Armed Forces. Admiral
Mullen previously served as the Navy's 28th Chief of Naval Operations. His
other four-star assignments include Commander, U.S. Naval Forces Europe;
Commander, Allied Joint Force Command Naples; and 32nd Vice Chief of Naval
Operations.

In addition to Woodruff, Soldier On's tribute dinner for Admiral Mullen will
be attended by Massachusetts Lieutenant Governor Tim Murray, and Stephen
Coyle, CEO of the AFL-CIO Housing Investment Trust, and Gordon Mansfield,
former Deputy Secretary of the United States Department of Veterans Affairs.

For more information on Soldier On visit wesoldieron.org.

SOURCE Soldier On

Darby O'Brien, +1-413-533-7045, darbyo@darbyobrien.com, for Soldier On