Update! :)

Update:                                                                                                                               May 15, 2012

I wanted to share this news with all of you!

First off, a huge THANK YOU needs to be said to all of you from me.  I truly appreciate the support you all gave this little surprise project.

So as the letter states, a Purple Heart U.S. Marine who is a good friend of mine, lost his autographed hat that was signed by his favorite music artist, Justin Moore.  This happened on April 29 at the Stagecoach Music Festival in Southern California. 

After finding out that his hat was missing, I wanted to do something.  So I began composing a letter to Justin Moore himself.

I originally emailed the letter to Justin Moore’s record label and various other email addresses I could get a hold of, as well as posting on his facebook and mailing a letter to the record labels mailing address.

I then contacted Catfish from Sacramento’s Country Radio Station, 105.1 KNCI, and he posted the letter on his facebook page.  This is when I knew we had something good going.  The support that people, you all, showed immediately really gave us confidence in this surprise for Doug.

Again, I want to thank Catfish and everyone on Catfish’s KNCI page who gave such encouragement. As well as Northern California’s one stop place to find all the information needed about upcoming concerts and shows, NorCal Country! http://www.norcalcountry.net

The 2^nd step was to begin using Twitter as a tool.  We spent time tweeting and being re-tweeted by many country music artists, Professional Bull Riders, Pro Wrestlers, radio stations, Justin Moore fan pages, and Justin Moore himself.  Monday morning, Justin Moore re-tweeted one of the posts containing a link to the letter.

Aaron Watson also has jumped on board and has requested boot size and an address.  This is still to be determined what will be happening with this, but we are excited to see the outcome of this as well!

This lead to us being unsure if he read it or just tweeted it for us.  So we began our request that he was able to actually read the letter in the link. 

This morning we received an email from Justin Moore’s tour manager… Justin Moore was requesting an address to mail a package to! Although we are still unsure what will be mailed exactly… we do know that a special surprise package has now been shipped out today for Doug to receive!

We are so excited to receive this package and see what Justin Moore is surprising Doug with. 

Next week, I will be driving to the Marine Base in 29 Palms to hang out with Doug and close friends.  I am currently making a little journal that sort of tracks the process, along with all of your encouraging comments and what we did to get letter to Justin Moore. Along with giving him that, I will be of course letting him open up the package!

I will definitely be keeping y’all posted on the rest of this outcome.  It will be so much fun to see Doug’s reaction.

Again, we really thank each and every one of you, and truly appreciate your encouragement and support!

Love and God Bless!

Jennifer Barth

P.S. His most recent deployment was his 5^th and last deployment.  He is based in 29 Palms now and should be for the remaining time of his service.  However, if any of you would like to pass on a note or letter or anything, I can easily get that to him.  I can include it into the journal or give it to him separately!  It’s always nice to be appreciated for the dedicating so much time and effort for our country.  

We are trying to get Justin Moore's attention and have him read this letter. I know this is a really odd request... but was wondering if y'all could help me out with a surprise gift to a Marine who means a lot to me.

Long story short, at Stagecoach in Southern California, he was wearing his black cowboy hat he has had for years, and it was signed by Justin Moore before he left on his last tour to Afghanistan. He got back a few weeks before stagecoach, and wore it that weekend, and it was stolen from him... So I wrote this letter, and I have been trying to get it to Justin Moore somehow. I have sent it to the contact email address for his record label and mailed out one to the mailing address.

 Twitter: #DougsHat

 Justin Moore,                                                            May 5, 2012

 I am writing you on behalf of a friend of mine, A Marine. I am not sure how to word this in the most effective way, but I hope that you read this. He is originally from Louisiana and now is stationed at 29 Palms. He is one of the many men who has served our country over and over again as a Marine.

 He has served over seas for 5 combat deployments, with the heart aching job of a Sniper. This U.S. Marine is also a Purple Heart Recipient. He’s proud of his service and loves his country. Even though he has seen more than we can even imagine, he holds his head up high with pride.

Recently a group of us celebrated his return home by going to Stagecoach in Indio, California. We couldn’t wait to see your performance and during your set, he mentioned to me that your music helped with his last tour.

He had the chance to see you in concert before he left for this most recent tour. He was able to meet you and talk to you for a bit at that show. At Stagecoach, he couldn’t stop raving about how great of a man you are. He had a black cowboy hat that he has had for years signed by you. He was so proud of that autograph on the inside of it.

The weekend at Stagecoach was just what a soldier needs when returning home, surrounded by close friends, family, good people, and of course, the music. I keep thinking back to the afternoon before your set, when Doug picked up his guitar and sang your songs, “If Heaven Wasn’t so Far Away”, “Bait a Hook”, and “I Could Kick Your Ass”, a small crowd gathered around the RV to see him with his black hat signed by you singing and playing his heart out.

The reason I am writing you today is to ask a favor. Monday afternoon he called me in a panic asking if I knew where his hat was. My heart ached when he explained that he couldn’t find it anywhere. Last thing he remembers was dancing and singing to the closing acts Sunday night. It is such a bummer when you lose something with so many memories attached, especially a cowboy hat he has worn for years, signed by his favorite music artist.

If at all possible, it would be such an honor to receive something back from you to give to him. I know it is a lot to ask, and I am not normally one to do these kinds of things. But it would be awesome to give such a gift to someone I treasure and to someone who has served our country so many times. He has been through so much and still is such a strong man, I couldn’t think of a better way to surprise him.

Thank you for your time. I appreciate that you took time out of your busy schedule to read this.

Jennifer Barth
Jen.barth@yahoo.com