Donnie Edwards was an NFL linebacker for 13 seasons with both the Kansas City Chiefs and San Diego Chargers, and was a 2002 Pro Bowl player. Prior to that, he was an All-American at UCLA. His contributions post-retirement have already made a significant impact in the lives of hundreds of military veterans and their families.
In 2018, Donnie and his wife Kathryn founded the nonprofit Best Defense Foundation. The BDF motto is: Taking Care of the Ones Who Took Care of Us, by honoring veterans from past conflicts, including World War II, Korea, Vietnam, and those who have recently retired.
Edwards and his team of volunteers, many of whom are veterans or active military personnel themselves, have worked to bring veterans back to the battlefields where they served since the foundation’s inception more than five years ago.
Preparations are already well underway for a program to mark the 80th anniversary of D-Day in June 2024.
This past June, on the occasion of the 79th anniversary of D-Day, Edwards and his team of volunteers took 43 WWII veterans and their assigned caretakers aboard a Delta charter from Atlanta, Georgia nonstop to Deauville Airport in Normandy.
There was a large crowd of enthusiastic French citizens and dignitaries waiting at the airport for the arrival of this unique flight.
As part of the week-long program, veterans were taken to Omaha Beach, one of the critical places where they helped turn the tide of history during the war, and to the American Cemetery perched above the Omaha cliffs. There are 9,387 graves of American military dead in the cemetery, most of whom died during the D-Day landings and ensuing operations, which helped free France and ultimately much of Europe from control by Nazi Germany.
The program included parades and other special commemorations throughout the Normandy region, including Carentan, Sainte-Mere-Eglise, Bayeux, Ver-sur-Mer, and Caen. On the return program this past June, as it was in 1944, the American military personnel were greeted as liberators and heroes throughout the week by the people of France.
The veterans also visited children at a local French school, connected with British WWII veterans and visited a German cemetery.
Prior to the program, Donnie Edwards said, in part: “we are drawing near to a time when these commemorations will no longer have a WWII veteran present. It is with great pride that the Best Defense Foundation and our dedicated partners can provide this opportunity to… veterans… and provide them a once-in-a-lifetime experience to remember those they served with and preserve their story for all generations to come.”
