• MSN
  • Hotmail
  • More
    • Autos
    • My MSN
    • Video
    • Careers & Jobs
    • Personals
    • Weather
    • Delish
    • Quotes
    • White Pages
    • Games
    • Real Estate
    • Wonderwall
    • Horoscopes
    • Shopping
    • Yellow Pages
    • Local Edition
    • Traffic
    • Feedback
    • Maps & Directions
    • Travel
    • Full MSN Index
  • Bing
  • NBCNews.com
  • TODAY
  • Nightly News
  • Rock Center
  • Meet the Press
  • Dateline
  • msnbc
  • Breaking News
  • Newsvine
  • Home
  • US
  • World
  • Politics
  • Business
  • Sports
  • Entertainment
  • Health
  • Tech
  • Science
  • Travel
  • Local
  • Weather
Advertise | AdChoices
  • Recommended: Winning ticket for huge Powerball jackpot sold in Florida
  • Recommended: Texas grandfather accused in shooting deaths of son and grandson
  • Recommended: 60 injured, five critically, as trains collide in Connecticut
  • Recommended: Facebook shutters page that taunted lawmaker's push to curb military rape

NBC News reporters bring you compelling stories from across the nation. For more US news, follow us on Twitter and Facebook.

  • ↓ About this blog
  • ↓ Archives
    • Icons Email E-mail updates
    • Icons Twitter Follow on Twitter
    • Icons Feed Subscribe to RSS
  • 31
    May
    2012
    1:50pm, EDT

    Boy giving 2nd Disney trip to family of fallen soldier

    By msnbc.com staff

    Brendan Haas, the 9-year-old Kingston, Mass., boy who gave a fallen soldier’s family a trip to Disney World, has done it again.


    Follow @msnbc_us

    During an appearance on ABC’s “Good Morning America” Thursday, anchor Robin Roberts told Brendan that the Walt Disney Co., ABC’s parent company, would award him and his family an all-expenses-paid trip to Disney World. Plus, she said, Disney would provide VIP treatment not only for Brendan’s family, but also for the family of 2-year-old Liberty Hope Steele, whose name Brendan pulled out of a hat to award the first trip. Her father was killed in Afghanistan.


    Brendan responded to Roberts in a Skype interview: “We can’t accept a trip to Disney but we have many more people who would like to have an all-expenses paid [trip] through the raffle, so we can do another raffle.”

    Earlier: Boy, 9, gives away Disney World trip to family of fallen soldier 

    Haas earned the first trip through a trading contest through the "Soldier for a Soldier" page he and his mother, Melissa, set up on Facebook to help out a military family. He got the idea from the story of a man who traded up from a red paper clip to a house.

    After Brendan's TV appearance, fans posted remarks on his Facebook page such as, "You are so amazing and have such kindness and a big heart" and "You are an inspiration to me."

    More content from msnbc.com and NBC News:

    • New tests shed no light on 'burning rocks' mystery
    • Teen in Mexico due to ‘Leap Day’ error can return home
    • EPA planes spying on ranchers? Lawmakers want answers
    • Video: IRS mistakenly sends waitress $400K refund
    • Video purportedly shows NYC student making out with his teacher
    • Man interviews for job, ends up getting detained for 1975 murder

    Follow US News on msnbc.com on Twitter and Facebook

     

    86 comments

    This young man is being raised by such wonderful parents! 'So refreshing to hear stories like this instead of the bad and the ugly that we normally hear of.

    Show more
    Explore related topics: military, facebook, featured, memorial-day, wonderful-world, soldier-to-soldier
  • 29
    May
    2012
    7:06pm, EDT

    Boy, 9, gives away Disney World trip to family of fallen soldier

    A 9-year-old boy has donated his all-expenses paid trip to Disney World to the family of a fallen soldier. WHDH-TV's Reid Lamberty reports.

    By Jeff Black, Staff Writer, NBC News

    Brendan Haas earned a prize any young kid would appreciate — an all-expenses paid trip to Disney World. Instead of going, though, the Massachusetts boy gave the vacation to the family of a soldier killed in Afghanistan.


    Follow @msnbc_us

    Haas earned the trip through a trading contest on Facebook he set up to help out a military family. He got the idea from the story of a man who traded up from a red paper clip to a house.

    In February, Brendan and his mother Melissa set up the "Soldier for a Soldier" Facebook page in an attempt to trade up from a toy soldier to a Disney trip.


    Through a series of trades on the social network site, he managed to amass Disney gift certificates worth almost $900 as well as airfare and a stay at a Disney resort hotel.

    On Memorial Day, the boy pulled the name of 2-year-old Liberty Hope Steele out of a hat. She is the daughter of U.S. Army Lt. Timothy Steele, 25, who was killed last August in Afghanistan.

    “I think it would make them a lot happier,” Brendan Haas said.

    It turned out that Timothy Steele’s parents live in nearby Duxbury, Mass., so Brendan went over to the family’s home and surprised the soldier’s parents with the news of the trip.

    The story was first reported by NBC station WHDH-TV.

    “Tim was pretty special to us,” Jack Steele, Timothy’s father told WDHT-TV. “He knew what he wanted to do at a very young age.”

    Haas' ingenuity, sacrifice and thoughtfulness led to an outpouring of admiration on Facebook.

    “Your one amazing young man,” wrote Ann Marie Smith Braga, “Our family lives on Hanscom AFB in Bedford, Mass. We are an active duty Army family. I want to thank you from all the Army families here at Hanscom.” 

    “Your parents must be so proud of you,” wrote Cheryl Simoes-Buente. “I hope you always will be such a caring and amazing person. God bless you for your thoughtfulness!!!”

    More content from msnbc.com and NBC News:

    • Teen wins right to wear 'Jesus Is Not a Homophobe' T-shirt to school
    • Nuclear terrorism: 1986 NEST files reveal confusion in training exercise
    • Violent holiday weekend claims at least 10 lives in Chicago
    • What caused naked face-chewing attack: Bath salts, LSD?
    • Video: Bear cools off in backyard pool

    Follow US News on msnbc.com on Twitter and Facebook

     

    177 comments

    What a great kid

    Show more
    Explore related topics: military, facebook, featured, memorial-day, jeff-black, soldier-to-soldier

Browse

  • featured,
  • crime,
  • military,
  • weather,
  • california,
  • florida,
  • updated,
  • environment,
  • us-news,
  • new-york,
  • shooting,
  • texas,
  • education,
  • chicago,
  • police,
  • gulf-oil-spill,
  • kari-huus,
  • nbcnewyork,
  • los-angeles,
  • murder,
  • new-jersey,
  • guns,
  • afghanistan,
  • obama,
  • colorado,
  • sandy,
  • nbclosangeles,
  • trayvon-martin,
  • barack-obama,
  • crime-and-courts,
  • politics,
  • gay,
  • veterans,
  • connecticut,
  • fire,
  • religion,
  • boston-marathon-tragedy,
  • crime-courts,
  • snow
Also
Advertise | AdChoices

Jeff Black, Staff Writer

I'm a senior writer and editor working on the news team.

Archives

  • 2013
    • May (281)
    • April (608)
    • March (548)
    • February (510)
    • January (563)
  • 2012
    • December (457)
    • November (460)
    • October (477)
    • September (432)
    • August (525)
    • July (519)
    • June (508)
    • May (566)
    • April (538)
    • March (576)
    • February (471)
    • January (417)
  • 2011
    • December (455)
    • November (190)
    • October (9)
    • September (3)
    • August (51)
    • July (8)
    • June (3)
    • May (12)
    • April (5)
    • March (3)
    • February (1)
    • January (8)
  • 2010
    • December (5)
    • November (1)
    • October (2)
    • September (28)
    • August (40)
    • July (35)
    • June (177)
    • May (50)
    • April (9)
    • March (2)
    • February (2)
    • January (4)
  • 2009
    • December (5)
    • November (5)
    • October (2)
    • September (11)
    • August (4)
    • July (12)
    • June (1)
    • May (1)
    • April (1)
    • March (3)
    • February (3)
    • January (2)
  • 2008
    • December (3)
    • November (2)
    • October (6)
    • September (30)
    • August (26)
    • July (10)
    • June (4)
    • May (8)
    • April (13)
    • March (9)
    • February (7)
    • January (6)
  • 2007
    • December (10)
    • November (6)
    • October (22)
    • September (11)

Most Commented

  • Obama calls IRS flap 'inexcusable,' announces resignation of acting IRS chief (3697)
  • At least 19 injured in New Orleans Mother's Day shooting (2758)
  • NTSB recommends lowering blood alcohol level that constitutes drunken driving (1580)
  • Benghazi, IRS, AP: A guide to the 3 storms confronting the White House (2525)
  • Fired lesbian teacher: Catholic educators union won't back me (2028)
  • 5 unanswered questions about the IRS targeting of conservative groups (1961)
  • Abortion doctor Kermit Gosnell convicted of first-degree murder (1648)

Other blogs

  • The Body Odd
  • Cosmic Log
  • Red Tape Chronicles
  • PhotoBlog
  • Open Channel

NBCNews.com top stories

3147,10
© 2013 NBCNews.com
  • US news on NBCNews.com
  • About us
  • Contact
  • Help
  • Site map
  • Careers
  • Closed captioning
  • Terms & Conditions
  • Privacy policy
  • Advertise