In March of this year, Mission: American Gratitude had a welcome home event for a Brighton,
Illinois resident Sgt. Kyle Lincoln and his best friend Cpl. Jeremy Bates. Cpl. Bates had no idea the welcome home event was also for him as well as his close friend Sgt. Lincoln.

Cpl. Bates is from Hot Springs, Arkansas and still lives near his family there. Due to Cpl. Bates' mother fighting the battle of cancer, Sgt. Lincolns mother knew his family would be concentrating on his mothers recovery, and that it would be hard for them to give him a grand welcome home, so the town of Brighton Il. treated Cpl. Bates as one of it's own returning Veterans.

As of 9:30 Monday evening with her Marine son by her side, Mrs. Alma Speers Bates passed away, fighting a battle of cancer to the very end. After exhausting almost all of their funds and possibly no more insurance to cover a decent burial, the family and our Marine have no where to turn. Cpl. Bates spent 5yrs. of his life to be part of a military that is, to this day defending the freedoms that we take for granted in this country. This is where we, as an adoptive family of this Marine, come in. There has been a fund established at a Regions bank in Hot Springs, Arkansas, and we have a Regions bank in the Alton and Godfrey area. This fund is to help cover the cost of the funeral, somewhere around $7,500.00. If you can give any amount to help in this cause, be sure to tell the Bank that it is for, Mrs. Alma Speers Bates in Hot Springs Arkansas and be sure to get a receipt.

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If you are unable to send any money at this time, please take the time to send a card of encouragement to this Marine family in their time of need. The address is:
The Bates family
2115 Spring St. Hot Springs Arkansas 
71901 

Jeremy Bates
2119 Spring St. Hot Springs Arkansas, 71901


Any assistance that you can do for Cpl. Bates and his family by helping them in their time of need is a small form of gratitude for their service and sacrifice they did for this great nation.

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