You can contact the hotel or Lisa at 315-752-0150 to book your room. Be sure to mention the Team Dykeman/Andrew Bateman block of rooms for you discount.

I had the best end of the year, and a great holiday!

Now it’s time to look forward in this new year. I have a lifelong mission to support Ginger and the Kids. Last year we choose to run the Marine Corp Marathon. Wasn’t that great; I can’t help but smile looking back. We did it, we really did it! Please share any stories. Keep in contact. We raised over $3,000. That’s awesome.

In June we are issuing another scholarship in honor of Captain Dykeman. This year the date for the 2nd Annual Captain Philip Dykeman Memorial Golf Tournament is July 10th, 2010. The golf course is in Central Square, NY at Green View Golf Course. Golf, whether you are good or bad, isn’t as difficult as Running 26 miles. So, keep it in mind if you are not going to run this year!(hahaha)
This year the Marine Corp Marathon is October 31st. Halloween! I bet that will be fun. There is also a very small marathon in Fulton NY. It is very near the Dykeman family. It is up to the Team where we run this year. Also, if Ginger asks me to run the MCM, I will run it, no questions asked.

Please let me know what you are up to, how are your Families? We are doing great, very busy with the kids. They are both doing indoor soccer, and Morgan is doing Girls on the Run with her school, and will be running a 5k in April. Very proud of her! Julie is still very busy with Real Estate. I have put on a little weight, but have been running the last few weeks. Going to be ready for the warm weather!
Please feel free to call me at anytime at (919)795-3971!

Always Faithful,

Andrew Bateman

As many of you know, my friend and cousin, Captain Philip J Dykeman, USMC, was killed in action on June 26, 2008, while serving our country in Iraq. Phil died at the young age of 38 leaving behind his wife of 10 years, 3 children – Austin, 10; Emilee, 8; Ashley, 8 – and an extended family stretching across the country that miss him dearly with every passing day.

Personally, Phil and I shared so much through our lives – his mom and my mom are twins (we grew up together); I introduced him to his wife, Ginger and I am the Godfather of his daughter Ashlee. I struggled to deal with the tragedy of the death of my cousin and friend. I needed an outlet – a way to handle the pain and to show the world my pride in his service and my love for this great man. I decided to run a marathon – ‘Team Dykeman’ had its first member.

I started running a few weeks after Phil was killed – it felt right, but I still needed a true purpose.
Thanks to the support and help from many people, the Captain Philip J. Dykeman Memorial Scholarship was formed. Through fundraising efforts during my first marathon last November, continued contributions throughout the year and the very successful first annual Captain Philip J. Dykeman Golf Tournament, we have raised almost $9,000 and are proud to have issued the first scholarship this past June to Ryan Martin of Paul V More High School (Phil’s alma mater) who is now attending college for Physical Therapy – congratulations, Ryan!

We are tremendously grateful for the success that has been achieved and the support – both moral and financial that we’ve received. Team Dykeman has grown to well over a hundred members with runners joining in from all over the country. Our next big race is the Marine Corps Marathon in Washington DC on October 25, 2009. Team Dykeman has 14 runners participating and we are again seeking your support.

I have listed below the mailing address for Paul V More High School. Please help make the second year for Team Dykeman perpetuate this amazing first year by making a monetary contribution to the Captain Philip J Dykeman Memorial Scholarship. We truly need your support to ensure this scholarship fund can and will continue. Once again – this is your opportunity to show Phil’s wife and kids and all of Team Dykeman how much America appreciates the sacrifice that Captain Dykeman has made for our country.

You can make donations by check to:

Paul V. Moore HS Endowment Fund*

Please notate in the Memo: ‘Dykeman Scholarship’. Please fill out the donation form below and mail to:

Central Square School District
Attn: Mrs. Lisa Fox, Treasurer
642 South Main Street
Central Square, NY 13036

*Don’t forget to check to see if your company has a matching program – you may be able to double the impact of your contribution!

If you’d like to learn more about Captain Philip J. Dykeman you can visit www.teamdykeman.com. Here you will find information about:

•Phil’s service in the Marines
•Phil’s numerous awards and recognitions
•Phil’s incredible experiences in Iraq
•Phil’s emails to ‘Cousin Andrew’ during his time in Iraq
•Photos
•Comments / memories from Phil’s family and friends
•More about ‘Team Dykeman’ and our purpose and goals

You can also keep up to date on the upcoming races that Team Dykeman will be running on Facebook! If you have any questions, you can email me at andrew_fsi@yahoo.com or call me at (919) 795-3971.

One last note – I want to extend an invitation to all of you to come to the marathon on October 25th in Washington DC – it will be an event to remember! There are 30,000 runners, and over 300,000 spectators.

On behalf of my cousin Phil, his family, and everyone who believes in supporting our troops, fallen soldiers and the families they leave behind – I thank you for your time; for your consideration and for your support.

I am not a Marine, but I run for one.
Always Faithful,

Andrew J. Bateman – Raleigh , NC
Proud Cousin of Captain Philip J Dykeman, USMC

……………………………………………………………………………………………..

Yes! I would like to show my support for Captain Philip J. Dykeman and his family:

Name(s) ________________________________________________________________
Address_________________________________________________________________
Phone _________________________________________________________________
Email _________________________________________________________________
Check Enclosed #_______________
Date _______________

______$25 ______$50 ______$75 _____$100 ______$500 ________$1000

______Other $___________

Make Check Payable: Paul V. Moore H.S. Endowment Fund
Important: Note “Dykeman Scholarship”
Mail to: Central Square School District, Att: Mrs. Lisa Fox, 642 South Main Street, Central Square , NY , 13036

Would like to announce that my Brother Steve Bateman is signed up to run with us at the MCM.  He signed up on April 1st, but stayed in the closet til he knew that he could run it.  He just did a 10k at a 8:30 minute pace!  I think he will be fine.

Mike and Holly Redwine have started their training.  Holly just ran over 5 miles for the first time.  I can’t wait to see you guys again!  Jen Brooks is running in my neighborhood rubbing it in my face that she beat me at our last 1/2 marathon. 

Brent and Samantha Crane are running all over Jacksonville.   I know that Jon VanDeusen played golf last week, that doesn’t count as exercise!  I have not spoken to my friend Dewayne in a few weeks, but i know that he will be ready!   Why is it that Brian Handly is going to France in August and the other three have decided to run a Marathon?  I am proud of my Brother -in-Law Kevin Voss that he is going to run with us.  Please share you stories of training, or if you would just like to make a sarcastic comment, please do!

If you need any information about the hotel or events surrounding the Marathon, please let me know (919)795-3971.

This is Memorial Day weekend.  It will have a new meaning to me.   One that hits close to my heart.  Take a moment and run or think about Capt Phil this Monday.

I think of him every day.  As members of Team Dykeman i want you to be proud of what we are doing.  On June 7, 2009 we are awarding the First Scholarship in his name.  It is going to a Graduating Senior Soccer player from his High School.   I couldn’t be prouder of all of you.  Thank you.

So Christmas morning PJ gets his BB gun and is all happy.  We go over the important safety stuff like don’t shoot Kathy or the dog (with anything more than a single pump, two if it was a long shot). Just kidding.. But really..  We both took turns shooting at cans and targets and such.

I don’t know how long after this Christmas but it was summer so it had to be at least a year and a half later and I was home on leave again.  We were playing with the BB gun out in the front yard.  At some point he threw an apple at me which was pretty common at our house as we had several apple trees around the house.  Anyway I pumped that BB gun 30 times or more. (I actually lost count and can’t remember but 30 sounds good) I kept threatening to shoot him and he kept running, hiding and throwing apples. 

You probably need to be familiar with the layout of our house to fully appreciate this but here is the Shot:

I was at the Maple tree next to the driveway probably 60-70 feet from the foyer to the house.  He was in the garage and out of apples.  I couldn’t get a clear shot at him as he got through the garage into the pantry.  The door into the house was open and there was about a 4 foot distance between the pantry to the house.  From where I was standing I only had about a 2 foot gap where I could see him poking his head out looking for an opportunity to bolt across the opening. I was moving to get more in line with the opening to give myself a better chance when he made his move.  I saw him start I shot I heard him yelp with pain.  I knew I hit him in the but or leg although I didn’t know where until we both got inside.

The BB didn’t go through his jeans but did leave a really good welt on his thigh.  Having been hit similarly earlier in my life I knew it stung.  He didn’t cry he wasn’t really mad he just said that it hurt.  To my knowledge he didn’t tell mom I shot him and although he threatened me with vengeance he never took it. He literally turned the other cheek.  I apologized to him of course.  I really didn’t think I would be able to hit him on the run with only a 2-3 foot gap with a bb gun at 60-70 feet away.  But Every now and again he would remind me that I shot him.  As in the first story this was one of the things he would bring up to make me feel guilty and such.

I am not real sure what this says about PJ other than he was a forgiving man.

1. I am writing as the memories come to me not in any specific order.
2. These are my and memories and may not be the same as actual events or how anyone else remembers them.
3. I welcome enhancements to the stories, If I forgot something remind me of it.
4. I encourage everyone to write their own versions as we are trying to tell one Man’s story and no One’s story can be told by just one person.
5. I reserve the right to change any of these when ever I want.
6. If you can’t read this with out scrutinizing my writing style, spelling, grammar, or anything else that should be followed in proper literary fashion you may want to stop now.. This will probably give you fits. If you wish to be my personal editor let me know and I can send you advance copies for chop.

I am only four years older than Phil and Kathy is only 2 so our early memories are fuzzy. I don’t remember him coming home for the first time. I don’t think that our house was finished yet at this point. I have seen pictures of us three together when he got home but as I said have no recollection of it.

My first prominent memories of Phil are of him being sick. I am not talking about a cold but really sick. I am not sure about Kathy but I sure as hell didn’t understand how sick he was until very later in life. I remember he was small, I would now call him frail. He had allergies and asthma really bad. Mom spent what seemed like weeks sleeping with him for fear he would not be able to breathe. We had a futon in the family room/kitchen that they would be on. He was allergic to almost everything and anything would/could and often did set off a terrible reaction in him.

It scared me to hear him wheeze and labor to breathe. It scared me so much that all I wanted was for him to stop. He would still bring up the fact that I would threaten him if he didn’t stop wheezing or breathing loudly whenever we shared a room. Kathy will tell you that he loved to torture me with how much I picked on him when we were young and was a little proud of himself that he learned several ways to take care of his big brother if the need ever arouse again. To this day I cannot sleep if someone in the room is snoring, wheezing, or even breathing heavy.

I don’t know how long it was before he started getting shots but the attacks got fewer when he did. He had to have shots every day for a while then it went to weekly for what seemed like ever but was probably most of Elementary and Junior High school. I was gone by this time but think he was still getting shots in high school.

I will tell you I resented him a little bit because while growing up he couldn’t do anything that may set off an attack. He was allergic to almost everything so he couldn’t be around dust or pollen. Any hint of wheezing around my mom and he was protected from anything and everything. While we were young I don’t know how much he played it but in my head I know he played it. This meant that he couldn’t help clean the house (my memory wants to tell me not even his room) or help with any thing out in the yard. This left chores up to Kathy and I. Now they were not hard chores really but to a couple of kids this was not fair and I am sure you are all aware of what happens when children don’t think it is fair.

As Kathy tells it, after I had left the house and he got older our Mom had a “let him suffer” kind of attitude about it so it wouldn’t “handicap” him and almost tortured him sometimes making him mow the lawn and get him to run around. She wanted him to out grow it. When he started playing soccer she never gave him an inch to whine and would actually yell at him to “get up and cry about it later”, but that was usually after a slide tackle that would have him lying in pain and at
the chiropractor that week. Phil would look at her like she was crazy
and get up and finish the game. Kathy looks back at this as the true Boot Camp Phil went through.

MTF

art.dykeman@gmail.com