(Click the stars to read an excerpt.)
Links from Tell My Sons...
From Chapter 2.
January 2010 - KARE 11 News Story on the Weber Snow Fort . Little did Mark know, the cancer was already growing wildly out of control inside his body. Seven months later, he would be diagnosed with Stage IV cancer.
From Chapter 7:
May 2011 - Matthew Weber Sings "Tell My Father". Several months after the massive surgery that left his dad with severe physical complications, permanent drainage tubes and catheters, and failed to remove the cancer, Matthew competed for the position of soloist in his high school performance of “Tell My Father.” His father sat in the audience with tears streaming down his face.
From Chapter 8:
November 2010 - The Minnesota Vikings Honor Mark Weber as Hometown Hero. Just two months after his Stage IV diagnosis and the failed surgery to remove the cancer, the Minnesota Vikings honored Mark as their Hometown Hero. The game turned out to be a squeaker, as the Vikings came from behind in the last few minutes of the game to tie, and then won the game in overtime – a metaphor many people hoped would apply to Mark’s cancer fight.
June 2012 - Lt Col Weber Gives Army Birthday Speech. This was Mark’s final official speaking engagement as an active duty officer. Two weeks prior he’d been told that his second chemo trial had failed and the cancer had rapidly progressed in his liver to about twice the size it had been three months prior. Only about 25% of his liver remains viable and within two months he was on his fourth chemo trial.
June 2012 - Lt Col Weber and Son, Matthew, Sing "Tell My Father".
August 2012 - Remarks about Mark from General Martin Dempsey, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff
The US’s highest ranking military officer provides a ten-minute living eulogy of Mark that captures the essence of how and why Mark has been able to make such an impact on himself and so many other people.
Book Links
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Book Photo Album
1 - 40
Tell My Sons... by Lt. Col Mark M. Weber - photos listed by chapter in the book.
Foreword – Photo of Mark with Robin Williams and Blake Clark, when Mark served as Lead Planner for USO Tour for Gen Myers in 2004
Chapter One - Mark at age 17, Cretin-Derham High School in his military uniform. (1989)
Chapter One – Mark giving Grandpa Garofalo a sponge bath just months before Mat passed away. (2009)
Chapter One – “Grandpa Sandwich,” with newly commissioned Second Lieutenant Mark Weber. Grandpas Weber on the left and Garofalo on the right. (1994)
Chapter One – Private First Class Mark Weber at US Army Basic Training. (1990)
Chapter Two – Half of Mark’s abdomen cut open to allow digestive juices to drain; the other half is opened a few days later. (August 2010)
Chapter Two – Game of Risk between Mark, Matthew, Joshua, and Noah. (2011)
Chapter Two – The Great Weber Snowfort. (2009)
Chapter Two – Snowfort 2009 with Matthew, and cousin Taylor peering from the bedroom. (2009)
Chapter Two – Snowfort 2009 with cousins, Caitlyn and Taylor Weber. (2009))
Chapter Three – Private Mark Weber Receiving Distinguished Honor Graduate recognition from Basic Training and MP School. (1990)
Chapter Three – Weber receives the Army's General Douglas MacArthur Leadership Award (Best Company Grade Officer in the Army) from Army Chief of Staff GEN Shinseki, and Sergeant Major of the Army Tilley. (2002)
Chapter Three –Left section of the garden Mark completed just one month before his diagnosis. Now we know that the cancer was growing inside him during the three years it took him to build it.
Chapter Three – Center section of the garden.
Chapter Three – The '57 Chevy Racecar #26. (1977)
Chapter Three – Denny Weber with the checkered flag. The sight made him a legend in the eyes of his own sons. (1977)
Chapter Three – “Dynamite” Denny Weber. (1977)
Chapter Four – This is the picture Kristin says she walked past every day in the hallway outside the ROTC office in Mankato in 1992 before they started dating - it remains one of her favorites of Mark.
Chapter Four – Mark and Kristin shortly before their engagement. ( 1994)
Chapter Four – Mark and Kristin Weber shortly after their 18th anniversary. (2012)
Chapter Five – The “Bullet Hole” hole is born. This is the hole on Mark’s abdomen that developed after the massive surgery that failed to remove the cancer. After a year of infections, it has finally burst through the skin and is permanent. (August 2011)
Chapter Six – Major Mark Weber with the personal security detail of General Babakir Zibari. (2005)
Chapter Six –Major Weber receiving a private tour with General Babakir inside the blown up Baath Party Headquarters of Saddam Hussein. (2006)
Chapter Six – GEN Babakir and MAJ Weber in traditional Kurdish dress of the Peshmerga (2006).
Chapter Six – Then-Lieutenant General David Petraeus (right) and Major Weber, Iraq. (2005)
Chapter Six – Major Weber in blackhawk helicopter during one of his 60 travels with General Babakir in Iraq throughout 2005 and 2006.
Chapter Six – Iraqi Homemade delicacy - Lamb Platter. (2006)
Chapter Six – Then-Lieutenant General Martin Dempsey presenting the Bronze Star to Weber. (2006)
Chapter Seven – The family cat, Abby. (2012)
Chapter Seven – Three drainage tubes installed. The feeding tube was placed in the center of his chest the next day. (January 2012)
Chapter Seven – The “bullet hole” as it looks today, jaundiced skin, and the permanent catheter that connects his liver to his body. (August 2012)
Chapter Seven – Captain Weber engaging in playful banter with Secretary Rumsfeld. Rumsfeld ribbed Mark for the question he asked. (2004)
Chapter Seven – Secretary of Defense Rumsfeld and General Peter Pace holding Mark’s mocked up photograph of them. Inside a paper bubble above Rumsfeld’s head, Mark wrote, “Damn, he’s good.”
(2005)
Chapter Eight – Joshua and Noah help promote their dad to the rank of Lieutenant Colonel in front of 64,000 Vikings Fans. (November 2010)
Chapter Eight – Joshua looks on as dad salutes the crowd.
Chapter Eight – Kris, Matthew, Joshua, and Noah bowed in prayer at Mark's medically forced retirement from the US Army due to lack of progress on chemo treatments.
Chapter Eight – Kris, Matthew, Joshua, and Noah join General John Vessey, the 10th Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, as the National Anthem is played.
Chapter Eight – Mark kisses Kristin after she is recognized with the Minnesota Superior Service medal for her contributiuons and sacrifice during Mark's Army career.
Chapter Eight – Looking back, Kristin found this picture of Mark kissing her in 1994 at their wedding in the same way as his retirement ceremony 18 years later.
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In Praise of Tell My Sons
(Click each name to read.)
-
Mitch Albom,
International bestselling author of
"Tuesdays with Morrie"
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Walter Mondale,
Former U.S. Vice-President
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General Babakir Zibari,
Iraqi Chief of Defense
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Dr. Siddhartha Mukherjee,
Pulitzer Prize winning author of
"Emperor of All Maladies: A Biography
of Cancer"
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Donald Rumsfeld,
Former US Secretary of Defense
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John Elway,
Super Bowl Champion of the Denver Broncos
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Tim Pawlenty,
former Governor of Minnesota
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Cathy L. Greenberg, PhD,
Bestselling author of,
"What Happy Women Know"
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General John Vessey,
10th Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff
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General Richard Myers,
15th Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff
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General Peter Pace,
16th Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff
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Jay Heinrichs, author of
"Thank You for Arguing"
-
Lee Skold,
Chairman, Outward Bound USA
-
Eric Greitens,
CEO of The Mission Continues
-
Dr. Ronald Heifetz,
Bestselling author of
"Leadership Without Easy Answers"
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General Martin Dempsey,
18th Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff
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General David H. Petraeus, US Army (Ret), Former Director of the Central
Intelligence Agency
Did you know that Kristin and I are donating one-half the proceeds from the book? God knows where this will take us, but if the story inspires enough people, we want to use it to serve something bigger than ourselves - not to lighten hardships, but to help young people navigate them.
BULK ORDER PRESALE COPIES
Would you like to order 25 or more copies of TELL MY SONS?
Contact Martin Schmutterer at Common Good Books, Mark’s local Indie, and he'll take care of you: 651.225.8989 or martin@commongoodbooks.com.
Available Now
A story of empowerment, encouragement, and inspiration.
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