Events

The 12th Annual Spies & Heroes Black-Tie Gala
Saturday, October 7, 2023 - Falls Church Marriott Fairview Park
Thank you to all our Sponsors, VIPs, Guests, and Volunteers.
It was a wonderful evening!
Photos can be viewed on Facebook HERE.

Watch the Gala Event Video!

Our beneficiary is the Ruyts Foundation of Veteran Suicide Prevention. Their mission is to provide much needed Mental Health &
Overall Wellness Services for those in crisis. Net proceeds will be used to increase mental health professional services to provide
urgent counseling, increase case officers, and widen the bandwidth of social and mental health services.
Sponsorships, corporate tables, and tickets are tax deductible per IRS rules.

Petty Officer Third Class Carl Felton
Carl Felton joined the Navy when he was just 17 years old.
He left home to fight in World War II, and, as he said,
“I never regretted it for a second.”
Petty Officer Felton trained with the U.S. Navy in communications earning the rating of “Signalman Third Class”. He served aboard British vessel HMS Ceres assigned to US Task Force 127. The Ceres had radar and anti-aircraft weaponry and conducted Shuttle Control Operations one half-mile off Omaha Beach on D-Day. His mission was to coordinate communications for the invasion. He still remembers hearing planes flying overhead.

The ship was targeted by the Nazis firing artillery shells from beach emplacements. In the middle of this, he was working to keep up with the rapid pace of Morse Code messages that were critical to the allies. Much later he would come to understand the full scope of D-Day and how critical his communications skills were to the operation and how critical D-Day was to the Allies winning the War.

Carl assisted in rebuilding the port of Cherbourg in late 1944. He transferred to the Destroyer Escort USS Baker for minesweeping operations in 1945. After a ride home on the Queen Elizabeth, he transferred to the Destroyer Escort USS Robert R. Scott escorting captured submarines. In 1946 he was stationed in Florida where he assisted in decommissioning ships. Petty Officer Felton was discharged on May 3, 1946.

His medals include the World War II Victory, the Europe, Africa, Middle East Theatre Medal with one star in lieu of second Award and the American Theatre Medal. He was appointed as “Chevalier of the Legion of Honor” by the French government for his participation in the Liberation of France.
We are privileged to have Carl Felton as our WWII Honoree at the Gala on October 7th!

Watch Carl Felton on 'Coming Home After WWII'

Lt. Gen. Jody J. Daniels
34th Chief of Army Reserve and 9th Commanding General,
United States Army Reserve Command

With over 40 years of active and reserve service, Lt. Gen. Jody J. Daniels currently serves as Chief of Army Reserve and Commanding General, U.S. Army Reserve Command.

She leads a community-based force of more than 200,000 Soldiers and Civilians with a “footprint” that encompasses all 50 states and five territories, and more than 23 countries across the globe. Her principal military roles have been in Intelligence, Civil Affairs, and training while serving in the US, Korea, Kosovo, Iraq, and Germany. She has commanded at all levels and served on a number of strategic advisory boards.

In her civilian career, Dr. Daniels was previously the Director of Advanced Programs for Lockheed Martin's Advanced Technology Laboratories. Prior to that, she was the Director a research laboratory where she led 30 engineers in two software technology areas. Her principal areas of research and publications are in Artificial Intelligence and Information Retrieval including spoken language understanding, information extraction, case-based reasoning, and human-computer interfaces.

She holds a B.S. in Applied Mathematics (Computer Science) from Carnegie Mellon University, a M.S. and Ph.D. in Computer Science from the University of Massachusetts (Amherst), and a M.S. in Strategic Studies from the U. S. Army War College.

Her awards and decorations include the Distinguished Service Medal, Defense Superior Service Medal, three Legions of Merit, Bronze Star Medal, five Meritorious Service Medals, Joint Service Commendation Medal, four Army Commendation Medals, Combat Action Badge, and Knowlton Award.

She is married to Col. (Ret.) John McCarthy and has a grown stepdaughter, Shannon McCarthy.

John Booty
John Booty is a former NFL Defensive Back. He was drafted in the 10th round, the 257th player picked, in the 1988 NFL Draft. John played Eight seasons from 1988-1995 for Five teams, the New York Jets [88-90], Philadelphia Eagles [91-92], Phoenix Cardinals [93], New York Giants [94], and Tampa Bay Buccaneers [95].

He is currently a consultant for several businesses since 2011. John is Committee Co-Chair for the Congressional Football Game Charity event, guest NFL Analyst on News Channel 8 Toyota Sports Talk since 2007 and stays involved in community outreach, as a motivational speaker and assisting non-profit organizations around the Maryland-DC-Virginia area.
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John will be the emcee for the Gala on October 7th!

Gary Clark
Gary takes pride in his accomplishments as an NFL Player as he is a Two-Time Super Bowl Champion of the Washington Redskins; a Two-Time MVP of the Washington Redskins, a Three-Time NFL All-Pro, a Four-Time NFL Pro Bowler, Eight-Time All-Madden Team Recipient, One of the 70th

Greatest Redskins of All-Time, a Washington Redskins Ring of Honor Member and Inducted into the Washington, DC Sports Hall-of-Fame. He is the Founder of Gary Clark Incorporated (GCI), a business development and marketing company which partners with the expertise of other companies, industries and individuals.
A graduate of James Madison University with a bachelor's degree of Science in Social Science, Clark started GCI with the understanding that he wanted to have an "actionable plan" that would build a company where integrity, creativity, focus and innovation represented the foundation and the primary formula for success.
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Gary will be our NFL VIP at the Gala on October 7th!