We Gift More Than Just a Motorcycle

Riding is an alternative therapy; and our gifts are the tools by which an injured Veteran rider regains its healing benefits. The Harleys are not awards for service achievements, popularity-based or simply thank-you gifts but are, instead, meant to help redirect, if not save, struggling and at-risk Veteran’s lives by returning them back to The Road. While our goal is to gift one bike a year, since our first gifting in May 2016, FIFTY SIX Wisconsin Veterans have now regained riding in their lives. YOU put them on some incredibly beautiful bikes that fill their hearts, clear their minds, and reconnect supportive bonds. In 2025 alone, your support has made it possible for another TEN struggling, injured WI Veteran riders to regain healing and freedom from The Road. We are currently in fundraising mode for more Harleys to gift in 2026, and we thank you for being on this ride with us.

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LATEST NEWS

INTRODUCING VETERAN #58: Marine Brett Peterson of Thiensville, WI was born and raised in Slinger, WI. After childhood tragedy and a rough path as a young adult, Brett joined the Marines in 2004 for redirection and the chance to serve and protect others. The Infantryman specialized as an Amphibious Assault Vehicle Crewman; and on his first MEU deployment, spent everyday thinking he was heading to war in Iraq. Instead, he moved into the Philippine jungles to support their military in operations against Al Qaida. Brett returned, trained up and deployed to Iraq in 2006 for six months in one of the war’s most violent and deadliest time periods as a Squad Leader on over 150 patrol/combat missions. Despite the PTSD and TBI symptoms already showing themselves, he re-enlisted, successfully moved through three years of recruitment duty, then deployed to Afghanistan for a year working with the Afghan National Security Forces. The volatile and duplicitous nature of the position worsened his mental health struggles; and upon returning, he chose to separate from service. Brett bought his first motorcycle after returning from Iraq and rode hard through the next seven years until he lost his job during Covid…then lost his truck and Harley when his loans defaulted. Brett has determinedly worked to manage and push through the PTSD and TBI struggles he deals with daily; but the one tool he’s been missing and unable to regain has been a motorcycle. Hogs For Heroes felt it was time that void in his heart and mind be filled. Brett had been walking his dog past Suburban Motors H-D, wishing hard for the gorgeous 2024 Street Glide Special sitting out front, and we made it his the very next day. Unique to Brett’s bike, it has been fully sponsored by the 2024 fundraising efforts of Tavern League of Wisconsin members across the state. Brett’s Presentation of Keys Ceremony will be on Sunday July 13 at 12:30 pm at Sheryl’s Club 175 in Slinger, WI. We’ll be hanging out from 11-3 with live music from Rugged Charm. Click here to read Brett’s story…and click here for the July 13 event flier.

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MEET VETERAN #57: Army Veteran and First Lieutenant Dan Rigney of Mosinee, WI spent his first 15 years in the Army National Guard as a Cannon Crewmember, and per his words “wasn’t much of a soldier”. It wasn’t until he was mobilized to England in 2003 that he first understood what it meant to be a soldier…and he wanted more. After being challenged by another, he applied to the Army’s Officer Candidate School, at age 33. He took his commission with WI Prairie du Chien 229th Engineer Company and shortly after was involuntary deployed to Iraq to fill a leadership vacancy. While in Iraq he learned his organic unit, the 229th, would be deployed to Afghanistan for a year, and he volunteered to go as their Platoon Leader with no real insight yet into just how large a toll Iraq would take on his mental health. He returned stateside, jumped back into civilian and work life, and began preparations for Afghanistan. While in Afghanistan’s Kandahar Province, his crew worked to build combat trails for Infantry access in dangerous, high insurgent areas, and the toll taken was hard. Frustrated with leadership politics and behavior, Dan retired just eight months after returning and in 2015, with a total of 24 years in service, and began a dark, spiral downward. He’s worked hard to move forward, but after selling his bike to pay off his debt, he’s been borrowing bikes for the therapy it offers. We thought it time he have his own bike to continue moving forward. Dan found his 2023 Road Glide Special at Suburban Motors H-D in Thiensville, WI and received his keys in a double gifting ceremony with Recipient #56. His beautiful ride was sponsored by the generous fundraising efforts of the Operating Engineers Local 139.

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NOW SAILING: VETERAN #56! Naval Petty Officer First Class Johnathan Oppermann of Waupon, WI, turned his love of shop classes, and desire to defend, into a Navy Engineman position right after high school, far advancing in rank and expertise during his nine years with them. He also turned his childhood dirt bike into a passion for riding. While on board ship in 2020, after his crew finished hand-rigging lines to lower a life raft capsule, Johnathan stood a deck below guiding the 400 lb. item when the lines snapped. Pinned below the capsule, he was left bracing its weight against the bulkhead for fear its impact could open the raft on ship. He heard and felt the pop in his back, along with immediate pain; and by the next day he was unable to get out of his chair. He had herniated three discs, and two surgeries within the next six months did little to ease the pain and radiculopathy to his legs he still deals with today. Johnathan was moved into a desk position, away from engine mechanics, and into a Medical Review Board that decided to remove him from the Navy. He’d lost his world and future and fell into both a painful depression and unemployment. With full custody placement of his daughter, there is not room in their family budget to get a bike and the wind therapy he misses. We thought it time a positive break land his way. Johnathan chose a 2024 Street Glide in Whiskey Fire from Suburban Motors Harley-Davidson in Thiensville, WI. His gorgeous bike is fully sponsored by the 2024 fundraising efforts of Wisconsin’s Operating Engineers Local 139, and he will get his keys on June, 28, 2025 at 4:30 pm following the benefit ride they are hosting for us. Click here to Johnathan’s story and check out the flier for the day’s benefit ride by clicking here.

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MEET VETERAN #55:  Marine 1st Sergeant Dave Tellefsen of Fond du Lac, WI grew up in a military family with generations of service; and it was all he wanted to do himself. He was a hard-charger who wanted in on the fight; and after two deployments to Iraq, he still wanted more. He went on to pursue advanced certifications, train others and deploy to non-combat areas; and after 22 years of active duty, Dave still questions if he did enough. The 22 years of wear and tear to his body, the ailments from burn pits, and the deep emotional scars of PTSD and survivors guilt certainly convey otherwise. Dave is a CVSO in Fond du Lac, WI, and spends his days advocating and caring for others. Hogs For Heroes felt it was time someone support Dave’s healing by reconnecting a passion that heals. On the showroom floor of Harbor Town H-D, Dave found a 2024 Road Glide in Whiskey Fire to make his his “someday” dream come true. Dave’s received his keys on Sunday, June 8, 2025.  Read Dave’s story here

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LEARN ABOUT PAST RECIPIENTS! Miss the stories of our past Recipients?  Catch them below by simply clicking on the Veteran’s name button. See the Harleys they’ve chosen–some new, some barely broken in–by clicking on the Recipient Photos button here or the icon below.

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CATCH OUR LATEST NEWSLETTER!  Find out the latest happenings and updates in our most recent Hogs for Heroes newsletter.  Read it here!

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SUPER COOL NEWS: Our Recipients created a way to express their appreciation and pride for the healing gifts your donations have made possible.  In addition to the decals they had made exclusively for Recipient use, they chose to have license plates that reflect their gifting number within the Hogs For Heroes family.  Watch for WI motorcycle plates on the road that read H4H## (i.e. H4H6 or H4H47, etc.).  And please note, Hogs For Heroes does not ask Recipients to tag their bikes (or themselves!) in any way.  They choose to do this.

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