With two autographed guitars held high, actor Dennis Quaid, star of the summer movie “Reagan,” and country singer Coffey Anderson paid tribute to Gold Star families Saturday night in Anaheim by supporting a local nonprofit that provides assistance after military deaths.
Anderson, who became widely known for his “Mr. Red, White and Blue,” which he performed at the funerals of nine of the 13 servicemembers – including three from Southern California – killed during the American military withdrawal from Afghanistan, did his best to get the instruments’ highest value during an auction at the Golden Boot Awards Gala to benefit the Seal Beach-based Honoring Our Fallen.
Through her nonprofit, founder Laura Herzog, 53, helps Gold Star families and the military casualty assistance officers assigned when there has been a death with logistics on the ground such as transportation and working with law enforcement to coordinate procession routes, and connecting with funeral homes and cemeteries to ensure service members are treated honorably. She also makes sure Patriot Guard escorts are in place and the public knows about the procession so people line the streets in tribute.
She calls her efforts “hero missions.”
This year alone, she’s done 80 casualty missions, including helping to lay to rest several sailors and troops killed in the attacks on Pearl Harbor who were recently identified with progress in DNA testing.
Saturday’s sold-out event at the City National Grove of Anaheim raised more than $30,000 for Honoring Our Fallen; Herzog applauded the support from Quaid and Anderson, who also performed for those gathered.
“To stand there with Dennis and Coffey and sing ‘Amazing Grace’ with them,” she said, “it is a moment that will be with me till the day I die. To have two men who are so busy with their own lives and families to give to our cause makes my heart sing.”
The $5,500 raised by the guitars was dedicated to Staff Sgt. Jerry Betzold, 26, a Marine who died on July 28 in a rollover while overseeing a training exercise at Marine Air Ground Combat Center Twentynine Palms.
Herzog was with two Marines driving Betzold’s body from the mortuary to the Ontario Airport when she got a call from one of her board members about needing the two guitars for the upcoming fundraiser. As she was talking, Staff Sgt. Tyler Leikness, Betzold’s barrack mate and friend, overheard her.
“Me, I’m always trying to help people,” said Leikness, who put out the call and through a former Marine who served with Betzold and now works for Guitar Center, secured the donation. “Before we got on the flight, we had two guitars.”
That, to Herzog, was no accident, but rather an example of “God providing.”
“I was called to serve Staff Sgt. Betzold and his family and we had a need, and it was provided,” Herzog said. “Where God calls, he provides. Instead of spending the money to buy guitars for Coffey and Dennis to autograph, it was like getting guitars from heaven.”
Just the day before the gala, Herzog was at Twentynine Palms, celebrating Betzold’s life at his unit memorial. Missy Groover, Betzold’s mother, was also there from Indiana.
“He trained people to be the best person they could be and to come home,” Groover said Friday. “For him to be recognized at this gala is a testament to how he thought more about others than himself. Service above all others, that’s what he stood for.”
Groover also praised Herzog and wrote a $5,000 check to help her group continue its mission.
“Laura has been amazing,” Groover said. “When the (casualty care officers) called, she was there to help not only me, but Jerry. The amount of support she gave the two Marines who brought their fallen brother home was amazing. It means a lot to me; he was my son, my pride and joy.”
It’s Herzog’s passion to help these families that inspired Quaid to come aboard and support the organization, the actor said.
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“What she does is the toughest duty of anybody, but such a necessary one for grieving families,” he said. “She guides them through everything at the hardest time of their lives. I don’t know how she does it.”
Quaid met Herzog at the America Salutes You concert on the USS Iowa a few years ago. He was playing with Robby Krieger of The Doors and, after the performance, went over to get a Coke at the bar and noticed the necklace a Gold Star mom was wearing. The woman, who had also been helped by Honor Our Fallen, was with Herzog and the trio got into a conversation about the organization’s mission.
“When you meet these ladies who lost their sons or their husbands and you meet her,” the choice is to “surrender,” Quaid said. “It’s a calling for her, which is why when she asks for something, you just surrender.”
Saturday was the third of the annual galas he has attended.
“It’s an honor for me to be here for these people; their loved ones gave their lives, everything for this country,” he said. “I can’t imagine having to experience that in my life. It’s what keeps this country strong and it’s the ultimate sacrifice that these people in our Armed Services make. We need to remember that and honor them.”
“Seeing all these families sitting here and taking a selfie with Dennis, that’s the first time I’ve seen them smile after sitting with them at their son’s funeral,” Herzog said.
Quaid is also a spokesperson for Tunnels to Towers, an organization born from the Sept. 11 attacks that supports military and first responder families and veterans.
“‘Thank you for your service’ has become such a cliche, but not if it’s said with meaning,” he said, encouraging others to support veterans’ organizations and “help support these organizations. She goes out every day. She meets every plane that comes here; what a duty that is.”
Quaid, who said he relished the challenge of playing Ronald Reagan, added the 40th president would have been “very proud and inspired, I think, by what Laura does.
“Reagan came along at a time very much like today when we were being told we were a nation in decline and our military was hurting,” he said. “Reagan rebuilt the military and he made it OK to be patriotic again. We need a lot more of that today.”
Among those who attended Saturday’s gala were Gold Star parents Evelyn and Carlos Baltierra of Corona. Their son, Bryan Baltierra, 18, was the youngest of the eight Marines and one corpsman who died in 2020 when the amphibious assault vehicle they rode in sank to the ocean floor off San Clemente Island during a training exercise.
“It was wonderful,” said Evelyn Baltierra of meeting Quaid and Anderson.
“I introduced myself, and he kept kissing me,” she said of Quaid, adding that he knew her son’s story and was highly emotional. “I could feel the closeness. Coffey reached out with his big, long arms – he’s 6’5′ – and hugged me so hard.”
“For them to be there is a great feeling that people understand and want to show their emotions of support,” she said. “It was so overwhelming. It melted my heart.”
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