“He Had
Everyone's Back.”
In Honor of LCpl Michael Wayne Hanks · 1982 – 2004
The Michael Wayne Hanks Legacy Foundation stands with Gold Star Families, veterans, and service members, because the bond forged in service does not end on the battlefield.
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Fund Mission HANKS, Make It Weird training, and the reunions that bring families and units back together.
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Gold Star family, veteran, or service member looking for connection or resources? Start here.
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We preserve the memory of the fallen. We support the Gold Star Families they left behind. We stand with the men and women who fought beside them. Some had to figure this out alone. No one else should have to.
The Marine Behind the Mission
Michael was the kid who stood up for his friends. The Marine who never left one behind. The joker who kept morale up when everything else was breaking down.
During the Second Battle of Fallujah, Michael led his fire team through ten days of some of the fiercest urban combat of the Iraq War. He pulled wounded Marines out of ambushes. He eliminated enemy fighters preparing to strike passing American units. On November 17, 2004, he charged a fortified enemy position and was mortally wounded. He was 22 years old.
He was posthumously awarded the Silver Star and the Purple Heart. In 2024, he was inducted into the Michigan Military & Veterans Hall of Honor. In 2026, the bridge over I-96 near his hometown was named for him. For Michael, passing under it always meant he was home. But the words that stay with his family aren't from a citation. They're from his sister.
"He had everyone's back. That sums it up." Melissa Hanks Ketchel, sisterRead His Full Story
She Showed Up.
And She Kept Showing Up.
When Melissa lost her brother in 2004, she reached out to the Marines who fought alongside him, showed up, and then she stayed.
Twenty years later she's still there, connecting Gold Star Families to the units their loved ones served in, delivering suicide prevention training to service members, veterans, families, and civilians, and turning nearly two decades of advocacy into lasting programs.
"Make it weird. Pick up the phone. Ask the uncomfortable question. Stay on the line long enough to hear the real answer." Melissa Hanks Ketchel, Founder
Her story, told a few different ways
- The Havok Journal “A Marine’s Legacy”
- Wounds to Wisdom Book & Podcast
- Urban Valor Interview
How We Serve
Memorial & Reunion Events
We advise families and units on the logistics, outreach, and experience it takes to bring people together the right way.
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Suicide prevention training for service members, veterans, families, and civilians, built around asking hard, direct questions and intervening early.
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A living database connecting Gold Star Families to their fallen loved one's unit, reunions, and events.
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