PORTLAND, July 7, 2006
Soldiers Get 'Vacation' Surprise
Buddies Headed To Florida Keys
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Play CBS Video Video Soldiers Get Vacation Surprise Only On The Web: Dave Price went to Portland, Ore., to award four buddies with a "Great American Vacation" getaway to the Florida Keys.
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Video Florida Vacation For Soldiers Daniel Sackett, Matthew McDonnell, Shawn Brennan and Johnny Garland are high school friends who served in the military. Dave Price gave them a trip to Florida as part of the "Great American Vacation."
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Video Price Visits Science Museum Dave Price visits the Oregon Museum of Science and Industry in Portland, and is amazed by a science experiment done by a 7-year-old boy.
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Shawn Brennan and John Garland, who served in the U.S. Army, are just back from Iraq and will join two of their high school buddies on a fishing trip to Key West, Fla. (CBS/The Early Show)
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Dave Price, left, surprises Daniel Sackett, center, and Matthew McDonnell with a surprise getaway to Key West, Fla. (CBS/The Early Show)
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Photos "Vacation" Photos See the places we've been and the people we've met during The Early Show's "Great American Vacation" tour.
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Video Archive 'Vacation' Video The Early Show's "Great American Vacation" recipients and stories from our road trip
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The Early Show 2006 Road Trip! We traveled the country giving away dream vacations! See where we've been and who got surprise getaways.
Maryann Sackett wrote to the The Early Show about why her son, Daniel, and three of his buddies are deserving of a "Great American Vacation."
"These are four outstanding young men that went to high school together. They're just all-around good guys," the proud mom told The Early Show's Dave Price. "When they left high school, they all enlisted in the service and all went away for four years and have never been back at the same time."
Daniel Sackett, a Marine who served in Okinawa, Japan, and Quantico, Va., and Matthew McDonnell, a Marine who served in Iraq, were on hand for The Early Show's giveaway surprise at the Oregon Museum of Science and Industry.
Watch as Dave Price checks out the museumThe men have two friends serving in the U.S. Army — Shawn Brennan and John Garland — who were watching from home as Dave Price announced the foursome were the recipients of a surprise vacation.
This band of brothers have not had the opportunity for a guy's getaway, but will soon get the chance with a fishing trip to the Florida Keys.
Dave chats with two of the vacation recipientsThey'll be spending five days and four nights at the beautiful Tranquility Bay Resort in Marathon, Fla.
Their stay includes a fishing trip with a Tranquility Bay guide, breakfast every day, a Key West VIP pass for attractions, lunches and drinks — plus a check for incidentals such as a rental car — all thanks to the Monroe County Tourist Development Council.
Airfare is courtesy of our "Great American Vacation" travel partner, American Airlines.
While McDonnell is looking forward to spending time in the sun, Sackett
says he's looking forward "to being together and letting it sink in that we're all home again."
"It's a great feeling to serve," Sackett said. "I've been wanting to do it since I was little. No regrets. I enjoyed being in the service and loved being a Marine... its just time to do something else."
July 12: Salt Lake City, Utah | July 14: Denver, Colo.
Check out our map: if you live in one if the cities we're visiting, tell us about the one thing we just have to see and about someone there who's deserving of a "Great American Vacation."
E-mail us at vacation@cbsnews.comWho knows ... maybe we'll send them packing!
©MMVI, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.
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