The White Mountain Board of REALTORS®, in keeping with it’s commitment to community service, will be bringing nationally known motivational speaker, KENI THOMAS to the Mount Washington Valley on October 22, 2008. Those of us who have heard him speak were inspired to find a way to share his message with our community. He is no ordinary speaker!
Keni was honored by a major motion picture that told his story in an elite group of a Delta Force soldiers and American Rangers sent to Somalia on a critical mission.
Keni’s powerful presentations will start in the morning at a student school assembly at Fryeburg Academy, in the afternoon before the student body at Kennett High School and in the evening at Kennett High School for the business community and general public, which will be a life changing opportunity for some. He connects his experiences to everyday life and his presentation illustrates how TEAMWORK, LEADERSHIP AND EDUCATIONAL TRAINING play a vital role in survival and, ultimately, success in life.
In the summer of 1993, SGT Thomas and B Company were deployed to Mogadishu, Somalia as part of a special operations package called Task Force Ranger. Their mission was to find and capture a criminal warlord named Mohammed Farrah Aideed. On the 3rd of October, Keni and his fellow rangers distinguished themselves in an 18 hour fire fight that would later be recounted in the highly successful book and movie “Blackhawk Down”. Nineteen Americans died and 78 were wounded in the worst urban combat seen by US troops since WWII.
SSG Keni Thomas stayed in the Army for 3 more years as an assistant team leader for a six man ranger reconnaissance team. He earned his master parachutist rating with over 380 military free fall jumps. He completed the Special Forces Combat Diver course, became an Advanced EMT and was one of ten Americans to complete the Belgium Commando Course.
When Keni got out of the Army, he went to work as a counselor for problematic youth. He is a national spokesperson for the Hero Fund and the Special Operations Warrior Foundation which provides college educations to the children of our special operations personnel killed in combat or training.
In additional to numerous speaking engagements for organizations ranging from Fortune 500 companies to the Boy Scouts, Keni Thomas now works full time as a Nashville recording artist. His critcally acclaimed debut album, “Flags of our Fathers,” was recorded as a tribute to our troops and their familes. It was produced by Grammy award-winner, Brent Maher, and Mark Selby. A nationally touring recording artist, Thomas and his band Cornbread have opened for such artists as Keith Urban, Wynonna, Phil Vassar, Trace Adkins and Braid Paisley. Thomas and his band Cornbread were also featured in the movie Sweet Home Alabama and his song “Not Me” was heard on country radio stations nationwide. He worked as a military advisor on the Mel Gibson movie “We Were Soldiers”. He has also been fetaured on Good Morning America, and made numerous appearances as a military analyst on CNN, PBS, NB C Dateline, Fox and the History Channel.
Keni Thomas is a graduate of the University of Florida and the recipient of the Bronze Star for Valor.
