'A lot better than going to the game'

LIBERTYVILLE -- Brad Buell sat in his office with a satisfied smile Thursday morning, not looking at all like someone who literally let a trip to the Super Bowl slip through his fingers.

Buell, a longtime Bears fan and season ticket holder, was a winner in the Bears Super Bowl ticket lottery and purchased two seats -- good seats, as it turns out -- to Sunday's game.

But he'll be here in frigid Lake County with the rest of us Sunday, watching the game on television. And he's fine with that.

In his place, Bryan Anderson, a Rolling Meadows resident and Purple Heart recipient who lost three limbs in Iraq, will be watching the Bears' bid to make Super Bowl history. The second ticket is going to Anderson's brother.

"I think this is a lot better than going to the game," Libertyville resident Buell said.

When he found out he would be able to purchase the tickets, Buell contacted a friend who lost her son in Afghanistan and asked about donating them to a veteran. She suggested Buell contact The Wounded Heroes Foundation, which suggested Anderson as a recipient.

Buell said that in a telephone conversation, Anderson called him and began profusely thanking him for the Super Bowl tickets.

"He was so thankful and I told him 'You don't need to be thanking me. If anything, it should be the reverse,'" Buell said. "These men and women have given up so much and made so many sacrifices, it's the least we could do."

Buell said he also plans to designate some of his season tickets next year for disabled veterans. And he hopes his gift to Anderson will prompt others to consider similar actions.

"I hope maybe this small gesture will get out there and give other people ideas to help Wounded Heroes and other foundations similar to that," Buell said.

Anderson, an Army sergeant who lost both legs and part of an arm in Iraq, is involved in efforts to establish a memorial in Washington for disabled veterans.

After Buell offered the tickets to Anderson, Lt. Gov. Pat Quinn's office helped arrange first-class flight tickets and lodging for the Anderson brothers.

Fearing the dreaded jinx, Buell, who said he has been a Bears fan all his life, did not want to make a public prediction on the outcome of Sunday's game. But it was fairly clear that for him, it's already been a win-win situation.

Libertyville bears fan gives his ticket to iraq vet