FCW Insider: Another big name gets an "R"... Ed Meagher retiring in July

On Friday nights for the past two and a half years — in a back corner of a restaurant in the basement of the Capital Hilton a few blocks from the White House — magic has been happening. Each week, injured warfighters have come to Fran O’Brien’s Stadium Steakhouse to get a free steak dinner. The meetings were private affairs. A burly-looking bouncer stood at the door to protect these men and women so they could enjoy their meals.

The idea of serving the free steak dinners started out small with the invitation of a single soldier. But those Friday nights have become major events — occasions to embrace the men and women who have made great sacrifices in service to their country. Many of the people who started the Friday night event are veterans themselves — many of them Vietnam War veterans. They remember how they were treated when they returned home from that war, and they have worked to ensure that others will not be treated the same way.

Ed Meagher, deputy chief information officer at the Interior Department, is a member of the team of special wizards who have sponsored magical events at that magical place. I attended the Friday night event April 28. It was an amazing experience and inspired hope. At these dinners, you see severely injured male and female warfighters — some in wheelchairs, some with prosthetic limbs, some midway through their difficult recovery, said Meagher, who won the Federal 100 Eagle award last year for his work with the injured veterans.