Up Next, Petty Officer Jessica O'haver
Brings Us A Story About An Operation Of A Different Kind.
An Operation Created By Civilians For The Military.
This Story, Like Many Others, Is About A Boy And A Girl.
A Sailor And A College Student Who Met And Were Engaged Just Before His Ship,
USS Antietam, Deployed In Support Of Operations Iraqi And Enduring Freedom.
But This Love Story Has A Twist Neither Of Them Expected.
Shannon Grauer And Storekeeper 3rd Class Christopher Miers
Planned To Have A Small Wedding At The Naval Station San Diego Chapel When He Returned
From Deployment.
But The Luck Of The Draw Had Them Headed Down A Different Aisle.
And That's What It Was, A Drawing For An All Expenses Paid Wedding Called 'Operation I Do.'
"It Was An Online Registration. You Basically Gave Your Personal Information
Um Chris' Rate And Rank And All That. And Then It Was Like May, I Think,
When We Did It. We Really Forgot About It Over The Summer Cause We Really Didn't Think
We Would Win."
But, When The Day Of The Drawing Came
Man Calls Out Names Of Winners "Christopher Miers And Shannon Grauer From El Cajon."
They Won. The Only Pre Qualification Was One Member Had To Be Deployed During Operation
Iraqi Or Enduring Freedom.

"When A Soldier Commits Their Time To Their Country
And Military Is The Same Thing As In A Marriage
So They Had Decided As A Thank You From San Diego To Offer This Wedding."
Nearly 50 Vendors In The San Diego Community Volunteered Their Premier Services To Cover
Every Detail Of The Wedding.
Following A Reunion On The Pier, After 8 Months At Sea
Chris And Shannon Were Ready To Have The Wedding Of Their Dreams.
"They're Holding The Wedding Ceremony And Reception Both At The Sheraton Down By The
Bay
And Everything's Paid For. There's An Open Bar And All Kinds Of Stuff,
Everything. It's Really Expensive." But Expense Isn't A Factor In This Operation.
It's All About Making Chris And Shannon's Wedding Like A Dream.
"I'm Speechless. It's Amazing Um I Mean We Had To Change Our Dream Wedding Basically,
Adjust It To Our Small Budget. Now We've Got This Wedding That We Don't Have To Pay For
And That's Just Given To Us Out Of The Kindness Of People's Hearts
And We Just Can't Believe It!" Music From Band Plays, Shannon Walks Down The Isle.
Believe It Or Not The Giving Didn't Stop At One Wedding.
So Many People In San Diego Wanted To Give Back To The Military,
They Offered 2 'Operation I Do' Weddings To Accommodate All The Contributors.
And In Both Ceremonies Everything From The Wedding Rings To Rehearsal Dinner Is Included.
"My Wedding Dress Was Provided, Chris' Tux, My Dad's And My Ring Barer's, Um
Our Honeymoon And The Conquistador In Tucson, A Limo, A Hotel For Our Wedding Night.
A Whole Sit Down Dinner For The Reception, Invitations, The Place Cards.
They're Giving Us A Photographer, A Videographer And An Awesome Wedding Planner
And It's Just Amazing." After All Was Said And Done, Mister And Misses Miers
Will Never Forget The Day San Diego Said 'Thank You' For Chris' Military Service.
For The Naval Media Center I'm Petty Officer Jessica O'haver.