Last week, I went to my local package store to buy a bottle of bourbon. I was out of Johnny Drum, one of my favorites that I discovered on my Kentucky trip in the spring. But I saw a display that made me put down that bottle and try something new.
The display was for Thirteen Heroes Spirits. On the shelf were a couple of different bourbon varieties as well as vodka and gin. It looked like a good bourbon benefiting a good cause at a great price, so I gave it a try.
It turns out that the bourbon was so good that I knew I had to tell the story. I reached out to Thirteen Heroes and the foundation that it represents, Flags of the Fallen, for an interview, and I spoke to Mike Morgan, who founded Flags of the Fallen and launched Thirteen Heroes.
Both the foundation and the line of spirits have their genesis in the horrific withdrawal of Americans from Kabul, Afghanistan, in 2021. The loss of 13 servicemen and women at Abbey Gate in Kabul prompted Morgan to do something to honor the fallen.
“I've got a little wood shop in my basement, nothing elaborate, but I just like to make American flags and give them to friends,” Morgan said. “So I decided that what I wanted to do at that point is I wanted to make 13 flags. I wanted to put the name of each of the 13 heroes that we lost on each stripe. And I was going to send them to the 13 families.”
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Morgan’s initial flag project turned out well, but naturally, it expanded after divorced parents and extended family members asked for flags. Then the flags became something much bigger.
“So the requests kept coming, but then the big request was — and I'll never forget this, ‘And if we can ask one more favor, it would be, don't stop with us,’” he said. “And that just hits you right in the chest.”
Morgan stipulated that he would make flags for fallen first responders as well, and he set up Flags of the Fallen as a nonprofit. Anyone can nominate a fallen service member or first responder, and Flags of the Fallen will make their family a flag. People can donate to help make flags as well.
“We have to tell people: nominate, donate, and radiate. That's our three words,” he explained. “Nominate people; get them in the queue. If people donate, we get to it faster. Radiate; share everything on social media, and we're still doing a terrible job of that. But, you know, there's only so many hours a day, and we're going to get better at that again in time. So the more people do those three things, the faster everything goes.”
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Morgan compared his work with what other foundations do, and he eventually decided that people are often more willing to donate if they get something in return. So Thirteen Heroes Spirits was born — with bold, audacious plans.
“We created Thirteen Heroes to try and bring in a revenue stream to now allow, not only for us to pay for everything for Flags of the Fallen, but we want to, in time, pay for all of their foundations,” he said. “And I can't wait for the day when one of them picks up the phone and says, ‘Hey, Mike, there's a service member in need in Salt Lake City, Utah; you help them out.’ Here we go. We're going to be doing the surfboard size checks. And you know, we’ve got a lot of steps to get to, but we'll get there.”
Once Morgan gets Thirteen Heroes launched, 100% of the profits from the line of spirits will go to the foundations that the families of the 13 heroes have set up. He also has dreams of a distribution model that would allow veterans to have their own businesses selling Thirteen Heroes in various states.
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Thirteen Heroes has four bourbons, a gin, and a vodka, and tequila is coming soon to the mix. The distiller employs a proprietary process that creates a spirit that’s up to three times more pure than other brands, and I can attest to the smoothness that results from this process.
The bourbons include an 87-proof version, which is the one I’ve tried, and a 100-proof version with a similar flavor profile. They’re both smooth because of that proprietary process. Thirteen Heroes also has a single-barrel variety, which sits in the 126-130 proof range, and a malted bourbon that will appeal to lovers of Scotch.
Thirteen Heroes’ vodka is pure enough that drinkers won’t taste the vodka in their cocktails — so be careful. Morgan said that the gin “isn’t your grandmother’s gin”; rather it’s botanical that’s “almost citrusy.” He’s also excited about the tequila, which will launch soon.
Right now, Thirteen Heroes is available in stores in Georgia, but Morgan says that his team is working on a new website that will include an e-commerce platform where customers in 42 states can buy any of the products. The new site will also include profiles of the 13 heroes and cocktail recipes for each one.
“When we started this, I didn't know the families at all. They didn't know me from Adam,” Morgan confessed. “I have gotten to know these people a lot, some more than others, Some are more private, and I totally respect that. But I am in awe of the fact that they have taken this tragedy, which is the single worst god-awful day of their lives, and almost across the board, it has made them more patriotic, more in love with this country, and more supportive of the military. And, you know, I don't know how they get out of bed each day. But the fact that they've done that just gets me to a level of respect for them. That is just mind-boggling. Again, I can't wrap my head around it, but I'm honored to know them.”
Morgan is proud of Thirteen Heroes and what it represents.
“It is a world-class product, and we want to make the lives better of everybody who follows in those 13 heroes’ boots,” he said. “That's the mission of this. So with that, we were enlisting everybody out there who’s going to read this to help out. Either go out and buy a bottle, or go out and make a donation. Somehow, get involved to help us help them.”
Check out Flags of the Fallen and Thirteen Heroes to learn more.
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