Sick children in a hospital is hard enough. They’re scared. They’re bored. They’re stressed about who and what they’re missing. And on top of all that, they’re not feeling well.

Doctors, nurses, and technicians work hard to provide care for these patients. But in addition, giving kids some healthy outlets to pass the time in the hospital, and take their minds off their medical condition can be just what the doctor ordered.

This issue became the trigger for a toy drive to benefit pediatric patients at the Palomar Health Downtown Campus hospital in Escondido, California. The campaign was organized by a former U.S. Marine at Camp Pendleton. When a couple of the Marines on the team at Ares Armor Inc. heard about the toy drive, they quickly stepped up and stepped in to help their comrade help the kids.

Photo: Will Smith and Atreyu Jiminez of Ares Armor Inc.

Matthew Quinn was on active duty in the United States Marine Corps at Camp Pendleton last year when his daughter suffered a kidney infection. He says she received excellent care, treatment, and family support at the base hospital.

As a result of this experience, Matthew Quinn became aware pediatric patients from other families don’t have the same resources to help them get through their hospital stays. “Other parents don’t have the means or availability to entertain their kids in the hospital,” says. “They really struggle.”

This was all the ammunition needed for launching a toy drive.

Despite the best of intentions, the act of kindness still needed an upper. In addition to his family life, Matthew Quinn is very busy as one of the co-owners of the new Warfighter Academy military training center which just opened its doors in Escondido.

The guys from Ares Armor Inc. joined in the mission and got their own company to open its arms and checkbook to make a strong final push for success. Will Smith took time over last weekend to go shopping for new toys. CEO Bryce Stirlen contributed a donation of $1500 for more toys and activities to occupy the kids while in the hospital.

“Prior to this toy drive effort, the pediatric center had a small toybox,” Quinn says. We literally walked in with an SUV and pickup truck loaded with new toys. Thanks to the Ares donation, we’re going to purchase more. The staff were very excited. One of the nurses was so touched she wound up crying.”

“We’re grateful for this opportunity as a company to assist U.S. Marines on our team in supporting one of their own in the community, and making hospital stays just a little bit easier for sick kids,” added Bryce Stirlen, CEO, Ares Armor Inc.

Yes, the big guns in any pediatric hospital are always the medical professionals on staff. But hopefully, being able to provide better play time for the little boys and girls inside those patient gowns will also play a role in getting them healthy and back home.

Says Quinn, “If this one thing provides kids and their families with some kind of happiness during challenging times in the hospital, then it was important for us to do.”

Its name came out of respect for veterans. Its mission came out of respect for civilians, law enforcement and military professionals. Now, the new Warfighter Academy is bringing together these communities by serving them with a one of a kind, state of the art, defensive weapons and tactical training center.

The 32,000 square-foot training facility is located in Escondido, California. That’s about 25 miles southeast of Camp Pendleton in Southern California. Warfighter Academy just opened its doors a month ago, acting as a great bridge between the city’s past and future. Its team of owners, both retired military and civilians, have renovated the old Escondido Police Headquarters which had become overrun with vandals, squatters, and animal critters.

Mission accomplished. Really.

Dave Maynard is the Master Instructor at Warfighter Academy, and rightly so. Dave is a legend in the tactical operations community. He began his career as a U.S. Navy SEAL back in 1972. He successfully completed roughly 30 combat deployments, with his final deployment in 2012. Over that 40 year span, he trained with basically every high speed group and government agency. Dave Maynard is considered the world’s leading authority on Low Light Training, and one of the world’s top experts on gunfighting.

Dave and his partner, Sonny Garcia, have been working together training various special forces for the past eight years. Now, along with U.S. Marines from Camp Pendleton, Matthew Quinn and Joe Smith, they have created a facility they say is the first of its kind in the United States.

Warfighter Academy is the place where experienced combat veterans provide you with exceptional, adaptable training opportunities which can develop or fine tune your skills. It’s the same type of high adrenaline, instructional training which American forces have been successfully doing around the world for more than 40 years.

“We’ve known there has been a big outcry for civilian training,” says Sonny Garcia, one of the owners of Warfighter Academy. “People are always asking us how they can get military-style training. And both law enforcement and military professionals are always looking for more training to hone their skills.”

Now, men and women of all ages, as well as teens, can get the same military combative concepts, and training this team has done for years. The big difference is they’ve made it more manageable to fit busy American lifestyles. “We’ve taken our 5-day 60-hour training sessions and broke them down into intense 90-minute skill set classes on 4 different levels,” explains Garcia. “What’s great is we have the ability to train people with all levels of experience, and each level of our program builds upon the next.”

The Warfighter Academy offers specialized courses is essential skills including:

• individual force-on-force
• individual room clearing
• room clearing with a partner and/or team
• low light tactics

Warfighter Academy Escondido also provides true home defense and other real-life scenarios for civilians. You’ll get trained on how to neutralize aggressors in customized layouts such as home residences, business offices, and school classrooms.

Because defensive weapons and tactics training must be repeated and updated to maintain the highest standards of skill and safety, Garcia adds, “There are no real firearms and live fire on the property. A lot of people are intimidated. They own guns but don’t really know what to do with them. Everything we do is simulated. It will be a no-stress environment.”

Along the same lines, they also offer various membership packages. This helps people get the training they want in affordable and cost-effective ways.

“The work the boys at Warfighter Academy are doing is simply amazing,” says U.S. Marine, Will Smith, Director of Wholesale Accounts at Ares Armor Inc. “They are offering a chance for anyone to learn the basics of gun fighting and the chance to evolve their skills under the guidance of some excellent teachers. In this day and age, those very skills may save your life or the lives of innocent people.”

Four U.S. Marines are dead. Three other people including a police officer and another military member are injured. The gunman was also “neutralized” or killed according to law enforcement officials. The Chattanooga shootings done ambush style took place this morning at two different sites of the Naval Operation Support Center.

The shooter in these incidents has now been identified as Muhammad Youssef Abdulazeez. He was 24-years old and was residing in Hixson, Tennessee, a few miles from Chattanooga. It is believed he was born in Kuwait, but was a naturalized U.S. citizen.

Photo: Muhammad-Youssef-Abdulazeez from Hamilton-County, TN DUI arrest in April 2015.

Authorities believe he acted as a lone gunman in the Chattanooga shootings. However, an intense search into his connections is underway to determine if he was working with others, or was part of a bigger plan for additional attacks. His known address was quickly raided by law enforcement.

The FBI is leading a very detailed investigation of his personal background, firearms checks, and whether or not he was motivated by allegiance to ISIS or other similar groups. U.S. Attorney Bill Killian said officials were treating the attacks as an “act of domestic terrorism.” FBI Special Agent in Charge Ed Reinhold said they were still investigating a motive.

A chilling tweet from a reported ISIS related account was posted online minutes before the Chattanooga shootings took place.

Officials in Chattanooga, Tennessee confirmed the shootings began around 10:45 a.m. local time. Witnesses say he drove up to the scene in a silver Mustang convertible. He then began firing multiple shots with a high-powered rifle.

The gunman opened fire at two separate locations. One was an Armed Forces Recruiting Center which housed both a U.S. Army and U.S. Marine Corps Recruiting Office. The other was a Naval Operation Support Center, where all of the fatalities and injuries are believed to have occurred.

Secretary of the Navy Ray Mabus released a public statement on the shootings. “Today, the Navy and Marine Corps team collectively mourn the loss of four heroes. “The tragedy in Chattanooga is both devastating and senseless. On behalf of the entire Department of the Navy family, I offer my deepest condolences to the families of those killed and wounded in service to our nation during this incident.” Secretary Mabus added, “While we expect our Sailors and Marines to go into harm’s way, and they do so without hesitation, an attack at home, in our community, is insidious and unfathomable.”

U.S. Marine Will Smith, Director of Wholesale Accounts at Ares Armor Inc. shared this statement on behalf of the company:

“The tragedy that took place today reminds us all that we must always remain vigilient and continue to uphold our oath to protect our nation from all enemies foreign and domestic. Our hearts and prayers are with the families of the fallen. It is my hope that they find peace quickly in this dark time. Until Valhalla Brothers.”

President Barack Obama expressed his condolences regarding the four fallen Marines. “My main message right now is obviously the deepest sympathies of the American people to the four Marines that have been killed,” he said to reporters in the Oval Office. “It is a heartbreaking circumstance for these individuals … to be killed in this fashion.”

The president promised to be thorough and prompt in figuring out what happened in these tragic Chattanooga shootings.