Are They On Your Mind - Or Have You Forgotten?

I was away in Tucson, AZ for the past 4 months. Over that time I did not have a lot of time to blog. Yeah I got some done but not as much as usual. I did have a lot of time to think though and one of the things I thought about often was that when I returned home I was going to have to contact Soldiers' Angels to sign up for a new soldier to whom to send care packages and with whom to keep in touch by email. That thought was prompted over and over again as I realized that most people in the USA do not seem to remember that we are at war on two fronts right now - one in Iraq, and one in Afghanistan. I saw, everywhere I went, that we act normal during time of war. That is not normal for the people of a country unless they have in essence forgotten the war or have not been affected by it. I think there is a combination of both and an add on of the fact that we have gotten used to being at war. Of course there is the fact that the media is not blasting President Obama anywhere as near as they did President Bush (is that media bias). There is little to nothing in the news each day about how many soldiers died this day or that day, there is little reminder that we are up over four thousand dead and tens of thousands wounded, there is little to report on how successful we are in Iraq or Afghanistan, the reports of fighting are few and far between - yet our military men and women keep on getting killed despite our current president promising to bring them home in short order once elected.

It is a shame that so many of us have seem to forgotten that we are at war whether it be because it does not affect us as much as it should or because it is convenient not to mention it such as in the lesser amount of media coverage it currently receives. Of course there are those who do not forget. They who are there on the front lines have not forgotten. They who are here at home who have sons, daughters, husbands, wives, friends or lovers in the midst of a war do not forget. They who have their loved ones return without being able to say goodbye - they do not forget either - and for them the memories will never fade. There are also some others of us who do not forget; as you will see the folks in rural GA certainly remember that we are at war and what it means to be an American and how important it is to honor our troops.

A few lines below this you will find an embedded video of a procession bearing the body of fallen Army National Guardsman Sergeant 1st Class John C. Beale from a small airport just south of Atlanta to his home in McDonough, GA. SSGT. Beale was killed near Kapisa, Afghanistan on June 4, 2009; two other National Guardsmen fell with him that day - Maj. Kevin M. Jenrette and Spc. Jeffrey W. Jordan. All three suffered fatal wounds due to improvised explosives and small arms fire. (As to John C. Beale please note: I have given his rank as Sergeant 1st Class and as Staff Sergeant because I have seen it both ways in reports of his death and because I do not know if there is a distinction.)

Apparently a notice was placed in local town newspapers about the date and time of when the procession would likely take place. Those notices apparently had some great effect, much like the force to topple the first of thousands of dominoes. I never saw this on the television news - but maybe it was reported on, I never heard about it on radio talk shows - but maybe they covered it, I never heard a word about it - not until I received an email from a friend of mine today who had a link to the video. Maybe you have seen it, maybe not. If you have not seen it - watch it and be humbled, maybe even shamed. If you have seen it before, watch it again.



Damn it folks, if tears did not start flowing down your cheeks, or at least well up in your eyes, then there is something wrong with you. If those tears did flow, then there is something you need to do as an American. You can contact a group like: Soldiers' Angels, A Million Thanks, Email Our Military, Tell Them Thanks, Hero Box, Operation Dear Abby, or another one that helps to get you in touch with our troops and start an email/letter writing and care package sending campaign to help keep their spirits high. As for the above, I can only speak about Soldiers' Angels, Email Our Troops and Operation Dear Abby by way of personal experience since I have used those three to contact our troops. With Dear Abby and Email the Troops I never got a reply from the troops but that was okay - supposedly they forwarded my emails to them. With Soldiers' Angels - well that is a different story. You see I 'adopted' a soldier from them twice. They give you privileged information about a serviceman or servicewoman serving our country overseas. Then it becomes your responsibility to stay in contact with, and send care packages to, that person for the duration of his or her deployment. I can tell you this - the soldiers appreciate it very much. Luckily, both of the soldiers that I 'adopted' came home alive and well as opposed to how Sgt. Beale arrived back home. The thing is that Sgt. 1st Class Beale was honored for his sacrifice and I wonder, if while he was in Afghanistan was anyone here among us or among the throng of people who honored his posthumous return home thinking of him then - was anyone thinking of what you, I, we could have done to make his day better while he was still alive and fighting for us over there? I certainly hope that was the case - I hope that at least he knew some of us back home remembered and cared that we had troops in harms way fighting a war many of us seem to have forgotten - I hope someone let him know that by way of sending him a letter now and again, and sending him a care package chocked full of goodies, goodness and hope.

What I am getting at is that if you have a conscience, if you love your country, if you believe in freedom and democracy and our way of life, if you truly want to support our troops, then you had best be thinking of certain things that you can do to help after having watched that video. You had best remember that we are at war, that people like Staff Sergeant John C. Beale serve and die for our country and for us all to regularly while fighting it, that too many of us seem to have forgotten that or just do not care, that it is not one of life's trifles but is an important thing in the line of many that keeps us a free nation, that there is something you can do to help even if you are here sleeping safe and sound in your bed each night, and that it is truly up to you - to us - to get it done.

So get to it now - right now - click on those links over at the right side of my blog under the Support Our Troops header and start supporting them yourself. Having the war or the troops on your mind does not get it done. Saying "I support our troops" or displaying a banner or bumper sticker that says likewise does little to really give them support. Do something tangible to not only show your support but to actually bolster them up and do it now. It will not only benefit our troops and America it will be good for your soul - believe me on that one.

There have been 77 other military personnel who have died while at war (the info at this link is humbling indeed) since the day SSGT Beale was killed in action.Yes folks the war is still going on - our soldiers, airmen, sailors, marines are still fighting and dying for us - have you remembered that lately? Have you done anything to support them?

All the best,
Glenn B

Tour of Duty - Almost Complete

When I signed up with Soldiers' Angels, I guess I never had a clue as to how rewarding an experience it could be for me, or for anyone. Sure I knew it would be a morale boost for the soldier who would be selected as the one to whom I would write and send care packages, well I hoped it would be a boost and sort of took for granted that it would be anyhow. As it turned out, I was assigned to a soldier. That really is sort of the way it was, I was assigned to a soldier to be his email buddy, to send care packages, to keep his spirits high, to try to let him know that there really are people who care about our troops, to... well you get the idea. What they don't tell you at Soldier's Angels is that not only do you get assigned to a soldier, you become attached to him or her. No I was not the best at keeping in touch. As per the Soldiers' Angels policy I think I was supposed to write once a week, and send letters at that. I never wrote a letter, except to include in a Christmas/Holiday Care Package, and I think I forgot to put it in the box. All I wrote were emails, and luckily my soldier had frequent access to a computer. Of course I sent a few care packages over to him and his unit too. His emails to me were not all that frequent either, understandable on his part since he was the one in the middle of a war in Afghanistan. So sometimes the arrival of his email would remind me, heck I have not written in way too long.

Our emails to one another were never very heart wrenching, were friendly but never too affectionate (heck they were emails from two married men who were writing to one another as pen pals, and I think that was strange turf for both of us to tread), they had a certain friendliness about them while still seeming as if we were somewhat aloof from one another. Despite that feeling of apartness, that separation between us, there was also a feeling of respect for one another between us, of a sort of kinship, a certain type of brotherhood, a friendship that developed. No they don't tell you that you become attached to the Soldier to whom you are assigned, I guess much how they probably never told him he would become attached and greatly affected by his time spent in a war far from home.

It is evident in his latest email to me that both those things happened. He has been affected by the war, both good and bad, to a greater extent than he usually lets on in his emails, and I could see that in his latest email, the one in which he told me he is coming home to the USA later this month. I guess when you spend a year of more anywhere you are affected by your experiences, but to spend it in a far away land where things are strikingly different than they are at home, and to be there in time of war, while others at home forget you, even show disdain for you has got to be something you cannot understand unless you have lived it.

Still though Bob S. only tries to let his good outlook on life come through in his emails to me. I had to sort of read between the lines to see that war has effected/affected him in a way he does not want to say. I respect him for that, he will wind up going on with life fine because he has a good outlook about things. Here is the closing paragraph of his two paragraph email to me, in it you will see that good outlook shining through:

"There has been many good experiences that I will look back on over the next years ahead. I am sure as holidays or certain days come around think back to what I was doing on that day a year ago. Certain days of the week we had certain things that had to be accomplished. The support of many fine people like yourself has really helped make the time go quick. The many emails and just the hey hang in there will write more later emails that helped get your mind away from the frustration of being away from home, safety and security. The many people who would write to us to say, Thanks, really does go along way. The extra stuff they would send in the care boxes really was a huge Morale boost to many soldiers. The many different things we have received from supporters out there has been tremendous to know there are people who care. We, as soldiers, are here irregardless of there political views. We, as soldiers, are here because we decided to be a big dog and get off the porch and go run where others only talk about going and believe what they see on TV or hear on the radio. We all may not believe or agree with the leadership running this country, but we all do believe in giving others the freedoms Americans and illegal immigrants take for granted. Give the boy a chance to walk and eventually you will see a man run.

THANK YOU for all the support and friendship. Hope our "email pal" friendship will be able to continue."

As Bob S. has sent his thanks to me, I wanted to say thank you to him too. I will do that in an email to him because he, and others like him in our military, are the ones who deserve the thanks. I also wanted to thank all of you, those of you that is who show support for our military, and for their mission. Your helpful donation and well wishes that went into those holiday care packages I put together for Bob and his unit were a good thing, a kind thing, the right thing. You should all not only be proud of guys like Bob and all the other troops who defend our freedoms and those of others, you should be proud of yourselves for helping to give them the boost they needed to make their days go by a little bit easier.

If you are a person who has not supported the troops, well just read this sentence again, and think about if you are one of those about whom Bob writes who takes freedom for granted:

"We all may not believe or agree with the leadership running this country, but we all do believe in giving others the freedoms Americans and illegal immigrants take for granted. "

Are you a person who takes those freedoms for granted. I guess I am sometimes guilty of that myself, but there are just too many reminders out there each day to allow that to happen for too long, so most of the time I value my freedoms and liberties dearly. I also dearly value folks like Bob S because without the likes of him, we would have no freedoms, no rights, and no liberty to enjoy them. Many of you understand that, and you not only understand it but also practice what you believe and have supported our troops. To you, especially those who helped me out with those care packages that went to Bob and his unit, I say thank you very much, you are good Americans. To Bob, those in his unit, and to all of our troops in harm's way, I say: Thank you brothers and sisters, you are Great Americans. Stay safe, come home soon, you will not be forgotten.

All the best,
Glenn B

DONATIONS FOR SOLDIER'S CHRISTMAS/HOLIDAY CARE PACKAGE

THE LINK FOR DONATIONS IS OVER AT THE TOP RIGHT OF MY BLOG'S HOME PAGE. LET'S MAKE THIS WORK, LET'S SHOW OUR RESPECT FOR AND THANKS TO THE TROOPS DURING THIS SEASON OF GIVING. MY GOAL IS AT LEAST $500 BUT $1,000 WOULD SURE BE NICE, SO IF YOU ARE GOING TO DONATE PLEASE BE AS GENEROUS AS POSSIBLE. I WILL SHOW AN ACCOUNTING OF ALL FUNDS RECEIVED, AND PICTURES OF THE ITEMS I PURCHASE TO GO INTO THE HOLIDAY PACKAGE. I AM DONATING $50.00 PLUS THE COST OF POSTAGE AND SHIPPING MATERIALS. NOTE I CANNOT DONATE TO MY OWN ACCOUNT IN PAYPAL SO I WILL ADD MY $50 IN CASH TO THE AMOUNT I GET IN DONATIONS.

I WILL ACCEPT DONATIONS FOR THE SOLDIER'S HOLIDAY PACKAGE UP UNTIL AND THROUGH DECEMBER 7, 2007; PLEASE MAKE ANY DONATIONS ON OR BEFORE THAT DATE. I WILL POST AT LEAST WEEKLY NOTICES ABOUT HOW MUCH HAS BEEN RAISED.

See my below post for more info on the holiday package for our troops, and how the donations will be spent. All donations go to gifts to be included in the package. Those flashlights I mentioned go for about at least $37 apiece. Note those are the least expensive of the Stream-Lights (Stinger flashlights) and Surefire lights; they are quality tactical lights that our guys and gals could certainly use. The wool socks go for about $12 a pair they are apparently good stuff. Other things are not quite as expensive, but are not cheap.

Anything you can give is appreciated; but as I said I hope to raise $1,000 toward this effort to show these guys we truly give a damn about them, so I am hoping for at least $10 from each of my readers, or more if you can do it. A big request, sure it is, especially at this time of year, but I think these guys and gals in our military are well worth it - I hope you do too.

NOTE: You do not have to be a registered member of PayPal in order to make a donation. Click on the donate link, then look near the bottom of the linked page to see how to donate using a credit card without being a PayPal account holder.

All the best,
Glenn B

Christmas/Holiday Shopping For The Troops...

...is something I have not yet done, but I plan to do so this year. Being sort of a traditionalist when it comes to any sort of Christmas shopping, I usually do not do so until after Thanksgiving. This year will follow suit, and beginning this weekend I will be on the lookout for items I can buy to send to my Soldiers' Angels adopted soldier. The soldier I was appointed when I signed up for Soldiers' Angels is Bob S. (I do not think I am allowed to give out his whole name due to Soldiers' Angels regulations, but if I find I can do so, I will). He is assigned to a FOB in Afghanistan (if I remember right this means forward operating base so he and his fellow troops are in the thick of things over there). I am supposed to write to him frequently, and now and again send him some sort of care package. I must admit that I have been lax in contacting him as of late, last time has to be over a month ago, but I will make up for that.

What I am planning to do this year is to make up a really nice care package for him and his companion troops for this holiday season. Call it a Christmas package, a Hanuka package, a holiday package or a care package, it does not matter all that much to me, but this one for the Christmas season will be nicer than the other two I already sent to him. I plan to include some quality gear in this one; things like Stinger or Surefire flashlights, a lot of batteries for them (and these are expensive lithium batteries not your typical alkaline junk), some wool blend socks (yes it gets cold over there, and I want to put at least a dozen pairs of these into the box), some hand warmers (as used by hunters), a few folding knives (maybe not the best quality ones but certainly something that will stand up to good hard use though I have to check to see if this is legal), some disposable body wipes (always appreciated from what I understand), light sticks (the glow sticks that last up to 12 hours), anything else I can think of that will help our young men and women survive their time in their godforsaken assignments.

In this regard I am going to do something I have not done before, something that I shun when done for personal gain, but to which I have often in the past contributed when done for a good cause. I am going to ask my readers to make donations to a Holiday Care Package Fund that I will set up through my PayPal account. While I have an account, I still need to figure out how to direct payments only to this cause, and get an icon to place on my blog for those payments. I should have that done within the next week or so, and the link to the Care Package fund will appear at the top right of my blog home page. Any donations that are made to the fund will go toward the purchase of items to be included within the care package. I will spend every penny donated to the fund on such items, and this means I will pay for the PayPal fee out of my own pocket (yes they charge for someone to receive funds, but not for someone to send funds, so while you get to send them with no fee, I have to pay a percentage to accept them). Postage for the package will be paid by me, as will the cost of the packaging supplies. I also will make a decent donation to the care package fund myself, probably to the tune of about $50. I am hoping that I can raise a minimum of $500, but I would hope for more than that, closer to $1,000. I do not have a really large readership, but if you think this to be a good cause, and if you think you can spare some cash towards it, I would ask that you each try to donate at least $10 to it through PayPal, then again even a dollar would be nice. (By the way, PayPal is pretty easy to join, and I do not think there is any fee involved since when I signed up there was not.) The more my readers can donate, the more I can purchase to send to Bob S. and his comrades in arms. So I can send one flashlight and one pair of socks and maybe a box of wipes with my own contribution; or with generous contributions from each of you I will be able to send a dozen flashlights, a case of wipes, a box or three of glow sticks, and so on.

I plan to send the package out about 2 to 3 weeks before Christmas, and hope that means it will arrive there in time for the holidays. I will include a note to Bob about how the package was funded, and I will sign it from all of us who will have made donations. I will also ask Bob to make sure that the package is divided out to his fellow soldiers, so as many as possible in his unit receive at least one gift regardless of their religious beliefs or lack of them. It's a season of giving, and we are giving not based upon the faith of the recipients, but rather upon their service to us as United States Military Service Personnel. Remember too that you do not have to be a member of any particular faith to make a donation, you are doing it for the troops. I just picked the season because in my Catholic upbringing it was the tradition to give at Christmas; and even though I no longer practice any religion, I keep up the tradition of giving gifts at this time of year because it is a good tradition no matter your faith or lack of it. Giving to our service people during the holiday season, when they are thousands of miles from home and loved ones is certainly an excellent way to thank them for their service, don't you think? If you agree with me, please help me out on this one so we can show them we truly care while they are stuck on foreign soil, doing battle to keep us free, during what should be a time of year spent with family and other loved ones.

By the way, if Bob S., by some miracle, winds up on home leave at that time, I will ask him for another soldier in his unit to whom to direct the package, or I will ask Soliders' Angels for another solider to whom I can send the package.

All the best,
Glenn B.

GO NAVY

GO NAVY, GO NAVY, GO NAVY

If you don't know why I just typed in GO NAVY, see the previous post, and see the donation icon on the top right of my page.

All the best,

Glenn B

Supporting Our Military Personnel...

...is something I feel strongly about, and I think we should all do something for them. I was never in the military service, and I kind of regret that, so I try to help out now and then. Tonight, courtesy of the Grouchy Old Cripple I learned about a fundraiser that Soldier's Angels is holding. I already knew about Soldier's Angels because I am sort of an email pen pal to a soldier in Afghanistan, and I signed up for that through Soldier's Angels. (Hmm, just remembered I have not written to my assigned soldier pen pal in too long). They seem like a worthy organization, worthy of trust, so I think I will make a donation to their fund raiser. Not only will I do that, but I will also encourage my readers to do likewise. As I understand the donations go to buying voice activated lap top computers for those of our military personnel who were wounded (in action I suppose). Go here to read about the project, call Project Valour - IT . Once there you can click on the Valour IT Donations link on the left side of the Valour IT page under Programs, and it will tell you how to donate via Paypal, or you can just click the fancy link on the upper right side of my blog to donate. The link on my page is part of an annual fund raising competition at Soldier's Angels where you can decide to donate to a team made up of Army, Marines. Airf Force, or Navy/Coast Guard. My father and step-father were both in the navy, and a good friend of mine was in the Coast Guard, so I picked that icon for my page. To see more info about the icons, go to this link, or look for the link to it on the left side of the Valour IT Donations Page under the programs links list.

Whichever team you choose to which to donate, and however much of a donation you make, I think it will be worth it for our troops. Bear in mind, as I understand, this so called competition for donations is for fun, that is the competion thing between branches of the military. All of the donations, regardless of to which team you donated, eventually go toward the same general Valour-IT fund to get those laptops for our injured military people regardless of in which branch they served.

All the best,
Glenn B