Wednesday, June 28, 2006

Don't Know How I missed this....

But Soldiers Angels has yet another page

 
with lots of press releases. And today's page has a link to a USA Today article
 
that quotes Sgt.Brian Horn, who was the inspiration for his dad,Marty, to start
 
The quote is:
 Sgt. Brian Horn, 26, who recently returned from leading a sniper team in Iraq and Afghanistan, said the thing that's most appreciated is still an old-fashioned letter. "(There are) always smiles and some disbelief, and some teared up a little bit," Horn says in describing how troops react to a letter.

"It's kind of hard to explain," he says. "You have to go out for a week and get shot at a bunch and not hear from anyone, from your family, and (you) come back and it's there — a letter from someone who's (in the USA) right now — and it's positive energy, it's 'thank you,' and it's real."
 
(Just another nudge to someone who might be thinking of writing a letter It DOES make a positive difference!!)
 
And I have come across another blog by a war widow
 
And you can also see it, and several other new blogs, listed as always on
Milblogging.com  (Check out 'Recently Added' on the left of the page)
 
And via The Mudville Gazette's Dawn Patrol     I came across this post
 
 
that most closely expresses how I feel about the deaths of 
 
I spent the weekend after they were first reported missing feeling sickened with dread, over the agonies they were most likely enduring.(And storming the heavens with prayer.)The manner of their deaths turned out to be even more horrifying than I could have imagined.As the mother of two sons who are close in age to those two young men, ,their deaths wrenched my heart terribly. And the Blue Star Chronicles post expresses far better than I can here, my feeling about their deaths and the lack of outrage we have seen about those deaths in our country's media.
 
And, once again, here is how to send your condolences to their families, and the family of the soldier who was killed when they were captured.
 

Soldiers' Angels are collecting cards and letters for the families of Thomas Tucker, Kristian Menchaca, and David Babineau.

You can send your condolences and notes of encouragement to:

    Soldiers' Angels
    1792 E. Washington Blvd
    Pasadena Ca 91104

     

     

 
 

Tuesday, June 27, 2006

Rest in Peace,Devon Gibbons

Back on May 5    I first posted the link to Devon Gibbon's site, and then mentioned an update on him on 

 June 3 

Sadly, today I learned he has passed away.

DoD Identifies Army Casualty
            The Department of Defense announced today the death of a soldier
who was supporting Operation Iraqi Freedom.

             Pfc. Devon J. Gibbons, 19, of Port Orchard, Wash., died on June
23, in the Brooke Army Medical Center, San Antonio, Texas, of injuries
sustained on April 11 when an improvised explosive device detonated near his
Bradley Fighting Vehicle during combat operations in Taji, Iraq.  Gibbons was
assigned to the 10th Cavalry Regiment, 1st Brigade, 4th Infantry Division,
Fort Hood, Texas.

            Media with questions about this soldier can call the 4th Infantry
Division Public Affairs Office at (254) 291-2591.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

If you would like to email words of comfort to his family, or also there is a link to a mailing address, please visit his page

http://www.deielectric.com/cards.htm

Godspeed,Devon. And my condolences are extended to the Gibbons family.

Hurray, I am still online!:)

Got some things worked out, and so I am still here,lol.

And the quote "I'll see you when I see you" is from an all-time classic movie 

 "Stand by Me"

and it was spoken by Wil Wheaton's character, Gordie LaChance, to the character of Chris Chambers, played by River Phoenix ( who sadly died far too young.)

The full quote is  Gordie says to Chris "I'll see you when I see you". and Chambers replies "Not if I see you first."  How do I know this, you ask?(or even if you're not asking, I'm going to tell you:) This is one of my family's all time FAVORITE movies, and I'm sure we've seen it over 20 times!

(Wil Wheaton, by the way, has a blog that I've mentioned here before)

So, anyway, I was 'gone' for a much shorter time than I thought, and am glad to still be here:)

Sunday, June 25, 2006

Will be Offline for Awhile

Looks like I'm going to be without Internet service for awhile, so just wanted to say

"I'll be back",lol.Image   (Arnold Schwartzenegger   "The Terminator" movie)

And "I'll see you when I see you"(Do you remember the movie that quote came from?I'll find out when I check back in!)

Take care, all!Image

Saturday, June 24, 2006

More on What a Letter Means to a Soldier

The problem with having over 43 'milblogs' that I really, really like to read,lol, and  working full-time again, is that I can't always read all of them all the time!

But tonight after work I stopped by one of my favorites 

JUST ANOTHER THUNDERHORSE ROUGHNECK!

and found this post  about Pete receiving letters from some Soldiers Angels 

Please go read the whole post   but if you've ever wondered whether it really means anything to take the time to write to a soldier? Here is in part what Pete had to say

 Sure I like getting e-mails but it’s not the same as getting a letter. A letter is more physical. I could actually touch and feel the letter and envelope. I know that someone has sat down and wrote something out on a piece of paper, put it in an envelope, and mailed it to the post office. It’s a lot more than just sitting at a computer and typing away.

And I loved this line,lol.

 I bet the other guys in the platoon were jealous.

What really blew my mind,though, was that this was in response to Pete getting TWO letters!!!

So, if you're thinking that taking the time to sit down and write one letter won't make much of a difference? Think again!(And then maybe sit down and write? )

 

 


 

Friday, June 23, 2006

More on 'My Dorky Life'

Well, today was certainly not a day that went anything at all like I had planned!

I was off work today, but had to drive down to pick up my first paycheck. I asked my daughter if she'd like to go with me so she could see where I work(it's a half hour away.) She said yes,so away we went.

First of all, I take the interstate to get to work,so as we merged onto the interstate, I see a state trooper in the left lane a few car lengths back, so I of course drive the speed limit Image. I was cracking up, because this trooper was in the left lane and he was going the speed limit!lol, which was causing a HUGE traffic bottleneck, as most drivers on this section of our interstate seem to think the speed limit is 80 mph. I told my daughter "that man is evil,lol, he's forcing everyone to go the speed limit." He did this for OVER 20 MILES, it was hilarious to see what consternation this caused with drivers.

I mention to her when we're halfway to my work "Oh, shoot, I forgot to bring the cell phone." She says, "Geez, we'll probably get in a wreck or something." Famous last words.

We exit the interstate and are back on city roads, and I am slowing down with my blinker on to make a right turn to go to my workplace, when out of the corner of my eye I see a flash of something to my left. I had enough time to think "What the..?" and BOOM! a deer which was apparently running across the road SLAMS into my driver's side door and flips up over the front of the car!!!

I had a split second to think "It's going to come through the windshield" by which time it had already flipped over the front of the car and landed on the other side WITHOUT breaking the windshield,thank God.

I pull off the road and notice that my side mirror is hanging by a thread.When I get out of the car, I see that the deer has gone up a hill to the right of us, and seems to have his rear right leg injured. An ambulance which happened to be driving behind me pulls over for the driver to get out and ask me if we're OK as I'm getting out of the car.My daughter is going "WHAT WAS THAT??!!" and she starts laughing nervously. I am shaking like a leaf, but tell the ambulance guy"yes, I think we're all right" and then we both gaze at the poor hanging side mirror housing and the deer hair all over my windshield. I said"I think that's all that happened to my car."(the brokenside mirror)

and just then some middle aged guy on a bicycle rides up and says"Hey, here's your mirror,it isn't even broken!Wow,that happened SO FAST!That deer came from nowhere! I didn't even see it till it slammed into your car. And that was pretty cool,it did a flip across the front of your car!"

At this, we all turn and gaze at the deer, which is still standing on a hill above us, with it's right rear leg hanging kind of limp and skewed. And I am still shaking like a leaf,but starting to laugh myself now that I realize we are OK, and the damage isn't that bad, and why the heck can't I just have a NORMAL day?OTHER people can drive to work to pick up their paycheck and not have a kamikaze deer ram their car .....what must it be like, to be one of those people?Image I feel quite certain I will never know!

After talking to a police officer who stopped, we proceed to work to pick up my check. Since I was right at the entrance to my job, EVERYONE who was coming to work had seen us by the side of the road. So of course we are explaining what happened, and then we go to see my boss and I said,"Hey, when you hired me? You never mentioned the dangerous deer in the area!" and she is cracking up,because just YESTERDAY she had told someone in front of me "If anything strange is going to happen....it will happen to Kathi!"( She's worked with me before,lol)

Then I ask her "Does anyone have any duct tape? for me to keep my side mirror on the car for the drive home?" and she is falling down laughing, and says"Now, how REDNECK is THAT?"But we located some, and I taped my mirror on, no matter how 'redneck' that lookedImage

We  made the drive back home without incident, but then I finally look at my paycheck and discover that my weird day is NOT over yet!  Someone has made a HUGE mistake somewhere, as my paycheck is THREE  TIMES LARGER than I had calculated it would be and there is NO WAY that I am going to deposit this until I talk to someone!!

In talking to the payroll clerk at work, and then someone at the corporate office, we deduce that what happened was someone put my DEPT CODE (which is a very high number) as my RATE OF PAY!!

At first, what they wanted me to do was to just return the check, and then they would issue me a new one by next Tuesday!!

And I was nice, but I said "Hey, I have been waiting THREE WEEKS for this paycheck, because of the point in the pay period I started working ,and I am scheduled to work the next 3 days and I need money for gas for those next 3 days to get TO work!!I really can't wait 4 more days to have any cash."

So they work out a way for me to have some money after all.And then after all that, I started crying after I hung up the phone and wailed "I wish I could just have a NORMAL life!!!" and my boyfriend gave me a hug and was chuckling and said "But what fun would THAT be?!" so after a few minutes I finally started laughing,too.

And that's how my day went. How was YOURS?Image

The Power of the Internet and People Working Together

When I came home from work last night and went by  Milblogging.com    I was led to this article 

  WOUNDED TROOPS RECEIVE LAPTOPS FROM SOLDIERS ANGELS

Then I happened to stop by one of the first milblogs I ever started reading  and realized this was an 'anniversary'

(Note:Some language in Chuck's Posts)

 
Hard to believe it has been a year! This sent me down memory lane.It was posts like this
 
that first attracted me to Chuck's blog.
 
And then came that awful day when this was posted
 
and hundreds of people rallied in prayer and good wishes for the Ziegenfuss family.We followed the story of his recovery via his wife posting at first, and then as Chuck started posting, there came this
 
It is both amazing and inspiring to me, that from that one little post, the Valour IT project was born.
Here's some more of those original posts about the "Beginnings of Project Valour IT"
 
 
 
 
This, to me, is everything that is good about the Internet, and about people working together to do something for our wounded troops.
 
And it went from those beginnings to the article about the wounded soldiers receiving laptops and to this, from the Valour IT blog
 
 
FIVE HUNDRED wounded soldiers receiving laptops!!!And all because of one little post a year ago by a wounded soldier, and the response that post generated.
 
 
I just call that awesome.

Thursday, June 22, 2006

Please send your Condolences

Via  Blackfive  

Soldiers' Angels are collecting cards and letters for the families of Thomas Tucker, Kristian Menchaca, and David Babineau.

You can send your condolences and notes of encouragement to:

    Soldiers' Angels
    1792 E. Washington Blvd
    Pasadena Ca 91104

Soliders' Angels also will provide a living tree to honor each of them.

 

Wednesday, June 21, 2006

Congratulations!Wilhelmine Aufmkolk! And Other News

Wilhelmine has been selected as "International Goodwill Ambassador" for Soldiers Angels

 
Congratulations! to Willie and her husband Rudi, and Thanks to them,for all the wonderful work they do!
 
It is always heartwarming to read the Soldiers Angels Germany blog, if you haven't checked it out yet,here are some recent posts:
 
 
 
 
And from that blog, I went to this story about a chaplain
 
 
In other news, Elijah at Contact Right  has a very nice Thank You to supporters posted
 
and he also recently met the folks from Hero to Hero 
 
 
And this is very cool news about Notre Dame helping Soldiers Angels!
 
(PRWEB) June 21, 2006 -- Both the Men’s and Women’s Notre Dame Cross Country teams are warming up for their 1st Annual 24 hour relay which will be this Saturday, June24th. This year’s relay will benefit both the Cross Country team and Soldier’ Angels, a non-profit dedicated to supporting our troops.

Jim Schweickert, Notre Dame’s Head cross country’s coach, said he wanted to do a fund raiser this summer. Since he had success with this type of fund raiser at another institution it just seemed like the right event for them. Besides raising money for the cross country team, he wanted to split the donations they received with another organization.

Schweickert said “I left the decision up to the team and they chose Soldiers’ Angels.” The team chose Soldiers’ Angels because two members of the Notre Dame Cross Country team are veterans of Operation Iraqi Freedom. Dan Tillman a sophomore from Beachwood, OH and Steve Scott a freshman from Avoca, Michigan both served in OIF. While Scott was deployed he received care packages and mail from the organization.

Each team member obtained pledges based on the number of miles they will run in the relay. Runners in the relay will complete a mile and then hand off the baton to another runner for the next mile until 24 hours have been completed.

The relay will be June 24, 2006 and begins at 9 am on the Notre Dame athletic field. Coach Schweickert said, there is plenty of room for blankets and lawn chairs and encourages everyone to come watch and cheer on the runners. The relay will take place rain or shine. For those who make a donation on Saturday will receive “May we Not Forget” gold coins supplied by Soldiers’ Angels.

If you would like more information about the relay you can contact Notre Dame Coach Jim Schweickert at 216-373-5404.

Soldiers’ Angels, is an all volunteer, non-profit 501 (C)(3) organization dedicated to the support of all our military soldiers serving in the United States Armed Forces in the War
on Terror.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 
As always, God bless our troops! and we are continuing to keep them, and also the families of the fallen, in our prayers daily.
 
 
 

Tuesday, June 20, 2006

Rest In Peace

 
 
Pfc. Kristian Menchaca, 23, of Houston, Texas



            Pfc. Thomas L. Tucker, 25, of Madras, Ore.
 
 
My thoughts and prayers are with their families,friends, and fellow soldiers today.
 
 
 
 
 
 

Monday, June 19, 2006

The Names to Pray for.......

  Pfc. Kristian Menchaca, 23, of Houston, Texas



            Pfc. Thomas L. Tucker, 25, of Madras, Ore.

 

 
 
NEWS RELEASES from the United States Department of Defense

No. 569-06 IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Jun 18, 2006 Media Contact: (703)697-5131
Public/Industry(703)428-0711

DoD Identifies Army Casualty and Soldiers as Whereabouts Unknown
            The Department of Defense announced today the death of one soldier
and the identity of two soldiers listed as Duty Status Whereabouts Unknown
(DUSTWUN) who were supporting Operation Iraqi Freedom.  On June 16, in
Baghdad, Iraq, the soldiers were manning a checkpoint when they came under
enemy small arms fire.  All three soldiers were assigned to the 1st Battalion,
502nd Infantry Regiment, 2nd Brigade, 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault),
Fort Campbell, Ky.



            Killed was:



            Spc. David J. Babineau, 25, of Springfield, Mass.



            Reported as DUSTWUN are:



            Pfc. Kristian Menchaca, 23, of Houston, Texas



            Pfc. Thomas L. Tucker, 25, of Madras, Ore.



            For further information related to this release, contact Army
Public Affairs at (703) 692-2000.
 
Via Kat at Yikes!   I recently found out that you can sign up to be notified of DOD News releases
 
Please keep these missing soldiers and their families, and the troops searching for them, in your prayers.

Sunday, June 18, 2006

Happy Father's Day!

Happy Father's Day! to all the Dad's who are far from their families today.

From my friend Missy     I thought the last part of a poem she posted was the perfect thing to say today

For those daddies far away
you're in our hearts every day.
 
Your job takes you to dangerous places
where photos are how you see your kids faces.
 
We love you all,
Daddies far and near,
God keep you safe
till you are here.
 
 
 
And please keep the two missing soldiers and their families in your prayers.

Friday, June 16, 2006

Weekend Surfing

Well, I have some time before getting ready for work,so thought I'd throw together a 'weekend surf' post after all.

First of all, there are two blogs that also offer pointers to 'places to check out on the web'. Although their computers are down right now, Mudville Gazette's Dawn Patrol  is THE place I always go first to check out what's what with milblogs.

And David over at The Thunder Run always has interesting 'recons' of what's out there.

I have exciting news:) one of the greatest troop supporters I know, Kat at Yikes! has become a member of  Soldiers Angels!!! Welcome to the fold,Kat!!!

Through her, I came across one of the best descriptions I've seen of what it's like for soldiers to receive the packages that we supporters send. 

Click here: MedicEvolved.net

 

And for those who are interested in supporting the families of deployed troops? Renee has a program she's started. Click here: Deployed Family Support

Capt.B at One Marines View asks "Are you tired of hearing the media badger the military? Do you want to send a message to all of the service members fighting the war on terrorism? "Click here: One Marine's View: HAD ENOUGH?

Stopped by Sgt. Allen's blog last night, and he has been getting out and about! Go check him out  http://contactright.blogspot.com/  ( And by the way, he is one of the Valour IT recipients .)

I've mentioned the Patriot Guard Riders before, but did you know they have a photos page?(Takes awhile to load) Click here: Index of - ASP ListPics

Speaking of photos? I have a Flickr photostream http://www.flickr.com/photos/kasee102/  (which I'm supposed to somehow be able to link on this Journal,lol, but I keep messing it up, so I'll just post it this way!)

And if you are a world traveler? Heidi at Learning to Live has a Travel Trivia feature (that I can't play,lol, because the only time I've ever been across a border is over 20 years ago when my family went to the Canadian side of Niagra falls:)

 
Well, that's the latest edition of weekend surfing. Hope everyone has a great weekend!
And,as always, God bless our troops!

Thursday, June 15, 2006

Chaplains, and books:),and Valour IT

A notification today that one of the chaplain's blogs I read had updated, reminded me that there are three chaplain's blogs I have come across.

I did a quick search on Milblogging.com for chaplains (I use Milblogging.com almost everyday, lol, it's so handy to have around when you're looking for milblogs in any form.) but sadly it seems that a majority of chaplain's blogs are a year old or older, other than the three I am going to mention.

The update I received was from The Online Chaplain  (which is also listed over in my favorite sites.)

This reminded me to go check out the other chaplain's blogs I knew about. (I am sadly behind on 'surfing' milblogs, with starting my new job:)

They are:

There and back again

and a new one that JP had listed on Milblogging.com

A Chaplain's Journey

Kristin Henderson, the author of  While They're at War  a book I read not too long ago, had an article in the Washington Post magazine about chaplains that was very interesting   Click here: 'In the Hands of God'

Via the Soldiers Angels forums  I heard about two books by chaplains that I'm going to be looking for:

 
 
 
(and if anyone has already read these, please feel free to leave a review in the comments!)
 
Why am I posting about chaplains? Well, it's an excuse to let you know that
Soldiers Angels among the many things they do, has a Chaplains Support Team.
You must be a registered member of Soldiers Angels to join that team, and I couldn't find a direct link in the Teams listing, but just wanted to pass that info along.
 
Moving along in the 'Books' category, I just wanted to put in a plug for an online friend who has written a book
 
and her online profile is here 
 
And I have mentioned Valour IT before ,but there is a current call out for fundraising, and I came across the official Valour It blog so thought you might want to check it out
 
Not sure if I'll get a 'Weekend Surf' report up, lol, my 'other half' and I have a chance for a weekend alone as our daughter will be gone to camp!!!
(Since he's a soccer fan, I have a feeling we'll be watching the U.S. team play in the World Cup tournament on Saturday:)
 
 

Monday, June 12, 2006

July 4th projects.....Time is running out!

Well, it's getting into the 'home stretch' for three July 4th Projects, so I wanted to mention them again.

Kat at Yikes! is still working on Operation:Thanks For Freedom  

(And today she has a fantastic update on that project...but as she says, that doesn't mean she couldn't use more cards!!! Also check out some of the Letters from Kids....they're priceless:)

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Proudfan at Freedom Isn't Free also needs cards for a Fourth of July mailing, and she'd like them by JUNE 16, so time is running out! She is a supporter of the RedBulls

Click here: REDBULL WEB - Home

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

And last but not least, the Family Readiness group for the 1016th  is also organizing a Fourth of July mailing. Please send cards to:

Carla TenEyck
339 Gladstone Street
Idaho Falls ID  83401

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THANK YOU! for any help you can give any of these projects!

Saturday, June 10, 2006

Some of My Family History,Grandad in WW II (Updated)

June 2007 Update I just wanted to add to this, that several months after I first posted this, I was contacted by a former shipmate of my Grandfather's, who told me about a reunion that the men who served on the USS Pamanset and their families have every year.

Unfortunately, I am unable to attend the reunion being held this year. But, it has been amazing, to have learned so much about this part of my Grandfather's life, just because of this one blog post. And someone left a comment just today, asking my grandfather's name. His name was Donald McNulty.

To all those who served on the Pamanset, and to the family members and veterans who have contacted me....Thank you!

-----------------------------------------

One of my uncles today emailed me some pics he scanned of my grandfather from his WW II service.


Photobucket


Photobucket


According to my mother, Grandad" volunteered for service after Pearl Harbor because he was too old to be drafted, and felt a patriotic duty".Grandad died in 1966,when I was 6 years old,so I have some warm memories of him but of course was too young to know or ask anything about his wartime service back then.

I'm unsure of his years of service, but know that he was a Lieutenant (jg) in the Navy, and he served aboard a fleet oiler called the USS Pamanset. I had heard my whole life that Grandad served "on a ship", and it was only in the past few years that I found out it was a fleet oiler. I had happened to read years ago a novel about a fleet oiler in WW II, and when I found out THAT was the sort of ship Grandad had served on? I said "Holy cow,Mom! Those were the most DANGEROUS ships in the Navy!!!They were filled with fuel to fuel the other ships!!!"

My mother says "He was never in much battle, although once or twice his ship was fueling another ship and they were between the ship and the shore, and there was fighting going on from the shore.He was unhappy to be on an oiler, wanted to see more action."

Via this link Click here: Pamanset I found out a little more about Grandad's ship. It says in part....."Following shakedown, Pamanset sailed for Pearl Harbor and duty with the Pacific Fleet during the final months of World War II. Departing Pearl Harbor 24 July 1944, she steamed to the Marshall Islands, then to the Admiralty
Ielands where she spent the next several months refueling units of the 3rd Fleet. She continued her support of the 3rd Fleet during the Western Caroline and Philippine Islands engagements in the fall of 1944 as well as during the Formosa and China coast attacks early in 1945. Refueling operations in very heavy seas in January 1945, resulted in injuries to several of her crew. Pamanset arrived offIwo Jima 26 February and participatedin that campaign until returning to Ulithi, 2 March, thence proceeding to San Pedro, Calif. for extensive repairs. She was underway again 4 June for the Western Pacific and serviced the 3rd Fleet in various fueling areas until the end of the war. After extensive operations in support of the occupation fleet in Japanese home waters, she departed Yokohama 8 November for San Francisco where she decommissioned 18 March 1946. She was struck from the Naval Register 28 March and transferred to the Maritime Commission 11 October."

In researching the fleet oilers, I found that they were all named for U.S. rivers, and the Pamanset was named for a river in Massachusetts. Although I know my youngest uncle (my grandparents had a second son after the war) has researched more on the ship,I forgot to ask him to send me that info,lol.

In trying to find out more about fleet oilers (I don't remember the name of the novel I read years ago), I happened to come across, of all things, an Edgar Rice Burroughs (the Tarzan novels writer) fan e-zine which lists some articles that Mr. Burroughs wrote as a journalist on board a fleet oiler.

The link is here Click here: ERBzine 1128: ERB WWII Articles

and you have to scroll down to find these two articles:

Laughs at Sea Found by Author
Traveling With a Naval "Oiler"
Honolulu Advertiser ~ July 9, 1945

Tanker Like 'Accident About
To Happen,' Burroughs Feels
Honolulu Advertiser ~ July 5, 1945

It was just rather interesting to me, to find out a little bit more about my grandfather's service in WW II and the ship he served on, so I thought I'd share this and the pictures.

On my Dad's side of the family, he was the youngest of 10 children, and had 3 older brothers who served in WW II. One as a Marine, one in the Army, and one in the Navy. The brother who served in the Army died at the age of 21 in the Battle of the Bulge .I cried the first time I watched that part of "Band of Brothers" (the Battle of the Bulge) thinking of Dad's brother being the same age as my oldest son and dying.

Going back even further in family history, it turns out each of my uncles has Civil War memorabilia passed down from relatives.....and unfortunately, it seems we had different branches of the family fighting on both sides, as one uncle has memorabilia passed down from the Northern forces, and one has memorabilia passed down from the Southern!

Well, I suppose that's enough of my family history:) but I felt a sense of sadness researching all this....Dad has only one brother still living, and Grandad and all the others have passed away. I'm sure there are untold stories that went with all of them, and I just had a feeling of history lost forever now.

Friday, June 9, 2006

More about Backpacks

Sorry it took me till the end of the week to get another post up, have been starting the new job and my youngest turned up with strep throat at the beginning of the week (so she missed the first 3 days of the last week of school.)

Today I went to school to see her get an award for the Performing Arts in the middle school award ceremony, she had no idea she was getting it :) but her teacher had emailed me to let me know. I am very proud of all the hard work she has done the past 3 years in the choral group, the handbell choir, and drama. (just had to have that 'Mom' moment,lol.)

My last post mentioned the Soldiers Angels First Response backpacks, and there is a posting about this months visit to Landstuhl by Soldiers Angels Germany

And at the beginning of the month the founder of  Soldiers Angels had posted this letter:

Mail from the founder "Soldiers Angels"

Dear Soldiers Angels,

We are in the midst of our fourth deployment, and I know you are all tired, you have been restlessly trying to get supplies to our wounded in The Mid east and Germany and we have been able to help many heroes. Unfortunately we still have many wounded coming in daily and Willie in Germany truly needs your help.

Please consider once again gathering all your energy and get needed items to our heroes.

We need T-shirts large sizes
boxers
socks
microwave food
letters of encouragement
entertainment items
blankets of hope
gifts for the families

ship to:

21st TSC, Medical Transient Detachment
ATTN: Soldiers' Angels
UNIT 23203
APO AE 09263

If you need a donation receipt just email me.

Thank you all for without our collaborative efforts we could not reach as many heroes,

Patti Bader

May no soldier go unloved.
May no soldier walk alone.
May no soldier be forgotten,
Until they all come home.

So once again,if you're interested in learning more about the backpacks, click here
 
 
Hope everyone has a great weekend!
(I may or may not get a 'weekend surf' post up,lol,haven't had much time to 'surf' myself this week!)
 
 
 
 
 

 

 

Monday, June 5, 2006

Some CaringBridge sites and some Recovering Soldiers

Milblogging.com the other day had a link to this Washington Post article

 
and in the article it gives a link to Jose Pequeno's CaringBridge website
 
I've said it before, and I'll say it again.....CaringBridge websites are a wonderful way for families of an injured or ill loved one to keep family and friends informed about the patient's condition in one central place!
(And it's not just military folks......The Carlsen twins ,the conjoined twins in MN who were recently separated, have a CaringBridge site .)
 
There is another recovering soldier who has a CaringBridge site that you might want to stop by. He was NOT wounded in Iraq,but sadly, was hit by a car the DAY after he RETURNED from Iraq.     LCPL Ben Hardgrove
 
And back on March 14th, I had a link to  NewsRadio 850 KOA  and there were two Marines featured to send cards to on the page. While checking back on that site today, I found that one of the Marines has a long road ahead and a website has been set up about him    Click here: Kenny Lyon USMC
 
While I urge you to consider sending cards,prayers, or messages to any of these people listed? I'd also like to use this opportunity to say that Soldiers Angels has a program to send transitional backpacks to recently wounded soldiers when they arrive at Landstuhl hospital in Germany.   http://soldiersangels.org/wounded_soldier_project.php
 
And the Blankets of Hope program goes along with that.
 
Whether you choose an organization to support the recovering wounded, or choose to send just a note or card on your own? Please remember our wounded and their families in your thoughts and prayers. Thank you.

Friday, June 2, 2006

Weekend Surfing

Posting has been light this week because I became employed again this week,yay:) I had lost my job back in Dec. due to a back injury at home,which required longer time off than my job would allow since I had been at that job for less than 6 months.(That was my Christmas present <sarcastic snort> two days before Christmas they said "per our policy, we're removing you from payroll since you'll need to be out longer than 2 weeks and you've been here less than 6 months.")

So, I am very happy 5 months later(and 10 pounds heavier,those darn cookies!)to be gainfully employed again. It's an assisted living facility and I'll be primarily on the Alzheimer's unit,and I have always loved working with Alzheimer's patients.

Also this week, my boyfriend's son graduated from high school! :) and I received several pieces of 'free mail' as they call it.(Since those in the military can mail their letters for free.) One was an update from someone I began writing to via  Anysoldier.com   almost a year ago, he had sent a final letter to a number of us who had written to him from the beginning of the deployment, as his unit is getting ready to come home! And the other free mail was a 'thank you' note from a soldier I had sent a birthday card to, as part of the  Cards Plus  team at  Soldiers Angels.

I am always astounded(and honored) by those who take time in the middle of being deployed to a war zone to write back to total strangers......but especially by someone like the first soldier, who sustains the correspondence throughout his deployment....and someone like the second soldier, who sends a 'thank you' for a simple Birthday Card!!God bless our troops:)

I didn't get on the computer as much this week,lol, but I still found some places to point out for my recurring 'surf' posts:

Back on April 28 , I had posted that THE MILITARY CHANNEL was looking for soldiers videos. (and they are STILL looking) but if you go here 

Click here: Military Channel :: phrase   (Go to "Click here to view My War Diary submissions" on the lower right.)
 
They have gotten some that you can view. I clicked on the 'rap' video 'First Time' and was cracking up, because it also has soldiers talking in it over the rap...and one young man had something funny to say about something folks send in "those pretty packages".
 
I post so many blogs/websites I find about wounded soldiers, that I thought I should go back and 'check' on how some of them were doing. So, here are two that I've featured before
 
 
HERO TO HERO is already listed on my blogroll, but they are almost at the end of their month long tour. They are "emergency  responders giving the shirts off their backs to show their support for our deployed troops" and the pictures are great from their tour.
 
I did come across a new blog  (via, as ever, Milblogging.com ) this soldier is nearing the end of his deployment (yay:) and is a great read     
 
and in looking through his previous entries, I was awed and humbled to discover that he and some others are already planning something to honor the memory of those they have lost while in Iraq  
 
And that's the 'weekend surf'. Have a good weekend!