from Some Soldiers’ Mom.
THE WHITE HOUSE
Gold Star Mother’s Day, 2008
- - - - - - -
by the President of the United States of America
A Proclamation
Throughout our history, the men and women of the Armed Forces have put our Nation’s security before their own, doing their duty in the face of grave danger.
On Gold Star Mother’s Day, we pay solemn tribute to the mothers of the patriots lost serving this great Nation.
Gold Star Mothers inspire our Nation with their deep devotion to family and country. These extraordinary women serve their communities, dedicate their time to helping members of our Armed Forces and veterans, and bring comfort and hope to families whose loved ones laid down their lives in the defense of our liberty. Nothing can compensate for their sacrifice and loss, yet Gold Star Mothers demonstrate tremendous courage and resolve while working to preserve the memory and legacy of all our fallen heroes.
On this day, we honor our country’s Gold Star Mothers and remember their sons’ and daughters’ noble service and great sacrifice. We offer them our deepest gratitude and our most profound respect, and we ask for God’s blessings to be upon them and their families.
The Congress, by Senate Joint Resolution 115 of June 23, 1936 (49 Stat. 1895 as amended), has designated the last Sunday in September as “Gold Star Mother’s Day” and has authorized and requested the President to issue a proclamation in its observance.
NOW, THEREFORE, I, GEORGE W. BUSH, President of the United States of America, do hereby proclaim Sunday, September 28, 2008, as Gold Star Mother’s Day. I call upon all Government officials to display the flag of the United States over Government buildings on this special day. I also encourage the American people to display the flag and hold appropriate ceremonies as a public expression of our Nation’s sympathy and respect for our Gold Star Mothers.
IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this twenty-fourth day of September, in the year of our Lord two thousand eight, and of the Independence of the United States of America the two hundred and thirty-third.
/s/ GEORGE W. BUSH
God Bless Our Gold Star Mothers… and the families of those who have perished in the service of our country.
My son, Cpl. Dark Prince, USMCR, deployed in March of this year. That day of deployment, as many of you have experienced, is the lowest point in a mil parent’s life. It just sucks like a Dyson, doesn’t it? You are right at the beginning of a deployment. The clock has just started but (thank God) it has FINALLY started!! You walk away after saying goodbye to your son or daughter thinking something like “Well..I don’t have to live that moment again.. at least for now.”
But at the other end of the deployment, there be dragons as well….
For starters, you end up playing homecoming date roulette with your Family Readiness Group/Family Readiness Officer. There’s a “window” of homecoming. That window can be as long as 7 days or as small as two but the bottom line is that nobody really knows when EXACTLY your loved one is coming home at the beginning of the homecoming phase.. It wreaks havoc on those who are coming in from out of state and trying to make hotel/flight reservations. For this deployment, we are in that category. It’s frustrating but trust me…everyone else is frustrated as well. If you are dealing with this right now or soon to be dealing with this, you’re in good company. We all are playing on that roulette wheel.
If you are traveling to a homecoming, make sure that you have the FRG/FRO/Battalion contact phone number. This will be your lifeline once you get to where you’re going and awaiting your loved one doing the same. They will have the latest updates/ changes in times and locations, etc. Tattoo that damned number on your arm if need be but make sure you have it.
Be flexible. In the Marine Corps, we refer to this as Semper Gumby. I know that’s an easy thing to type and I also know that’s not an easy thing to do You.still.have.to.do.it. Things change. Quickly. Be ready for that. As sure as the sun rises in the east and sets in the west, things will change. It’s the one thing you can count on.
Between now and the actual homecoming, there are things that you can do to keep busy. Make a welcome home sign for your son or daughter. I’ve seen some very clever signs so I’m a little intimidated as I contemplate what I want to put on a sign to welcome my son home. I’m not very artistic so if you saw a cute sign at a homecoming, comment here and let me know. I don’t mind being a copycat. I just mind not having a cool sign.
Get with your FRG/FRO and see if they need folks to make the beds in the barracks for the guys coming back. Seriously, if you just got off a 30+ hour flight from Kuwait..the last thing you want to do is make your own bed. This is something that we as milparents/families can do to help welcome our guys home. It doesn’t take long but it does help pass the time as you wait for your loved one to come home.
If your child left all of his civilian clothes at home (mine did as well as giving me some clothes that had been cooking in his room for several days before he left..ugghh!!) , you might want to consider bringing some of them down to him/her. They will just love getting out of their utilities/cammies.
Most importantly, savor the moment of homecoming. You have earned this moment too. Don’t dwell on the stuff you didn’t do or the problems that you had with the deployment. Those are things for another day. On the day of homecoming, pat yourself on the back for surviving and hug your child. Hard. Close. Revel in the moment. There are few moments as joyous as this one.
Urrahhh!!! Hooaahhh!!!, etc…..
Gets reported here! we didn’t make the party - which is a good thing, from the pictures I’ve seen!
The actual panel I was on discussed the importance of remembering that the military blog community is NOT just the uniform members, reporting on conditions downrange, or talking about the conditions they are in. The community is held together by the “others”, the parents, the spouses, the volunteers. I won’t be reporting on the other panels, as those are being reported on by the uniform milbloggers - or by other bloggers who could take notes. I find it amusing that most of the uniform bloggers that I have read so far - didn’t report on our panel! But from where I was sitting, on the other panels, there is some debate about our “relevance” (if we have to ask whether we are relevant, I’d say we probably aren’t), some debate about how milblogs should be “used” or whether we need some sort of training.
Secretary Geren was on the phone for a while, on a different panel. I met with his assistant, who told me that one of the authors you have been enjoying here - Some Soldier’s Mom - has been on his Roundtables and informing the Secretary of Army (in her own inimitable and no nonsense fashion) that Parents aren’t being heard, and that single soldiers need more from the Army when they are offduty. The assistant told me that SecArmy is very happy to hear from SSM and she was very kind in allowing me to get put on the list for Roundtables as well. This is where I may be able to bring up what YOU - The Parents and Siblings, Aunts and Uncles, grandparents and friends - want him to hear.
At the Milbloggie awards - SOME SOLDIER’S MOM won the Milbloggie for Parent’s sites. CONGRATULATIONS! As soon as she gets a chance, I’m hoping to get some more posts from her.
We’ll be putting up the survey results soon. I’m still trying to get some rather well known names to answer the survey - if you can think of someone that is in the public eye we should send the survey to, let us know.
LAW
I am off to Vegas to represent ParentsZone at Milblog Expo. I’ll be taking the results of the survey with me, to share with all.
I’ll be online Saturday, to report to you!
LAW
So - how do you like it? the Logo, I mean! up there on the left… Let us know.
LAW
We know we didn’t win. But… we don’t know who did - although with the commanding lead I saw the last time I looked, I have a good idea. But I won’t say anything until they are announced at the MilBlog Expo in Las Vegas this coming weekend. But CONGRATULATIONS! (you know who you are!)
Speaking of the MilBlog Expo - I have been incredibly honored (and scared) to have been invited to be a panelist! I’ll be on a panel talking about the following:
MilBlogging as a Community. A fascinating look at how deep and wide the reach of the Milblogging community has become. Through Milblogging, many programs providing comfort, support, aid and tangible benefits to the military community have been conceived, proving that Milblogging is about more than just writing. We’ll explore how milblogging gives a voice to supporters, parents and spouses of service members, and how that voice is effectively used to support an entire military community.
So - please please, even if you have never commented before, let me know what you want me to tell everyone. As you can see, there is a lot going on that day - I want to make sure that the Parents of Service members are heard! (click on the underlined to see all about Milblogging Expo). If you are going to be there - please say hi.
I’m excited, and I’ll be frank (it’s just us here, right?) I’m a bit intimidated by the thought of representing YOU, the Parents. As a Parent of an Iraq Vet, and In-Law of another Iraq Vet, I do know from experience and my own journey through this, how you feel, what you want, what you need to ask - but it sure would be great if I could get your input. I am taking the information from the 10 questions we asked a couple of posts ago, so if you have a few minutes, fill out the survey.
LAW
p.s. I just looked at this and realized - not everyone knows what MilBlogging is! It’s just Military Blogging, from service members, spouses, parents, supporters, veterans - anyone who has a connection of any kind to the OnePercent of the Nation who are members of this military family.
Go here - vote for us! I’m incredibly surprised, and very honoured that we were chosen. Voting closes on Sunday night!
LAW
As we watched the 9/11 remembrances this morning, my parents and I talked about where we were when we saw/heard the reports. I remember my phone at work ringing, my son and husband were both National Guard, and were checking in to let me know they hadn’t heard anything yet - about mobilization. And we waited, and waited. Neither of them was mobilized at that time, but we saw more and more young people signing up for the Guard after that day. There were suddenly no planes flying over our house, the skies were quiet, except for the Air Guard.
To those of you who watched your sons and daughters sign up after that day - Thank You.
LAW
After some brainstorming this past weekend in Virginia Beach, LAW and I put together a few questions to help get a better idea of what YOU want to see and read about. We came up with with 5 questions. It will be a blog series of what other parents & family members want to know, their experiences, etc.
Of course, being the techmama that I am… I put together an online survey for all of you to take. It’s actually 10 questions and should only take about 5 minutes to complete.
Will you help us out?? click here to complete the online survey.
As always, if you have any questions please don’t hesitate to contact us parentszone@gmail.com
PZ TechMama
I’d love to say - YES! But sometimes it’s not. First of all, FRG = Family Readiness Group. These are designed to assist families, either when deployed, or at home. They are usually designed for spouses but there have been many parents who are members of their servicemember’s FRG.
I’ve been asked what they do, and how they work. The first and most important point - your servicemember has to get your name on the list! Before you deploy - he or she MUST put the name of the person he wants to receive information on a list. Without your soldier doing that - you will not get the information, you will not be allowed to get it either! Privacy issues are paramount. You have to make sure your servicemember lists your name, phone number and addresses (both email and snail) with the FRG. This is the ONLY way you will get actual information.
Once you are on that list - make sure the FRG leader (who is usually a volunteer or a group of volunteers) know that you want to be active, that you want to help. Personally, I never had any contact with my son’s FRG - and the FRG at my husband’s unit for his first deployment was horrendous - so we made our own group. I hope you will be active in whatever group you join.
IF you are involved with the FRG of your son’s unit - please let us know how it’s working, how you became involved.
LAW
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