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A Salute to Fort Hood and our military community
On Fridays, if you look around, you’ll see a lot of people wearing red – some of us wear it as a tribute to wounded warriors, some for deployed servicemembers, and today – it’s for Fort Hood. The USO has been working with the Community at Hood, and this Friday, December 11, Fort Hood and the USO – with the support of Fort Hood FMWR and AAFES – is proud to host “Fort Hood Community Strong,” a day for healing, fun and entertainment. Held at Hood Stadium, this event will feature free carnival rides, games, food and top-notch celebrity performers. The biggest gift we can give the community, however, is to honor them with our sincere thanks and support.
Since the November 5 shooting, the USO has stepped up to provide support for the community in any way they can. From grief counseling to the two Mobile USO units providing meals – the USO has been ready to assist the troops, families and command at Fort Hood however needed.
We need to take time to support that Community, to support our military family. There are so many who need that support, who are having their own quiet crisis, and need that shoulder to lean on, that ear to listen, that hand to hold. If you can’t be there in person for someone, if you aren’t near Hood or another base, if you can’t physically do it, there are so many groups that are trying to do this. Find one, and tell US about it.
There’s a Wall of Remembrance from the USO, a place to put down in a few words a thank you, show support for Hood and the rest of our military family.
This post was created as part of the USO’s Community Strong event at Fort Hood –a day for healing, fun and entertainment to uplift the spirits of the Fort Hood community in the wake of the Nov. 5 shooting incident. You can help show your support for Fort Hood and its more than 349,000 military personnel, family members, retirees and civilian employees by visiting the Community Strong website, Tweeting your support with the #CommunityStrong hashtag, leaving comments on the Official USO Blog and donating to the USO’s ongoing efforts to support our troops.
Thanks for coming back to visit! If you would like to write for Parents Zone - please let LAW or TechMama know!
Valour IT
There is a new widget on our page, top, left… right there! See? It’s a widget that shows progress up a thermometer – Yeah, THAT one. That’s the Valour IT campaign. If you click on it, you will get to the Valour IT Donation page (for the Army Team).
What’s Valour IT? It’s a charity that was established to give adaptive technology to a wounded warrior. When a blogger, the inimitable ChuckZ (then Capt, now Major Chuck Ziegenfuss) was injured and couldn’t type, he tried to have his very patient wife Carren keep his blog going… and her story about the dictation/frustration is worth hearing if you get the chance. He was frustrated and felt even more out of touch. Legend has it that he asked for Dragon Naturally Speaking or other voice activated software, and when it was donated to him, realized that this was a way to keep him connected to his audience, to his family. He and one of his readers, Fbl, decided that this was a superb way to keep all wounded who are unable to use a regular computer connected. So the idea was born – and the charity now gives laptops fully loaded with adaptive software to wounded who need it.
In addition to voice-controlled laptops, Valour-IT now helps provide active and whole-body video games such as Wii Sports, which is used to great effect in physical therapy, and personal GPS systems that help compensate for short-term memory loss and organizational/spacial challenges common in those with brain injuries.
This annual drive to fund this charity is also a goodnatured competition between supporters of the various services. Since TechMama and I are very proud Army Spouses – we are linking to the Army Team. If you would rather give to the team of your service member, here is the central page link.
So… what are you waiting for? Go – Donate. Now.
LAW
Knitters & Crocheters – fire up the needles
Do you love to knit or crochet, and is your family completely outfitted with everything yarn related? Ar you looking for a way to indulge your love of all things yarn and needle craft – and give to those who can really really appreciate it? We found a great project for you! Hats, scarves and helmet liners for the Troops in Afghanistan.
Operation Gratitude has a great site, and does some superb work. Right now, there is a push to send hats, scarves and helmet liners to Afghanistan. It’s getting cold there already, Kabul tonight is in the 30s. In the mountains, it’s going to be colder, and it’s only October. The link here will give you patterns and information. There are some more patterns on Ravelry and other sites, I’ll put them below.
There are some rules you need to follow, and these are not suggestions, these are mandatory. First - NO acrylic or rayon or other artificial yarns. It must be 100% wool. Acrylic melts when it burns. When it gets wet, it gets cold and nasty. Wool, even when wet, keeps the body warmth in. I’m told that the Cascade 220 superwash is warm, soft and washable. There are other washable wools too. Second – muted colours. tans, browns, Army green, black, deep maroon if you must, dark blue if you want to send to airforce.
Other sites – patterns
USMC helmet liner
Scarves – any pattern you want, plainer the better and long enough to go around the neck once and get tucked in. A Gaiter is great too. You know how miserable it is when your neck gets cold!
Get the needles smoking – let’s get these guys something warm, something made with care and gratitude. The address to send to by December 5 is
Operation Gratitude/California Army National Guard
17330 Victory Boulevard
Van Nuys, California 91406
If you want to, you can put in your name and email address, enclose a card, or anything else you think they’d like – the list is on the Operation Gratitude page, but those of us in the milparent community know what to send, right?
See you at the Yarn Store (if you live in the DC area, I’ll be there this Saturday)
LAW
Gold Star Sunday
Today is the day we remember the Gold Star Families, those who have lost their service member in combat.
These families now have a new way to stay intouch, both with each other and with others, including the military family that has become so important to them.
As a story from Defenselink News reported,
a new Virtual Installation, such as the Army Strong Community Center that opened in Rochester NY in September, is a way for these families to maintain ties to the military. As three families who met with Army Reserve Chief Lt. Gen. Jack C. Stultz made clear to him :
What they said they’re lacking now is a way to stay tied to the military their sons died serving, and to get information and help when they need it.
These families have had difficulties with finding counseling who could help, in one case helping the fiancee of the fallen servicemember receive benefits for the daughter he never saw, and in assisting the siblings who were suffering with the death of their brother. This installation could be of service, could help this group of families who need to feel that we haven’t forgotten them.
I have a blog friend, who lost her son 5 years ago. I visit Ken at Arlington periodically, and think of his mother often. As a former Blue Star Mother, and a current Blue Star Wife, I honour her service and her loss, I honour the Gold Star Families around the country who grieve the loss of their servicemember, their son or daughter, who miss their brother or sister, the father or mother they will never see again. Our country needs to remember these families, we need to make sure that their sacrifice is never ever forgotten.
General Casey remembered these families Saturday at the 4th Annual Time of Remembrance at the US Capitol, spent time talking to them, especially the children. The White House Commission on Remembrance proclaimed that the purpose of this day is
To unite our citizens in remembrance, honoring all those who died in service to our country with a special tribute to America’s fallen in Afghanistan and Iraq and the families they left behind. To demonstrate to these families that in addition to their family and friends, their fellow Americans care about their loss.
We must never forget that each one of the names on the roll of the fallen have a family that will never be the same again, that have sacrificed so much.
LAW
Honor and Remember
I recently heard about an organization that is trying to establish a national symbol of gratitude to fallen military members along with providing a visible reminder to all Americans. That symbol will be a flag that honors all who have given their life in defense of our freedom.
Honorandremember.org has designed the flag with a gold star upon which is an eternal flame on a red and white background. Printed on the flag are the words, Honor and Remember. The flags are available for purchase through Honorandremember.org. They come in two sizes and you can choose between a screen printed flag or a hand-stitched appliquéd flag. There are even motorcycle flags for all you bikers out there!
Congressman Randy Forbes from Virginia introduced HR 1034, a bill to make this flag a national symbol. You can help buy signing the petition on Honorandremember.org. The United States does not have a nation symbol that honors the sacrifice made by the men and women who gallantly defend our country.
American Gold Star Mothers, Inc., the Veterans of Foreign Wars, the Fleet Reserve Association, the Military Officers Association of America, the Air Force Security Forces Association, and the Naval Reserve Association currently endorse the Honor and Remember flag.
By signing the petition you are helping in the movement to have the flag congressionally and militarily sanctioned as a permanent symbol to fly continuously in eternal honor and remembrance of all fallen military service men and women.
I think this is a wonderful idea, as we cannot do enough to honor those who made a commitment to everyone of us. Please go sign the petition and give this gift to our heroes and their families. In honor, they served. In honor, they sacrificed. Let us never forget them.
Proud Mom 3
A Real Hero- His True Story
There are heroes everywhere – at least if you read the paper or watch the news. Here – thanks to Donna Miles of the American Forces Press Service and with her permission – is a REAL one. warning – Kleenex should be at your fingertips.
Commentary: Wounded Warrior Offers Real StoryBy Donna Miles WASHINGTON, Sept. 2, 2009 – Two days ago, I and six other reporters accompanied Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates to Texas to see two high-tech operations under way: the F-35 Lightning II joint strike fighter Lockheed Martin is building in Fort Worth, and the retrofitting of the MC-12 Liberty turboprop at the L3 Communications plant in Greenville.Both efforts have important military implications. The F-35 is a revolutionary next-generation fighter aircraft that the Air Force, Navy and Marine Corps, as well as eight partner nations, will share. The MC-12 is being outfitted with state-of-the-art gear – 41,000 pieces of it, to be exact – and already is delivering new intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance capabilities in Iraq. It soon will do the same for warfighters in Afghanistan as more come off the line. Getting to see both operations firsthand was impressive, to say the least. It was gratifying to see the energy, and frankly, the money, being poured into programs that directly support our troops on the front lines. But almost 48 hours after the return flight to Andrews Air Force Base, Md., these stops aren’t the ones lingering in my mind. What replays over and over in my head, and that I find myself sharing with just about everyone I talk with, is the third stop on the Texas trip, where Gates helped to present a wounded warrior with keys to a brand new, all-expenses-paid house near Houston. Only two other Pentagon reporters and I opted to cover that stop, which most of us hadn’t known about until just days before the trip. The two factory visits, which included a news conference at the Lockheed Martin plant, had delivered solid, hard-news stories about the F-35, the MC-12 and the situation on Afghanistan that couldn’t wait. Editors wanted their stories. Time was of the essence. That’s how the news business works. Yet that additional side trip to Cypress, just outside Houston, yielded what to me was the most eye-opening and inspiring story of the day, maybe of the year. A community came together and raised enough money to buy a brand-new, 3,300-square-foot home for a severely wounded Marine captain and his family. They presented it with no strings attached, calling him a hero and telling him it was part of the debt they owed him for his sacrifices and service. I admit I’m a bit of a sap. But our motorcade approached the house, I was moved by the outpouring of genuine support. Hundreds of wildly cheering people lined the street and the sidewalk leading up to the front door: Boy Scouts in uniforms, schoolchildren hoisting hand-painted banners, neighbors holding American flags, Marines in their dress blues. The house itself was packed with well-wishers crammed into every nook and cranny, all focused on a makeshift podium set up in the middle of the living room. The luminaries made their speeches. Before Secretary Gates spoke, the onlookers heard from Houston Astros legend Craig Biggio, Texas Lt. Gov. David Dewhurt, U.S. Rep Todd Tiahrt from Kansas, and Meredith Iler, national chairwoman for the Helping a Hero organization that made the donation possible. But it was Capt. Dan Moran, the medically retired Marine they were honoring, who left the group spellbound. Moran has sacrificed a lot since an enemy attack left him with excruciating third-degree burns over his body, a fractured vertebra and mild traumatic brain injury. He’s undergone more than 30 surgeries and spent two and a half years recovering at the burn center at Brooke Army Medical Center in San Antonio. To this day, he can’t control his body temperature and has to stay in a 68-degree environment. He can’t go outside in the sunshine, where his body will overheat and his burns will fester. His face is red and swollen, a testament to his wounds. But as he stood at the podium in his new living room, he harbored no anger, no blame, no sense of being owed something. “What do I say to people who have given me so much?” he asked. “Words don’t do justice. So let me tell you right now. It is going to be the way that I live my life. And the way I am going to live my life is by honor, courage and commitment.” At this point, a tear started rolling down my cheek. Bad form for a reporter, even one who works for the Defense Department. But then another tear followed. I felt self-conscious — until I saw tears rolling down the faces of many others crowding the room. How could anyone not feel the raw emotion of this? “You can rest assured,” Moran continued. “You made an investment in me and other wounded warriors, and I promise you, you will get a return on your investment in me. … This is how I am going to pay you back: by how I live my life and the impact I will have.” I looked across the room at Secretary Gates, and it was obvious that he, too, had been touched by the captain. Flying on the plane back to Washington, Gates told reporters that he had jokingly told Moran, “Remind me to never speak after you.” Moran would have been a tough act for anyone to follow. As I reflect on the Texas trip, I feel edified by the experience. I’m further amazed at the technology that goes into making our warfighters the world’s best. I’m impressed by the American industrial base – where workers I met expressed genuine pride in the fact that their everyday work is saving lives on the battlefield. But the image I can’t shake is of Captain Moran at that podium, so eloquently expressing humble thanks and committing himself to a life of example and service. That’s a news story. (Donna Miles can be reached for comment at donna.miles@osd.mil.) |
Veterans – have parents too.
Those of us who have had our child leave the military after serving, either in a war zone or not, are now VetParents. And Parents Zone is here for us too. I’ve been watching, with a great deal of pride, my own son and daughter in law navigate the difficult waters called “The VA” and persevere. I watched them both go through the frustration of medical and psychological evaluations and the appeals process. I’m watching them heal, watching my son take classes and work full time and take care of their adorable daughter, watching my daughter in law work full time and then some, take care of said wonderful child, while they both deal with their deployments and what they brought back with them.
Some Soldier’s Mom, in her previous post, listed a group of websites to assist Vets. I’d like to add to that, and I’m asking you for help. If you know a site, an organization, a group, that helps Vets, list them here. We’ll set up a page for them as well (right, Tech Mama??)
The American Veteran video site
IAVA Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America
American Women Veterans ( this is a FaceBook based group)
LAW
HELP OUR HEROES
the newest addition to that list is a new and worthwhile NON-PARTISAN organization to advocate on behalf of veterans of ALL wars and all peace time service as well as for those who still serve — the WARRIOR LEGACY FOUNDATION. For information on the necessity and mission of WLF, read Blackfive’s post HERE. You need not be a veteran to join — just someone who wishes to honor those who serve and those that have served. Membership is free, although donations are welcome.
HELP OUR HEROES
Adopt a SniperThe Blame Game
I have an acquaintance whose child took their own life recently, and this wonderful parent blames it on themselves for not being more astute when it came to their child’s life. Granted, their child was older, but that does not mean much, this is still their child. This friend, a psychologist, committed to helping others, usually being able to see what is and is not right amongst patients, blames them self. Why? Their point of view, because they could assist others so why not their own child? Blame and grief they will hold forever in their heart, and no amount of counseling, cleansing tears or messages of hope they receive will assuage their blame bringing relief to their soul. The pain they feel is so heart wrenching that my own heart hurts for them although I did not know their child personally. Why do we blame ourselves as parents when we know that some circumstances are beyond our control? Is it just part of the wondering and guessing, the should’ve, would’ve, could’ve syndrome, part of being a parent?
For a long time, I blamed myself for a lot of things in my life that I probably should not have. I know what it has done to me physically, carrying around worries and stress of those things that I could not have realistically had any control over the outcome of and then blaming myself for it as well. I could not predict that my son would join the military but I blamed myself when he did. I blamed myself because I was the one who taught him to make his bed the right way (read Army way) and I was the one who was involved with him during his years of Scouting (his dad didn’t want to help). I was the one who taught him how to tie knots, honor our Flag, loving the symbol of all that America is. I was the one who taught him that freedom isn’t free, who watched the WWII movies with him, the History Channel, the Discovery Channel, and having the discussions about what we had watched. The one who bought him books, books and more books. The one who taught him that when a bully is witnessed being a bully that you do something about it to defend the weak. So, I blamed myself when he enlisted. Why? Because he reiterated my own teachings, telling me that he wanted to defend those who could not defend themselves, because they had hit us here at home and that sickened him. Because, he told me, there was a need for him to defend what was his-his country, his family, me!
I was very surprised at all of this, I don’t know why, but I was. What had I done? I had, for years, taught my sons right from wrong, good versus evil, love versus hate; and the very fact that it stuck with him actually made me proud and sick to my stomach at the same time. I blamed myself that he grew up in a household with two parents who love him more then he knows, yet who divorced after he was old enough to understand because it was killing me from the inside out. The blame and worry that I used to carry actually made me very ill, to the point of having a doctor tell me to either fix what was causing it or prepare a will. So I fixed it. When my sons saw this, the blamed me for breaking up a home, I blamed myself for my ill health and for not doing it sooner, would it have made a difference in their lives? I will never know. It had impacted them all as it was, and I was blamed for a lot more then I had bargained for when it was all said and done.
And yet, I have always been there for them, no matter what. I blame myself when they hurt because I should be able to find ways to protect them, but I can’t. I have come to realize I can’t always be there, 100% of the time. His going to war taught me that. I can’t carry a rifle and march alongside of my son. I wish I could, but age has a way of keeping you from doing some of the things better left to those who are better equipped and much, much more capable. I wish I could have been at boot camp and told his Sergeant how I felt and set him straight on a few things. (I actually met his Sergeant-one of them-on graduation day while playing cards in the barracks and when he yelled our last name both my son and I answered “Yes Sergeant!” It was pretty funny and it left his Sergeant tongue tied so he just walked away shaking his head. Old habits die hard.)
I have found that part of being a parent is to work through the blame, to talk to yourself about all that has gone on in your life. We all know that so much could have been different had we followed a different path, but would it have been better? And who would it have been better for? This is what makes a grandparent so unique and wonderful. We know that blame is an ugly monster, we try to advise, mentor and oversee from a distance (usually) when it comes to our children and their own interactions with their young ones. We can blame ourselves for so much and accept the blame of others for what has happened in life. But at the same time, we can, without any remorse, accept with open arms the love; joy and happiness that comes from having children who grow up and carry on with our teachings. There is no blame in giving birth to a warrior and certainly no shame. If this were the time of the ancients I would be like a woman of Sparta having given birth to 3 sons. Yet, even a Spartan is not beyond the reach of the heart, we are human and blaming ourselves for anything and everything will never stop. We live with it, we deal with it and we move on, different then we once were, eventually.
Mamaw
Signs of Respect
In Sullivan Illinois, the residents have found a great way to honor their military residents serving in the US Armed Forces. When many were deployed to Afghanistan in 2004, the soldier’s names were nailed to lampposts. As more and more young people volunteered in Sullivan, population 4,400, the parents decided to keep up the tradition.
More than a hundred town residents have served abroad and dozens more will still deploy to either Iraq or Afghanistan. Some names have hung more than once while spouses and siblings are displayed two to a post.
This is the town’s small, informal way of showing its respect to those members of the community who for the most part joined the military out of patriotism.
In Sullivan, the effort to support military personnel and their families includes churches, care package packing parties and coffee klatches. The wonderful thing here is the residents have taken their support an additional step by putting up the signs and honoring their military even further.
As we military family members know, support is imperative during deployment. It is hard for non-military people to understand the fear and helplessness when a loved one deploys for a war zone. The signs are a great way of reminding people on a daily basis that someone’s family member is in harm’s way and protecting each and every one of us.
Since my son will soon be deployed my need for support and understanding grows with each passing day. I think doing something like this in my hometown would be a great comfort to me. Maybe since this story is out other towns might want to do something like this too.
Some might worry about putting a loved one’s name on a sign in public. Let’s face it there are a few crazies out there. I suggest family members or the actual service member have the option of just using their first name. The whole world does not necessarily have to know the service member’s whole name and this might bring a little piece of mind to people who may be skeptical.
So I say spread the word and maybe this could grab some momentum and before we know it many towns and cities could be demonstrating yet one more way to say thank you to our brave military.
ProudMom3
