Attention:  All military personnel and their families... 

We are excited to announce our 1^st Commemorative T-Shirt for the Home Sweet Home Campaign. On November 11, 2009, this new Tee will be featured on the Home Sweet Home website in honor of Veteran’s Day.  I am reaching out to you today to ask you be part of this exciting milestone. We have the T-Shirt design ready to go, we just need to add real names of Service Members, like you, to make it complete. 

 

Attached you will find a  release form, granting the Home Sweet Home Campaign permission to use your name, rank and branch of service.  By participating in our 1^st Commemorative T-Shirt you will be helping to raise funds for our post 9/11 wounded war veterans and their families.

 

Why are we doing this… The Home Sweet Home Campaign has pledged to raise $1 million for USA Cares and for every T-Shirt sold a portion of the proceeds will be donated to USACares Warrior Treatment Today Program. 

 

Please do not miss this opportunity – you can make a difference!  All we need is the attached release form completed and returned.  You may fax it to 480-272-6030 or scan and email to beth@oursoldiers.org.  If you are unable to scan or fax, we are able to accept an email stating that you give the Home Sweet Home Campaign permission to use your information.  PLEASE return by Monday November 2, 2009.

 

If you have any questions or concerns, please contact me at 618-567-1384 or at beth@oursoldiers.org.

RELEASE FORM DOCUMENT

 

The Home Sweet Home Campaign Honors MIKE MONSOOR

April 5th, 1981 ~ September 29th, 2006
Navy Petty Officer,
(Petty Officer, Second Class)
EOD2 (Explosive Ordnance Disposal, Second Class)

Mike Monsoor,
Was Awarded "The Congressional Medal Of Honor" Last Week,
For Giving His Life In Iraq, As He Jumped On, And Covered With His Body, A Live Hand Grenade,
That Was Accidentally Dropped By A Navy Seal,
Saving The Lives Of A Large Group Of Navy Seals That Was Passing By!
~
During Mike Monsoor's Funeral,
At Ft. Rosecrans National Cemetery, In San Diego, California.
The Six Pallbearers Removed The Rosewood Casket From The Hearse,
And Lined Up On Each Side Of Mike Monsoor's Casket,
Were His Family Members, Friends, Fellow Sailors, And Well-wishers.
The Column Of People Continued From The Hearse, All The Way To The Grave Site.
What The Group Didn't Know At The Time Was,
Every Navy Seal (45 To Be Exact)
That Mike Monsoor Saved That Day Was Scattered Through-Out The Column!
~
As The Pallbearers Carried The Rosewood Casket
Down The Column Of People To The Grave Side.
The Column Would Collapse.
Which Formed A Group Of People That Followed Behind.
~
Every Time The Rosewood Casket Passed A Navy Seal,
He Would Remove His Gold Trident Pin From His Uniform,
And Slap It Down Hard,
Causing The Gold Trident Pin To Embed Itself
Into The Top Of The Wooden Casket!
Then The Navy Seal Would Step Back From The Column, And Salute!
~
Now For Those,
Who Doesn't Know What A Trident Pin Is, Are What It Looks Like?
Here Is The Definition And Photo!
~
After One Completes The Basic Navy Seals Program Which Lasts For Three Weeks,
And Is Followed By Seal Qualification Training,
Which Is 15 More Weeks Of Training,
Necessary To Continue Improving Basic Skills And To Learn New Tactics And Techniques,
Required For An Assignment To A Navy Seal Platoon.
After successful completion,  Trainees Are Given Their Naval Enlisted Code,
And Are Awarded The Navy Seal Trident Pin.
With This Gold Pin They Are Now Officially Navy Seal's!
It Was Said, That You Could Hear Each Of The 45 Slaps From Across The Cemetery!
By The Time The Rosewood Casket Reached The Grave Site,
It Looked As Though It Had A Gold Inlay From The 45 Trident Pins That Lined The Top!
 
This Was A Fitting End To An Eternal Send-Off For A Warrior Hero!
This Should Be Front-Page News!
~
Here's A Good Idea!
Since this did not make the Main Stream Media.
Then We Choose To Make It News By Forwarding It.
~
I Am Proud Of All The Branches Of Our Military..
If You Are Proud Too, Please Pass the blog on
~

"GOD BLESS AND KEEP OUR TROOPS SAFE!

Wire A Cake is going above and beyond to help support our troops.  They have teamed up with a local Huntington Beach CA bakery, The Cake Box, to create a heat/travel safe cake in an effort to send love letters overseas to soldiers... Love Letters they can taste!  That's right, they will ship a freshly baked cake or pecan pie overseas to your deployed Service Member.  

Wire A Cake is also a team baker for Soldiers Angels and each month they fill an assignment to send a cake to a deserving soldier overseas. How Sweet is That!  

With the holidays approaching quickly - take a minute to check out Wire A Cake - they not only send sweets overseas, they ship in the USA. 

Supporting a company that supports our troops is a WIN for everyone!

The Home Sweet Home Campaign thanks  Army Wife Talk Radio for having Beth Ann VanHoose as a guest on their  October 5, 2009 show.

This internet talk radio program was created by and is produced by Army wives for Army wives.  With 235 shows under their belt, this group really knows what they are doing and what their audience wants. The interactive chat room was buzzing and I could feel the connection between the hosts and their listeners.   I am  so incredibly impressed with this group of strong Army wives.  They are taking their experiences and skills and helping to empower one another.  It makes me proud to have been a part of this group and I hope to keep the connection for years to come.

To listen to the Home Sweet Home Campaign interview Click Here

Also you need to check out Army Wife Network - this site is packed with resources and information every Army wife should have.  They also have a great blog www.LovingASoldier.com

So if you are an Army wife, don't miss out  -  the Army Wife Talk Radio out - every Monday night 8pm EST

The Home Sweet Home Campaign Salutes Alaina Mitchell...

Alaina Mitchell, an Air Force wife stationed in Ft. Riley Kansas is putting her great work out for the public to see and purchase.  This is not your typical art sale.  Alaina's painting "Dreams Come True"  is one that she proudly displays in her home. You cannot purchase this original painting from Alaina, but you can

purchase a TShirts 4 Soldiers Tee with this print on it.  She is graciously given the Home Sweet Home Campaign the right to reproduce this painting on a TShirt, which is offered on the website www.OurSoldiers.org.  For every shirt purchased a portion of the proceeds will be donated to USA Cares to help our wounded post 9/11 war veterans. 

This beautiful painting represents her life and future with her husband Stephen. 

A little bit about Alaina and her painting:

A month after moving to Kansas and marrying Stephen he was deployed to Iraq. It was the coldest and loneliest experience of both of our lives. For him it was his third deployment, but never before had he had someone to miss and long for not to mention worry about. For me I was all alone in a new place and no matter what the world had to offer nothing was enjoyable without him. The entire deployment all we prayed for (next to his safe return) was the open instructors position in Ft. Walton, Florida. This instructor position would guaranteed Stephen a four year non-deployable job, where he would be teaching the new guys in his career field. Shortly after his return, we applied for the slot and a week later we got the good news. That night I pulled out an old canvas that had been sitting in our room for months and began painting our dream that was finally going to come to fruition.

  The Caller Corpus Christi,TX     Written By: Mike Baird

CORPUS CHRISTI — Deirdre Johnson heard the stories around her family dinner table about the pangs of war. Remembering them inspired her to help returning troops.

Her grandfather, a World War II amphibious-boat driver, described soldiers shot before stepping onto land. Her father talked about eating rodents to survive during the Vietnam War, and an uncle and cousin shared their Bronze Star stories from the Gulf War.

“I never stopped listening to them,” said the 38-year-old mother of four, now raising her children at Naval Air Station Corpus Christi as her husband serves his third tour in Iraq.

Johnson designed a T-shirt being sold online to help raise $1 million for USA Cares, which financially assists thousands of post-Sept. 11 veterans and their families through the Warrior Treatment Today Program.

Modeled after her late father’s artwork, the T-shirt’s image is of hands in a heart shape encapsulating symbols of combat — boots, dangling military dog tags and a U.S. flag. Below the hands, the Constitution’s preamble is written.

Home Sweet Home Campaign is marketing the shirts in its T-Shirts 4 Soldiers program.

“I hope it’s plastered everywhere,” Johnson said of her drawing.

Johnson’s father didn’t have help for post-traumatic stress disorder, wrote her husband, Petty Officer 1st Class Michael Johnson in an e-mail.

“The drawing is something she did out of a sudden act of inspiration,” he said.

Deirdre Johnson remembers watching her father draw murals of veterans on business walls in Freer to remind people of his wartime struggles. While her husband was deployed, she doodled at her kitchen table. A religious picture her father drew of hands forming a heart shape stuck in her mind, she said.

“It’s the power of the image that kept coming back to me,” she said.

The drawing has had such an impact that it was turned into a banner for the Home Sweet Home Campaign’s Web site, said Beth Ann VanHoose, founder of the Mesa, Ariz.-based organization. “Everybody quickly identifies with it.”

VanHoose sent one of the T-shirts to Michael Johnson.

“I hope Deirdre’s image inspires others to help support the troops,” he wrote. “There are a lot of military personnel who need help from this war, and I pray that it is another facet for their assistance.”

The military spouse is by far one of the hardest jobs that one could have, he said.

“I have seen families fall apart due to deployments, but Deirdre and I stand strong together,” wrote the sailor stationed at Camp Victory in Baghdad. “No matter how hard things are or how tired or frustrated we’ve been while being apart, she keeps my spirits high and encourages me to keep pushing.”

T-shirts 4 soldiers

What: Personalized T-shirts for loved ones

Who: Home Sweet Home Campaign at www.oursoldiers.org

Benefits: USA Cares Warriors Treatment Today program

How: go to www.oursoldiers.org

1. Purchase a blank T-shirt and provide recipient’s name and address

2. Send your design

3. They print and mail your personalized T-shirt

Goal: Raise $1 Million for USA Cares

Funds raised: $2,090.00 as of Sept 15, 2009

Need: USA Cares has received more than 17,000 requests for assistance and given more than $6,000,000 in support

Information: www.usacares.org

Source: www.oursoldiers.org

Story from the San Gabriel Valley Tribune, by Brian Day, Staff Writer

POMONA - The L.A. County Fair honored military, police and fire personnel Friday on the eighth anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks.Members of military, police and fire agencies and a guest were admitted to the fair for $1, which was donated to the non-profit veterans' group, USA Cares, fair officials said.

Fair officials declared Friday "A Day for Heroes."Television personality Steve Wilkos, of the syndicated series "The Steve Wilkos Show," attended the fair as a spokesman for USA Cares. Wilkos served six years in the U.S. Marines and 12 years as a police officer in Chicago.

Despite his success as a the host of a TV talk show, Wilkos said his proudest accomplishment is his military service. "That's the thing I'm most proud of in my life ... that I was a Marine," he said.  Wilkos has served as a national spokesman for USA Cares for a year.  "It's just a great organization," he said. "Just helping the families that need help."

USA Cares is dedicated to fulfilling the needs of deployed soldiers and veterans and their families, USA Cares spokesman John Revell said.

In a written statement, L.A. County Fair spokesman Dale Coleman thanked those who serve the country.   "We must always remember the tragic events of Sept. 11, 2001," he said. "We can never do enough for the brave men and women who sacrifice so much to keep us free. We here at the L.A. County Fair are truly honored to have the opportunity to say thank you."

On Friday, fair officials announced they will extend the $1 admission price for military, fire and police personnel for an additional three Fridays, Revell said. They will also continue donating proceeds from the discount admission tickets to USA Cares.  We are so thrilled the L.A. County Fair has been so generous to us," Revell said. "It's very, very heartwarming."

In addition to meeting with Wilkos for autographs and photos, fairgoers were invited to write a personal message to a soldier on small squares of cloth, which USA Cares will sew into quilts and distribute to wounded veterans

For the rest of this story and pictures of the event click here

The Home Sweet Home Campaign is proud to be a supporter of the Blue Star Families

This is a remarkable group of people who truly care about each other and those serving our country.  Their goal is to get down to the source, understand the needs and advocate for every military family in the world.  If you are a military family, take a few minutes to check out their website.  It is packed with great information, such as Blue Star Families Blog, ,finding a chapter, ,Operation Appreciation, the Lighter Side and more.  They are there for YOU... don't miss the opportunity to be part of the bigger family; the Blue Star family.

About Blue Star Families

Their Mission...Is to Support, Connect and Empower Military Families

Blue Star Families is a non-partisan, non-profit organization, created by real military families.  Committed to supporting one another through the unique challenges of military service and asking the larger civilian population to help as well, connecting military families regardless of rank, branch of service or physical location, and empowering military family members to create the best personal and family life possible for themselves.

By providing both online and physical chapter-based communities and by serving as a bridge between families and support and service organizations that are striving to help make military life more sustainable.  Through outreach and involvement with national and local organizations, civilian communities and government entities, Blue Star Families works hand in hand to share the pride of service, promote healthier families, aid in our military readiness and contribute to our country's strength.

Boy the year is flying by, our children are starting school, the weather is changing and if you can believe it, there is Halloween and Thanksgiving merchandise in the stores already! 

As we all gear up for a three day weekend, I had to stop and think... Labor Day- the first Monday of September... now why do we get the day off??  Oh yes, to celebrate US - YOU and ME - all the working folks out there!  Which got me thinking a bit more about all the different kinds of jobs and responsibilities "US" Americans have.  I salute anyone out there that is working day in and day out.  Some jobs are more stressful than others, but who am I to judge which job is more important.  But I do believe being a soldier and protection our country is by far one of the most admirable!  I want to thank each and every one of you out there that has put on a uniform to protect me and my family.  You are what makes this country what it is... FREE!

The Home Sweet Home Campaign wants to wish everyone a happy and safe holiday weekend.

Definition: Labor Day, the first Monday in September, is a creation of the labor movement and is dedicated to the social and economic achievements of American workers. It constitutes a yearly national tribute to the contributions workers have made to the strength, prosperity and well-being of our country.

Oregon was the first U.S. state to recognize Labor Day in 1887. It became a U.S. National holiday in 1894.

In Canada, it became a national holiday on July 23, 1894.