Home Sweet Home Campaign
"Helping Our Services Members and Their Families"
TShirts 4 Soldiers - Connecting Families with their Deployed Loved Ones
The 1st shipment of TShirts 4 Soldiers has been sent overseas.
The TShirts 4 Soldiers program touches three very important groups of people; Military families and friends living stateside, deployed Service Members andpost 9/11 veterans who have returned from the war. Photina Haumschilt, wife of a deployed sailor stated, “The TShirts 4 Soldiers is a wonderful program. It gave my girls and me something special and different to do together that we could send to my husband. We had a great time making the design together as a family. My oldest daughter saw a picture of the TShirt and is so excited that her daddy will be able to wear it soon. Thank you for this program!”
(Beth Ann VanHoose, Founder of the
Home Sweet Home Campaign with 1st
shipment of TShirts 4 Soldiers)
SEAL Strong Nation - Focused Training, not just for the Military Bound
The Home Sweet Home Campaign Salutes SEAL Strong Nation
If you live in the Tampa / Clearwater Florida area this sounds like a pretty cool experience.
What is SEAL Strong Nation?
Agroup of Former Navy SEALs giving back to the Navy Special WarfareCommunity by providing well trained, focused, and prepared candidatesfor BUD/s. Although our commitment is to military development, we havegrown to encompass other groups such as sports teams, governmentagencies, and corporate groups. We are working to raise the standardsof accountability, mental toughness, and physical readiness.
They have workouts with former SEAL Pappa Tango. Monday, Wednesday and Friday @ 0500 and Saturday @ 0700 - New Tampa / varying locations.
They also offer The 36-Hour Challenge (in Clearwater Florida) There aretypically 4-6 challenges per year, beginning in November and ending inMarch. Helping to train potential SEALs, police officers, fire fighters and regular old civilians like ME!
Sounds like the ultimate physical and emotional challenge! Check it out!
TShirts 4 Soldiers Thanks Navy Spouse for 1st TShirt Design
The Home Sweet Home Campaign Salutes Deirdre Johnson, Navy Wife
A special thanks to Deirdre for designing the 1st TShirts 4 Soldiers Tee, which is featured on www.OurSoldiers.org.
This hand drawn picture of two hands brought together to form a heart, embracing the United States Flag and combat boots with dog tags dangling down will take your breath away. To pull the design together, Deirdre a
dded the preamble of the Constitution. She describes the heart with the hands as something "we" as a family do for Daddy. This shirt was mailed directly to her husband Michael in Baghdad Iraq.
A portion of all the proceeds from the sale of Deirdre's shirt will be donated to USA Cares Warrior Treatment Today Program. If you are interested in supporting our vets, please go to www.OurSoldiers.org to purchase this shirt or to create your own. Either way, TShirts 4 Soldiers will donate proceeds to USA Cares.
A little bit about Deirdre...
She is the granddaughter of WWII U.S Naval Vet, daughter of U.S. Army Sgt.Vietnam Vet (who served 3 tours), sister to Lance CPL USMC, Niece to U.S Navy WWII Pilot shot down, Niece of Captain in U.S Airforce, wife of U.S Navy Spouse who is currently deployed in Baghdad, Iraq.
THANK YOU DEIRDRE!
Freed Journalist glad to be 'home and free'
From MSNBC
Freed journalists glad to be ‘home and free’
Women return to U.S. after Bill Clinton secures their release from N. Korea
BURBANK, Calif. - Two American journalists jubilantly reunited with family and friends early Wednesday upon returning to the United States with former President Bill Clinton,whose diplomatic trip to North Korea secured their release nearly five months after their arrests.
The jet carrying Euna Lee and Laura Ling, reporters for Al Gore's San Francisco-based Current TV, and former President Bill Clinton arrived at Burbank's Bob Hope Airport at dawn. Clinton met with communist leader Kim Jong Il on Tuesday to secure the women's release.
The journalists were arrested near the North Korean-Chinese border in March while on a reporting trip for Current TV.
Lee emerged from the jetliner first and was greeted by husband Michael Saldate and 4-year-old daughter Hana. She hugged the girl and picked her up before all three embraced in a crushing hug as TV networks beamed the poignant moment live.
Ling embraced her husband Iain Clayton as teary family members crowded around. "The past 140 days have been the most difficult, heart-wrenching days of our lives," Ling said, her voice cracking. Thirty hours ago, Ling said, "We feared that any moment we could be sent to a hard labor camp." Then, she said, they were taken to another location.
"When we walked through the doors, we saw standing before us President Bill Clinton," she said to applause. "We were shocked but we knew instantly in our hearts that the nightmare of our lives was finally coming to an end, and now we stand here, home and free.
Clinton came down the stairs to applause. He hugged Gore at the foot of the stairs, then chatted with family members.
'Speaks well of our country'
Gore described the families of the two women as "unbelievable, passionate, involved, committed, innovative."
"Hanna's been a great girl while you were gone," he told Lee. "And Laura, yourmom's been making your special soup for two days now." He also thanked the State Department for its help in the release.
"Its peaks well of our country that when two American citizens are in harm's way, that so many people will just put things aside and just go to work to make sure that this has had a happy ending," he said.
After 140 days in custody, the reporters were granted a pardon by North Korea on Tuesday, following rare talks between Clinton and the reclusive North Korea leader. They had been sentenced to 12 years of hard labor for entering the country illegally.
The women,dressed in short-sleeved shirts and jeans, appeared healthy as theyshook hands with Clinton before getting into the jet, exclusive APTN footage from Pyongyang showed. Clinton waved, put his hand over hisheart and then saluted.
North Korean state TV showed Clinton's departure, and North Korean officials waving to the plane, but did not show images of the two journalists.
Speaking on the White House lawn just before leaving on a trip to Indiana,President Barack Obama said the administration is "extraordinarily relieved" that the pair has been set free. He said he had spoken to their families once the two were safely aboard a plane out of Pyongyang. "The reunion we've all seen on television, I think, is a source of happiness not only for the families but also for the entire country," Obama said.
Ling was later seen entering her mother's home in the Los Angeles suburb of Toluca Lake, while Lee was spotted going into her home in Los Angeles. White House press secretary Robert Gibbs said Clinton will fill in Obama's national security team on what transpired during his trip as a private envoy to Pyongyang. He reiterated that Clinton did not carry a message from Obama to Kim. "If there wasn't a message, there certainly couldn't have been an apology," Gibbs said.
When asked whether the release of the journalists could lead to a breakthrough on other issues like North Korea's nuclear program, Gibbs said that will depend on the actions of the communist regime. "The people that walked away from the obligations they agreed to were not anybody involved on our side," Gibbs said. "It was the North Koreans."
Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton hailed the release of the journalists. "I spoke to my husband on the airplane and everything went well," she told reporters in Nairobi, Kenya. "They are extremely excited to be reunited soon when they touch down in California. It was just a good day to be able to see this happen."
Ling,a 32-year-old California native, is the younger sister of Lisa Ling, a correspondent for CNN as well as "The Oprah Winfrey Show" and "National Geographic Explorer." Lee, 36, is a South Korean-born U.S. citizen.They were arrested near the North Korean-Chinese border in March while on a reporting trip for Current TV.
Ex-president's visit was a coup
Therelease also amounted to a successful diplomatic foray for the formerpresident, who traveled as an unofficial envoy, with approval andcoordination from the administration. He was uniquely positioned for itas the only recent president who had considered visiting North Koreawhile in office, and one who had sent his secretary of state, MadeleineAlbright.
The American Fallen Soldier Project - Honoring and Remembering
That the time to visit his site and watch the video - What a precious gift he is giving!
Their Mission:
To honor, respect and forever memorialize those who have sacrificed their lives protecting our freedom while serving in our Armed Forces. The 501(c)3 organization provides, at no cost to family members, an exquisitely framed original portrait of their fallen loved one that fully captures their appearance and personality. They also make available to those family members who did not receive the original, a full-size canvas reproduction print that has been mounted and framed,precisely like the original.
High School Teacher Leads Marines in Iraq
Face of Defense: High School Teacher Leads Marines in IraqBy Marine Corps 1st Lt. Michele Perez
McKinley is serving her first deployment to Iraq as the communications operations officer for the 2nd Marine Logistics Group here. However,just a few years ago, she was in a classroom teaching at the Winchendon School in Winchendon, Mass. The school was not your typical high school. It held classes from 9th grade through post graduate school, and students ranged anywhere from a star athlete destined to be drafted by the National Basketball Association to international students who would return to their native country to serve in their nation’s military. McKinley said she loved teaching, the impact she made on the students and the remarkable progress she would see them make. Yet, she added, she reached a point where she felt as if she was coming up short. “I needed to be able to do more,” she said. “I owed my students more; I wanted to get out and get [credibility]. … I felt like I hadn’t lived.” In hopes offinding that “something more,” McKinley left the school in 2003 to pursue her master’s degree in English literature at Middlebury Collegein Middlebury, Vt., assuming that furthering her education was the answer. But in an unexpected, but welcome, turn of events, she found an opportunity to play on a professional soccer team, the Vermont Voltage,where she competed against teams from Connecticut, New York, Massachusetts and Canada. Having played soccer since she was old enough to walk, McKinley said, she remembers the offer as an opportunity she could not pass up, though it was for the love of the game and not the money; she had to hold a few jobs to make ends meet.She coached soccer at the local high school, managed a back country ski center, and if that wasn’t enough, she also became a firefighter in The Ripton, Vt., fire department. “It was a once-in-a-lifetime shot to train and play at that level,” McKinley said. “The best part of it was to have all the young kids come out to the games and see us play, and to see a light in their eyes because they know there are opportunities out there.” But as much as she loved to play soccer, McKinley said, the rush of adrenaline in being a firefighter and being part of an organization where she possibly would be able to take part in saving someone’s life started to draw her into firefighting. But the day came when McKinley and her squad couldn’t get to a victim in time. She still vividly remembers when she and a fellow squad member went into the building to retrieve the body.She had trained for something like this, but when they got to the scene, they found that there was a second victim -- the woman’s pet Rottweiler had never left his owner’s side. That was the tipping point that caused her to search for a way where she would be able to firefight full-time, McKinley said. “Once you experience something like that, you can’t just do it part time. … I wanted all of it,” she said. “When the pager goes off, everything stops. The world stops spinning, and someone needs help. The only thing that matters is to get from A to B to get to that person.” Her first step was to attempt to enter the Air National Guard to serve in crash and fire rescue, where she would be able to make firefighting a career. But after beginning the process and going through the physical,she was placed on a waiting list. Discouraged by the waiting process,McKinley was talked into going to see a Marine Corps officer selection officer. After discussing the training regimen and what she would be tested to do -- combined with the leadership, physical training and the opportunity to serve her country -- she she knew she was hooked. “This is what I was meant to do,” she said. “This is it, because I still have those kids looking at me, but they’re not in my English class. They’re Marines.” McKinley said she finds that many of the attributes that helped her to succeed as a teacher are transferrable to her new role as a Marine Corps officer. It requires patience, honesty and being OK with not being liked all of the time, she noted. But most importantly, she added, it requires the ability to listen. She said she has the utmost respect for each of the Marines with whom she has the pleasure of serving, noting “the utter gratitude I have for them at their age to make the sacrifice.” “I can’t imagine at 18, 19 joining the Marine Corps,” she said, “but here these Marines are doing such an enormous service for themselves and their country.” Although she has no definite plan for what her future holds, McKinley said, she does know she eventually plans to return to teaching now that she has earned the knowledge and credibility she yearned for when she was teaching in that 9th grade classroom. (Marine Corps 1st Lt. Michele Perez serves with the 2nd Marine Logistics Group.) | ||
| Related Sites: Multinational Force Iraq |
What are the Wounds of War?
July 29, 2009
Lloyd I. Sederer MD
Our country has been at war in Afghanistan and Iraq for over eight years. Opinions vary powerfully about our entry into these wars and our exit strategies. But we are learning to separate our feelings about recent wars from its warriors. Support for American soldiers is strong, though I have heard from military personnel that there are still moments when war returnees are vilified as soldiers, their being mistaken for war itself.
War is hard on those who serve -- marines, soldiers, air force and
navy -- and their families -- ask them and they will say it is "hard".
While Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) is seen in 3-4% of the
general population, Vietnam veterans have rates of 15%. The near to
300,000 men and women who have served in Afghanistan and Iraq on whom
the Veteran's Administration has records from 2002-2006 are
experiencing rates of 37%. Suicide among veterans is at the highest it
has been in the almost three decades since this data has been kept;
deaths from suicide among Afghan and Iraqi veterans are, remarkably,
expected to exceed the combat death toll. PTSD is only the tip of
problems that include depression, alcohol and drug abuse, domestic
violence, separation and divorce, especially prominent among National
Guard and Reserve who are over 50% of those deployed today.
To read the rest of this story Click Here
2009 Little Warriors Surf Camp Sponsored by Freedom is Not Free
FREEDOM IS NOT FREE announced the winner of this year's surf camp essay contest. David O'Flaherty, 10 years old, of Norfolk,Virginia, submitted the winning essay in this year's 'What Freedom Means to Me' contest. David and two guests will receive an all expenses-paid trip to attend the 2009 Little Warriors Surf Camp,presented by FREEDOM IS NOT FREE. Congratulations, David, on a job well done!
The 2009 camp will be held in beautiful La Jolla Shores and will feature 1/2-day sessions from 1-4:30 PM, Monday through Friday, August 10-14th. The camp is open to 100 registrants, ages 8-15.
This year's camp is FREE to children of wounded and fallen service members and veterans. Freedom is Not Free will provide water and lunch, and Surf Diva will provide each camper with a rash guard and ball cap or t-shirt to commemorate their experiences. Freedom Is Not Free will also give each child that attends a special gift to ensure your Little Warrior has fond memories of his/her experience for years to come.
The 2009 Little Warriors Surf Camp is filling up quickly! To learn more about the Little Warriors Surf Camp and Freedom is Not Free Click HereLove Packets Ministry: What one Texan Can Do
Mary Beth Waters has been making her "love packets" for children forabout three years now, but recently received the challenge of her life- taking the love packets and making them for the children of troopsbeing deployed to Iraq a
nd Afghanistan."We make 'comfort bags' for children dealing with crisis situations,"Waters said. "But after watching the movie 'Taking Chance' starringKevin Bacon, I couldn't get the story off my mind.
"I think the Lord wants us to make the love packets for the children of the troops."
And that is exactly what she is doing...
She has made a commitment to make 300 "love packets" for our Troop's children. To read more about Mary Beth and how you can help Click Here
You can also check them out on MySpace:
www.myspace.com/beautifulfeetministries