Ever Strayed?

Helping military children

blix — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 17:23:52 GMT

AnySoldier.com is my charity of choice....but I also support military children through Donorschoose.org. Teachers submit their projects for the general public to fund....click on "see projects" on the site and then click on "military children", where there is a list of projects in schools on military bases across the country.

But make sure to click on "Sales & Donations" on AnySoldier.com to donate here first !!! .....

Operation Helmetliner--and yarn on sale at Michael's

Momma Mellie — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 17:53:59 GMT

Operation helmetliner sends handknit helmetliners (ski mask thinging) and scarves to troops serving in bitterly cold areas. They are now part of Citizen Sam www.citizensam.org. Patterns are available at their website. You must use 100% wool yarn because it is flame retardent (and doesn't melt into wounds if it does burn) and warm even when wet. I use Paton's classic merino wool which is usually $4.99 a skein at Michael's. This week they have it on sale for 2/$5. I'm not sure I've seen it this low before. I'm gonna stock up. I've already sent for this year, but will start in on next year's batch soon. So much yarn, so little time.

Mellie

USS Nimitz

AOMOM — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 20:22:58 GMT

Not sure if this belongs here but it can be moved. A sailor has posted here today and he is aboard the USS Nimitz, he stated that their deployment has been extended for 2 months, I also belong to Navy for Moms and for obvious reasons this was posted a few months ago. They are trying to get Christmas gift to every sailor onboard the entire carrier group. This is for over 4000 sailors. Not sure if anyone wants to join in on the Christmas surprise. Just small things to let everyone on the carrier group know that they are being thought of, like lip balm,hot cocoa, christmas candy. I will ask if I can release the mailing address. But if anyone wants it please send me a private request. Maybe there is a better way to do it? Or maybe there are already enough warriors to help? I dont have a deployed sailor, so this is not for my daughter. Thank you to all.

Operation Baking Gals

libral40 — Tue, 13 Oct 2009 20:48:22 GMT

In my latest Taste of Home magazine, there was an article about an organization called Baking GALS (Give a Little Support). People can visit their website, bakinggals.com, and find names of soldiers who want to receive homemade treats. Begun by a woman named Susan Whetzel when her cousin was deployed to Iraq, there are now 1000 registered users on the site who bake for the troops.

This might be a site to check out just in time for the holidays!

B N Angel

4Kim — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 18:18:03 GMT

I confess to using the soldiersangels.org website. I get a name each week on the letter writing team and send cards cards to soldiers on their wounded soldiers letter writing team. Like here I have a name and I can send any requested items on my own, but they also have a store which offers a discount to members and will send direct any soldier I want, not just their own list. They also a "Bat Team" for urgent requests if your interested. Remember an angel is an angel no matter what name they use.

Inspiring Ride

ann — Sun, 11 Oct 2009 04:41:24 GMT

All the news stations here covered the ride in California from San Francisco to LA today so I looked up on the Internet the Wounded Warrior Rides for this year and found the following links.

Soldier Ride - Home

Soldier Ride - National Tour Schedule

Just watching the California ride on TV was amazing!!! If u check around the website, u can find events in your area besides rides.

For Our Heroes

ann — Thu, 24 Sep 2009 19:16:05 GMT

www.taps.org

Volunteer Opportunity

rprice — Mon, 21 Sep 2009 16:45:59 GMT

Hello! I am part of "The Mission Continues," a nonprofit that empowers wounded and disabled veterans to serve in their communities. We always need more volunteers to do letter writing campaigns, tributes for fallen soldiers, and service projects in honor of our fellows. Please check us out at www.missioncontinues.org to find out how you can help!

Cards For Heroes Announcement

kathy cunningham — Sat, 12 Sep 2009 21:04:08 GMT

The CFH website is celebrating their birthday today and have a huge announcement. Please go and check it out at http://cardsforheroes.org/ and join the fun! Our very own supporter, colourful, from the forum and chat, runs this site and helps us out by sending cards to contacts that we point out as requesting cards to send home to loved ones. They do a wonderful job of supporting our warriors!

Kathy

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Cell Phones For Soldiers

Widget — Tue, 15 Jul 2008 01:50:44 GMT

Cell Phones for Soldiers is an excellent organization (a family, really) that recycles old cell phones and uses the money to buy and send phone cards to deployed troops. You can donate an old phone, set up a drop off point for others to donate phones, or request a pre-paid phone card for your soldier.

Really outstanding organization. I hope some of you will consider setting up a dropoff location for them. They do a lot to support our troops and other organizations.

Purple Dog Tags

Diana — Mon, 27 Apr 2009 19:12:24 GMT

Hello Everyone!

It's been a long time since I have been here on this site. My how things have changed! and for the better. I found a really neat site called PurpledogTag.com. I ordered my tags last month and received them and I was really surprised at how many people recognize them and what they stand for. They are purple tags with a hole in them that represent our past present and future wounded that have served, and our support for them. The other neat thing is 90% of the proceeds go to our wounded for their healthcare and other things necessary to help them.

Just wanted to share.

Diana

Focus on books

ReadingRabbit — Mon, 23 Feb 2009 22:45:24 GMT

www.operationpaperback.ORG. I emphasize the ORG because there IS also a .com, which is something totally different. One thing I like about this site is that they keep track of how much has been sent to their requesters, so I don't feel like I'm duplicating others' efforts. You can request address(es) from the site's automated system, indicating how many you want and what genres of books you have. If you have a genre you don't see listed, you can contact a real person to get someone's address who would want your books. They also send out periodic emails with special requests from the troops for specific books or authors or less common genres. The 2 women who've answered my emails have been very friendly. After shipping you fill out a very quick form (or email them if it was a special request) just to tell them how many books you sent to whom, so they know whose requests are still pending and who hasn't gotten anything, and they try to cover those requests that volunteers (site users) haven't covered.

About the automated address request system: you can't request more addresses until you've finished with the addresses you've already requested, but you can indicate "0" for number of books shipped if you find after requesting, that you can't ship to them after all, in order to clear out your current address list. The address list you get does have an expiration (I think it's 2 weeks), so if someone just requests addresses and then never does anything with them, those addresses will get recycled to someone else. I got a little frustrated when I requested 2 addresses and checked off 2 genres, intending to get one address for each genre; instead it gave me 2 addresses for one of the genres, and none for the other. Not having enough of that genre for 2 people, on the "report a shipment" page, I filled in "0" for one of the people & the number I sent to the other, and then requested one address for the ot her genre I had. So now I either request them one genre at a time or just contact the friendly ladies who devote so much of their time (& money) to this endeavor.

They do ask you to put a "operationpaperback" sticker on or in each book, but once you buy a package of the stickers at the store (they tell you what kind to get) & download the formatted text from the site, it's really no big deal. I just print out 3 or 4 sheets at a time so I don't have to do it every time I'm about to ship. They also provide a standard letter you can download & print out to include in each shipment if you don't want to (or just don't have the time to) include a personal note. I find I'm much more likely to get a personal response from the troops by including a personal note with my own email address.

They don't have the long entries and pics from the troops that you can browse and search on anysoldier, but they do post thank-yous they get from the troops.

I have strayed...

heybaileykay — Thu, 16 Oct 2008 00:55:02 GMT

I admit, I do use AdoptAUSSoldier.org.

Straying permanently.. :)

Taylor1 — Wed, 03 Dec 2008 00:03:45 GMT

Yeah, I was with an other organization, they weren't well run, even though it was started by 2 veterans and a few supporters, the site has NO advertising and nothing to make you come to the site, there's like no soldiers on there that are able to be helped and they don't really have it all together there. I'm officially crossing over to Any Soldier, it's MUCH more well ran. They are where I got my first penpal who I still have a great relationship with and who I've supported pretty much through his whole tour and he's loved everything I sent him. He had another friend who I found out I was also supporting and I just took on both of em' haha. Well anyway. Great site I've seen a lot of military support organizations, this is like some good stuff here.

Holiday Mail for Heroes

Momma Mellie — Tue, 02 Dec 2008 04:13:28 GMT

I found this on the Amazon Gold Box Forum. There's a short time frame on it, but if you've sent all your boxes for the holiday, maybe you can do some cards. I'm going to try. The rest is a copy and paste. Mellie

There are a few caveats and details the everyone should know, and they're being kept up to date here:

Red Cross - Holiday Mail for Heroes
http://www.redcross.org/email/saf/

Holiday Mail for Heroes is a partnership between the American Red Cross and Pitney Bowes to deliver one million holiday cards to American service members, veterans and their families in the United States and around the world. Please send cards to this address, following the guidelines listed below:

Holiday Mail for Heroes
PO Box 5456
Capitol Heights, MD 20791-5456

Please follow these simple guidelines when sending your card to ensure it will quickly reach service members, veterans and their families.

● All cards must be postmarked no later than Wednesday, December 10, 2008. Cards sent after this date will be returned to sender.

● If sending more than one card, please mail all cards together in one large shipping envelope. Cards sent in this manner do not need individual envelopes or postage.

● Please ensure that all cards are signed.

● Please use generic salutations such as "Dear Service Member."

● Please do not include personal information, like email or home addresses.

● Please do not send letters.

● Please do not include inserts of any kind, including photos, glitter, confetti, gift cards or calling cards. Any items inserted into cards will be removed during the reviewing process.

● All cards received may be used in program publicity efforts, including appearing in broadcast, print or online mediums.

Again, just refer to the Red Cross address above for complete info, and don't forget that December 10th deadline!

A Christmas Message

ann — Wed, 05 Dec 2007 08:31:51 GMT

Mystery Solved. The poem below is presented with permission of the author.

A SOLDIER’S CHRISTMAS

The embers glowed softly, and in their dim light,
I gazed round the room and I cherished the sight.
My wife was asleep, her head on my chest,
My daughter beside me, angelic in rest.

Outside the snow fell, a blanket of white,
Transforming the yard to a winter delight;
The sparkling lights in the tree, I believe,
Completed the magic that was Christmas Eve.

My eyelids were heavy, my breathing was deep,
Secure and surrounded by love I would sleep
In perfect contentment, or so it would seem.
So I slumbered, perhaps I started to dream.

The sound wasn’t loud, and it wasn’t too near,
But I opened my eye when it tickled my ear.
Perhaps just a cough, I didn’t quite know,
Then the sure sound of footsteps outside in the snow.

My soul gave a tremble, I struggled to hear,
And I crept to the door just to see who was near.
Standing out in the cold and the dark of the night,
A lone figure stood; his face weary and tight.

A soldier, I puzzled, some twenty years old
Perhaps a Marine, huddled here in the cold.
Alone in the dark, he looked up and smiled,
Standing watch over me, and my wife and my child.

“What are you doing?” I asked without fear
“Come in this moment, it’s freezing out here!
Put down your pack, brush the snow from your sleeve,
You should be at home on a cold Christmas Eve!”

For barely a moment I saw his eyes shift,
Away from the cold and the snow blown in drifts,
To the window that danced with a warm fire’s light
Then he sighed and he said, “It’s really all right,
I’m out here by choice. I’m here every night”

“It’s my duty to stand at the front of the line
That separates you from the darkest of times.
No one had to ask or beg or implore me,
I’m proud to stand here like my fathers before me.

My Gramps died at ‘Pearl on a day in December,”
Then he sighed, “That’s a Christmas ‘Gram always remembers.”
My dad stood his watch in the jungles of ‘Nam
And now it is my turn and so, here I am.

I’ve not seen my own son in more than a while,
But my wife sends me pictures, he’s sure got her smile.
Then he bent and he carefully pulled from his bag,
The red white and blue… an American flag.

“I can live through the cold and the being alone,
Away from my family, my house and my home,
I can stand at my post through the rain and the sleet,
I can sleep in a foxhole with little to eat,
I can carry the weight of killing another
Or lay down my life with my sisters and brothers
Who stand at the front against any and all,
To insure for all time that this flag will not fall.”

“So go back inside,” he said, “harbor no fright
Your family is waiting and I’ll be all right.”
“But isn’t there something I can do, at the least,
“Give you money,” I asked, “or prepare you a feast?
It seems all too little for all that you’ve done,
For being away from your wife and your son.”

Then his eye welled a tear that held no regret,
“Just tell us you love us, and never forget
To fight for our rights back at home while we’re gone;
To stand your own watch, no matter how long.

For when we come home, either standing or dead,
To know you remember we fought and we bled
Is payment enough, and with that we will trust.
That we mattered to you as you mattered to us.”

©Copyright December 7, 2000 by Michael Marks

Ann

Host a Marine for Thanksgiving - SoCal Junkies!

MsVanessa — Tue, 04 Nov 2008 23:51:48 GMT

Hello!

I just wanted all of you to know about the opportunity to host a Marine for Thanksgiving at MCT (SOI). This applies only to Marines at Camp Pendleton. If you are interested, this is who you need to contact:

Please feel free to pass it on to anyone you know who would like to host a Marine or two. (Or three. Or four. Or more.)

ASYMCA Point of Contact:
Dawn Baker
760-385-4921
dbaker@camppendletonasymca.org

Marines' Toys for Tots Drive

ann — Sun, 26 Oct 2008 18:43:31 GMT

The Toys R Us (sorry 'Toys' no backwards R on my keyboard) annual toy catalog is in our local paper today - Sunday 10/26 - and on the inside front cover is an announcement about the annual Marine Corps Toys for Tots drive.

The Toys R Us and Babies R Us stores are collecting toys/donations for the Marines' annual toy drive for kids. I'm thinking maybe some of my contacts might like the catalog.

Education in Afghanistan & Pakistan

kathy cunningham — Mon, 08 Sep 2008 03:42:04 GMT

An American, Greg Mortenson, wrote a wonderful book titled Three Cups of Tea: One Man's Mission to Promote Peace...One School at a Time. He co-founded and is the executive Director of the non-profit Central Asia Institute, whose mission is to promote and support community based education, especially for girls, in remote mountainous areas of Pakistan and Afghanistan. This organization, led by Greg, works hand in hand with local leaders and families to open and run these schools. They started in Pakistan and have since branched into Afghanistan. Their email address is: https://www.ikat.org/

Please check out this wonderful organization and if you get the chance to read it, I highly recommend his book. If you buy the book (or audio book) through this web site: http://www.threecupsoftea.com/Intro.php the Central Asia Institute gets 7 % of the profit from the sale. I think their mission goes hand in hand with what many of our troops are doing in Afghanistan.

Kathy

I am so excited!!!

Rachelle — Fri, 29 Aug 2008 03:40:59 GMT

I just found a Blue Star Moms group in Vacaville!!! I am ecstatic... if you couldn't tell!!! I may be only 17 and not a mom but I don't care. I love our troops!!!!!! I just had to share! Do you guys belong to any other organizations other than Any Soldier? Thanks for listening!!!

First mission with the PGR

Lisajan — Mon, 19 Nov 2007 14:04:55 GMT

I was lucky enough to go on a welcome home mission with the Patriot Guard Riders to welcome home a young soldier. We escorted him to his church for a welcome home party. It was the first time I got to meet the PGR members and they were so warm and welcoming. Most of the members are Veterans or have someone serving in the military. One mom who is the best lady ever, lost her son in Iraq and she is there to keep his memory alive and help other mom's who lose there children.

What an experience being able to ride with them and give this young soldier a Hero's Welcome Home that he will never forget. I won't forget it either. I even learned how you are suppose to hug a Veteran, didn't know there was a special way...... I wish I could post the pics here....

Lisa

Soldier's Angels

GeorgeATL — Sun, 08 Jun 2008 23:52:15 GMT

I was once associated with Soldier's Angels www.soldiersangels.com It's a little like AnySoldier but you "adopt" a soldier. You sign-up and are "assigned" a soldier. Personally, I LOVE being able to pick-and-choose who I support on AnySoldier. If I just happen to have a certain item someone might be in need of, then I can find them on AnySoldier and send it right out. But Soldier's Angels does good work too, and there are a lot of additional resources at their website as well. Patti Patton-Bater, the founder was also selected as America's Favorite Mom. Click HERE for details.

George

Veterans History Project

ann — Sun, 11 Nov 2007 16:24:03 GMT

There is a Veterans History Project at the Library of Congress which gives Veterans' stories from all of the wars our country has fought in from WWI to the present.

At the site, you can also print out a kit to contribute your story if you'd like to, if you are a Veteran. Civilians can contribute in the name of deceased Veterans in their families I think too - not sure about that one.

It's an extremely interesting site that pays tribute to all the Veterans of all the wars our country has fought since WWI.

Well worth a look in tribute to our heroes this Veterans Day!

The Library of Congress Veterans History Project

http://www.loc.gov/vets/stories/alphalist.html

http://www.loc.gov/vets/

http://www.loc.gov/vets/stories/

Ann

How far would you go to support a AnySoldier, Soldier????? add on to:

Dorothy Roush — Thu, 07 Aug 2008 06:38:21 GMT

To support an AnySoldier, Soldier I would ........Soar like an eagle with my Soldier, rather to let my Soldier fly down into the abyss of darkness! Moonwolfe,Dot