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"The willingness with which our young people are likely to serve
in any war, no matter how justified, shall be directly proportional as to
how they perceive the veterans of earlier wars were treated and appreciated
by their nation." - George Washington.
"Our support and success depend on such a variety of men and circumstances,
that everyone who does but wish well, is of some use: there are men who
have a strange aversion to arms, yet have hearts to risk every shilling
in the cause, or in support of those who have better talents for defending
it. Nature, in the arrangement of mankind, has fitted some for every service
in life: were all soldiers all would starve and go naked, and were none
soldiers, all would be slaves." - Thomas Paine, The American Crisis
#3. April 19, 1777.
Adopt a Platoon
- Send mail and care packages to deployed soldiers.
Adopt a
Soldier - Support the wounded, injured, and ill troops at Walter Reed
Army Medical Center and Bethesda Naval Hospital.
Air Force Aid Society
- Make a donation to the Air Force Aid Society.
AMVETS - Supporting
Veterans and Active Military.
Any Soldier - Find
a soldier to write or send a care package to.
Armed Forces Relief
Trust Assists the military aid societies by providing a single vehicle
to accept donations that will benefit the men and women of our Armed Forces
and their families.
Army Emergency Relief
- Make a donation to the Army Emergency Relief Fund.
Blue Star Moms
- Help the mothers of deployed soldiers helping the troops.
Cell Phones
for Soldiers - Send phones and/or pre-paid calling cards to the troops
so they can call home.
Defend America
- Learn about what's happening on the front line in the war on terror.
Fisher House
- Support families whose loved ones are being treated at military and VA
hospitals.
Freedom Calls
- Help deployed soldiers communicate with loved ones through video links.
Let's Say Thanks!
- The Xerox corporation lets you select and send a greeting card to the
troops for free!
Letters
From Home - Volunteer-based program that supports military personnel
through letters and calling cards.
Military
Wives and Moms - A source of comfort, support, encouragement and inspiration
as we walk united through the days ahead.
Navy/Marine Relief Society
- Make a donation to the Navy/Marine Relief Society.
Operation DVD
- Donate your new or used DVD's to the troops overseas.
Operation Gratitude
- Your donation will help send care packages to our troops.
Operation Hero Miles
- Use your "Frequent Flyer Miles" to support our troops.
Operation
Homelink - Provides free refurbished computers to the spouses or parents
of junior enlisted (E1 –E5) U.S. deployed service men and women enabling
email communication with their loved ones.
Operation
Noble Foster - Who cares for a soldiers pet when he or she goes to war?
They do! Help them out.
Operation
Paperback - Collecting gently used books and sending them to American
troops deployed overseas.
Operation
Shoebox - Help send a care package with needed personal items to our
troops.
Operation
Uplink - Donate a calling card so a soldier can call home!
Strikouts
For Troops - The Major League gives back to the troops.
Support Your
Troops - Another site where you can send a message of support to our
troops.
Treat Any
Soldier - Send a pre-packaged care package to a deployed soldier.
Treat The Troops
Inc. - Help the cookie lady send home-baked treats to our soldiers.
Troops Support
- An index of US Military support web sites and information.
USO - Support the
people who provide morale, welfare and recreation-type services to our men
and women in uniform.
THE WARRIOR
FOUNDATION - Help wounded and disabled military heroes leading the fight
in the war against Terror.
Go here to see some moving video tributes to our
troops.
“I’ve long since forgotten the name of the speaker, but I’ll
never forget what he said. ‘Imagine this. In the spring of 1945, around
the world, the sight of a twelve-man squad of teenage boys, armed and in
uniform, brought terror to people’s hearts. Whether it was a Red Army
squad in Berlin, Leipzig, or Warsaw, or a German squad in Holland, or a
Japanese squad in Manila, Seoul, or Beijing, that squad meant rape, pillage,
looting, wanton destruction, sensless killing. But there was one exception:
a squad of GIs, a sight that brought the biggest smiles you ever saw to
people’s lips, and joy to their hearts.’” - Stephen H. Ambrose,
The Victors, 1998.
A Different Christmas Poem
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 eyes 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 "Its 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 sister and brother..
Who stand at the front against any and all,
To ensure 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."
~ LCDR Jeff Giles, SC, USN
30th Naval Construction Regiment
OIC, Logistics Cell One
Al Taqqadum , Iraq .
Hot Rods & Custom Stuff, 2324 Auto Park Way, Escondido, CA.,
1-800-HOT-ROD-5.
(Note: "Vineyard Ave." has been changed to "Auto Park
Way." Our address has changed, but not our physical location.)
Hot Rods & Custom Stuff - builds, restores, paints, services
and sells parts for classic autos, cars, trucks and street rods.