(First Page) prev 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 next (Last Page)
|
Posted on November 11, 2008 - 06:52 AM |
Dennis McCarthy, Columnist L.A. Daily News
If Veterans Day means anything - and it should mean a hell of a lot - it's that this country doesn't forget its veterans.
We honor them today, Memorial Day, and every day we look around and appreciate all the freedoms we enjoy.
They weren't free. Veterans fought and died for them. They still are. That's why the e-mail from U.S. Army Sgt. 1st Class James Stout is so important.
Stout hits a nerve in this country none of us should be proud of. We can't look the other way and ignore it.
"I know we are old news and a lot of folks back home are tired of the news there (Iraq), but it is important that we not forget those who still serve," Stout wrote.
Yes, the tanking economy is front and center on the nation's mind. Yes, we have a new president-elect with new ideas. Yes, we need health-care reform and better schools.
Yes to a hundred things, but, please, don't forget the men and women who still risk their lives for us, Stout asks. They are not home with their families today. They're still in harm's way, where Stout was until his luck ran out earlier this year on his third deployment.
"I had a run in with an IED - improvised explosive device - that has ended my military career and left me pretty banged and burned up," he writes about his injury in Iraq.
"I have been in recovery and had a few reconstructive surgeries over the last months."
This is the first time I've been able to use Stout's name in print because he was worried that being too frank and honest with a newspaper reporter wouldn't exactly enhance his career advancement in the service.
Stout's the sergeant I wrote about for a Christmas story last year, in USA Today Weekend Magazine and in my column.
The story he told Carolyn Blashek, who runs Operation Gratitude in the San Fernando Valley, was a heartbreaker.
The holidays were coming and one of the men in his platoon was so down, he was contemplating suicide. He had no loved ones back home sending him letters or packages.
"He got back to his bunk one night and there was one of your Operation Gratitude boxes on his bunk," Stout wrote. The boxes are individually addressed to each soldier by name.
"It was the first time in almost a year in Iraq that he had received anything with his name on it," Stout said. "He opened it up and found all the goodies you had sent, along with three letters from school children telling him they were thinking about him and praying for him.
"He broke down and started crying. That's when he admitted his suicidal thoughts. A few days later, he was in counseling and on his way to getting better."
Blashek and I never heard back from Stout after she sent him the stories I'd written. Now she knew why. He had been in a hospital in Germany after being banged up and burned by an IED.
"It's been quite a while but I thought I would update you on the soldier saved by your care package," he began.
"His work attitude and leadership skills have so improved that he has since been promoted to sergeant, and is currently a squad leader. His platoon sergeant tells me he's one of the best in his platoon.
"If you had taken this soldier over a year ago and put him next to the soldier he has become, you would swear it was two different people.
"And it was all due to the care package sent to a soldier by good people back in the States he had never met before."
It gets tougher every year to motivate her own troops, Blashek says - the hundreds of volunteers and donors helping her fill the 70,000 care packages Operation Gratitude will mail to soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan this holiday season.
She's been doing it for six years and mailed more than 300,000 care packages.
"It's tough motivating even the best volunteers because nobody wants to talk about this (Iraq) anymore," she said Monday.
"I waited until after the election to send out donation letters to meet our holiday goal because I knew it would get lost in all the election mail.
"I was stymied. I didn't know what to write to motivate people anymore."
Then a wounded sergeant on the mend wrote an e-mail asking, please, not to forget our troops still serving in harm's way this Veterans Day.
They're not old news.
Tax-deductible donations can be made by going online to www.operationgratitude.com or sending a check to Operation Gratitude, 16444 Refugio Road, Encino, CA 91436.
|
Posted on November 9, 2008 - 23:03 PM |
Reprinted from American Thinker
By Kyle-Anne Shiver
When was the last time you saw American soldiers being interviewed in prime time? When was the last time you saw wall-to-wall coverage of the NYC ticker-tape parades in our soldiers' honor? When was the last time you heard an American newsman even acknowledge that we're still fighting (and WINNING!) a war?
What in tarnation is happening to this great Country?
While not a single day in the past six years has passed without real, flesh-and-red-blooded Americans fighting full-scale war in the Middle East on our behalf -- and at our Congress' behest! -- our own media has surrendered to an imbecilic and exclusive obsession with politics.
Stars fill their eyes. Tingles run up their legs. Mindlessly they follow candidate wardrobe changes with fascination. Like idiots, they mistake gossip for hard news.
And they have the nerve to think the rest of us are hicks without brains.
But never fear, real people are here to do the real work that needs to be done.
Operation Gratitude continues their valiant effort to give a little thanks where thanks is more than due. Thousands and thousands of all-volunteer homefront support forces are gathering from sunup to sundown every day of the week to get care packages to every man and woman in uniform still in harm's way.
This year's holiday package drive has been under way for months now. Volunteers work tirelessly packing each box with goodies, letters and genuine love.
Now this is newsworthy.
What is even more newsworthy is the fact that unless we all pitch in with our dollars, these packages will rot on the shipping deck for want of sufficient postage to get them to our troops in the war zones. Yes, it costs about $10 per package to actually get them to our soldiers. And according to America's Troop Mom, Carolyn Blashek, this is the very first time in Operation Gratitude's history that she lacks the funds to send those packages to the war zones.
One would think a patriot congressman would sponsor a bill offering free postage to our troops, but alas I'm not holding my breath.
Meanwhile, the tallies are in on how much was spent on this one campaign. About $5 billion. Barack Obama, alone, raised more than $600 million.
Operation Gratitude only needs about $500,000 to get every package to our troops. Only the postage must be paid. Every single goodie is donated. Every single man-hour of labor is donated. Every single dollar raised goes for postage.
And every dollar donated for postage is tax-deductible.
Operation Gratitude spends not a single penny on advertising, fundraising or salaries. From the stockers, to the packers, to the public relations people and to the managers, it is all love and no money.
Am I passionate about this? Yes. Am I personally invested? Yes. Am I disgusted with our politicians and their extravagance on meaningless junk? Yes. Am I asking every American to donate to Operation Gratitude right now? Yes.
And this is how I've decided to think about these donations. Every single tax-deductible dollar that we give Operation Gratitude for our troops is a dollar that Barack Obama and Joe Biden will not get for their own squander.
But the bottom line here is that these packages to our troops not only bolster their morale, sometimes they actually save lives.
Every time I talk to Carolyn Blashek, America's Troop Mom, she tells me another story that sends chills up my spine and often brings tears to my eyes. This one, though, takes the cake as far as I'm concerned.
It seems that another wonderful American lady, who loves Beanie Babies, convinced Carolyn that these adorable little bean-stuffed critters would make a great addition to OpGrat care packages for the troops. Since the lady donated a whole lot of them, Carolyn agreed and faithfully included them in packages, not sure what the reactions from grown men and women in a theater of war would be.
Almost immediately, email began arriving, specifically mentioning the Beanie Babies. Stories were as varied and inventive as the great American ingenuity that inspired them. Soldiers told of Beanie Baby squad mascots, creative naming projects, competitive games centered upon the latest Beanie Baby, and on an on and on. Truly, even Carolyn was shocked at the overall success of the Beanie Baby project. Humorous diversions in hellish circumstances, of course, are as old as war itself, so perhaps we shouldn't be surprised.
But then, startling revelations began to arrive at the OpGrat headquarters, and the Beanie Baby project took on a whole new meaning. They were actually saving lives and helping to win the war.
Some of our truly exceptional, brilliant soldiers had the idea to trade the Beanie Babies with Iraqi children for information on hidden IED's. The children, so bereft of toys, gladly showed soldiers where explosives were hidden in exchange for the coveted cuddly critters.
Soldiers saved by a toy, proving once again that God truly works in mysterious ways. Who could have imagined this?
So, please, please, please dear readers, subtract some dollars from your holiday giving plans and send the money instead to OpGrat.
The swelling in your hearts will more than make up for the shrinking of your wallets.
This is one promise at the end of this campaign season that will not be broken.
Kyle-Anne Shiver is an independent journalist and a frequent contributor to American Thinker. She blogs at
www.commonsenseregained.com .
|
Posted on July 24, 2008 - 13:03 PM |
Saving Lives in Iraq With Tech Convention Schwag| posted by Francisco Dao Fast Company
Have you ever come home from a tech convention with a bag full of schwag and wondered if there was a better use for it? Emerging media consultant Michael Liskin was wondering the same thing when he came up with the idea for the Schwaggin’ Wagon. Liskin thought, “What if we could collect all the leftover schwag from a convention and give it to charity.” This past April, without any formal plan, Liskin and a few friends rented a van, taped a Schwaggin’ Wagon sign to the side, and drove up to the Web. 2.0 expo in San Francisco to collect schwag. From that first outing, the response has been overwhelming.
I caught up with Michael and asked him about where the Schwaggin’ Wagon has gone since then and what the future holds. He told me they’ve been working with a charity called Operation Gratitude which makes care packages for the troops in Iraq and Afghanistan and they use the schwag in the baskets. If you’re wondering how a care package full of key chains and pen lights is saving lives, it’s because the troops give these trinkets to the children to win their favor. In some cases, the children will tell the soldiers where the booby traps or bombs are set. Clearly this is a better use of convention schwag than what we’ve been doing with it. After all, how many “work out” T-shirts do we really need? Sometimes doing the right thing is the most buzzworthy thing of all.
Click below to listen to the entire interview with Michael Liskin.
Click here to find out how to help the Schwaggin’ Wagon.
To find out who I’m interviewing next and keep up with the all the buzzworthy scoops, join me on Twitter or email me at Fdao(at)TheKillerPitch.com.
SchwagginWagon.mp3
|
Posted on July 4, 2008 - 18:40 PM |
By Kyle-Anne Shiver
Happy Independence Day, dear readers! Now, you might want to take a short break from waving your flag, put your sparklers on hold and grab a hanky. This story is going to put a lump in your throat the size of Texas, and bring tears to even the most hardened eyes among us. And I'm not joshing you.
Operation Gratitude was founded in 2003, by one mother (That's right, just one), Carolyn Blashek. Carolyn has no children in the military. She doesn't come from a military family. She's not particularly political either. Shortly after 9/11, though, Carolyn got her patriotic calling.
Like many Americans, she wanted desperately to do something. At first, she even tried to join up and go fight. Too late; she was already past fighting age. So, she went with Plan B. She signed up for pre-deployment morale boosting at the USO lounge at the LA airport.
Enter an American soldier.
He's young, oh-so young. He's brave, oh-so brave. He's ready, he thinks, to fight America's battles for all the rest of us. But there's one thing that worries him, and he opens his heart to this solitary mother. She may be the last civilian American he sees for a long, long time, perhaps ever.
What is this soldier's greatest fear? Not being killed in action. Not being seriously wounded or even maimed. He doesn't fear the enemy. He doesn't fear the stifling heat, the torrential sandstorms, nor fighting for his life in heavy body armor. No, this young soldier fears that he won't be remembered because there is no one who cares enough about him to remember that he lived and breathed, and was a unique human being.
He has no family, you see. He's alone in this world and he's about to embark on what may be his very last journey. There's no fanfare. There are no parades, no fireworks, no waving flags, nor even a mom or dad or brother or sister to say "good-bye." There is only this lonely soldier and a mom he doesn't even know.
"I care. I care, and I'm grateful and I'll always remember you," says the mom. "Thank you," says the soldier with a hug. And a moment later, this one goes off to war, perhaps never to come home again.
The very next month Carolyn founded
Operation Gratitude in her own living room, collecting goodies, writing letters of support, and mailing her "I-Love-You!" packages to every soldier, whose name she could get.
That one encounter in the airport provided the stimulus for the Country's most consistent, most successful, most far-reaching troop support organization, perhaps in American history. One unheralded soldier, one dedicated mom, and thousands of volunteers, private and corporate sponsors. Together, they have been saying, "Thank you!" to our troops in every place where America has men and women in harm's way, for five whole years, with no excuses, no breaks, no vacations, and no paychecks either.
So far, Operation Gratitude has sent over 350,000 packages to individually named soldiers, marines, sailors and airmen. Day in, day out, our fighting forces are there for us, and right behind them, guarding the home flank, there are the OpGrat forces assembling care packages that say, "We love you!" "We thank you!" We care about you!" "You are not forgotten!"
OpGrat Even Saving Lives
Every time I talk to Carolyn, she tells me another story that sends chills up my spine and often brings tears to my eyes. This one, though, takes the cake as far as I'm concerned.
It seems that another wonderful American lady, who loves
Beanie Babies, convinced Carolyn that these adorable little bean-stuffed critters would make a great addition to OpGrat care packages for the troops. Since the lady donated a whole lot of them, Carolyn agreed and faithfully included them in packages, not sure what the reactions from grown men and women in a theater of war would be.
Almost immediately, email began arriving, specifically mentioning the Beanie Babies. Stories were as varied and inventive as the great American ingenuity that inspired them. Soldiers told of Beanie Baby squad mascots, creative naming projects, competitive games centered upon the latest Beanie Baby, and on an on and on. Truly, even Carolyn was shocked at the overall success of the Beanie Baby project. Humorous diversions in hellish circumstances, of course, are as old as war itself, so perhaps we shouldn't be surprised.
But then, startling revelations began to arrive at the OpGrat headquarters, and the Beanie Baby project took on a whole new meaning. They were actually saving lives and helping to win the war.
Some of our truly exceptional, brilliant soldiers had the idea to trade the Beanie Babies with Iraqi children for information on hidden IED's. The children, so bereft of toys, gladly showed soldiers where explosives were hidden in exchange for the coveted cuddly critters.
Soldiers saved by a toy, proving once again that God truly works in mysterious ways. Who could have imagined this?
Returning Soldier Gets Memorial Jeep
In January, I wrote about Operation Gratitude and
Carolyn's trip to Iraq, where she and her right-hand man, Charlie Othold (USAF ret), went to personally deliv
er the 300,000
th package. The real kicker to that package was the fact that the Chrysler folks donated a brand new Jeep (Registered Trademark) Liberty to the recipient, whose name, by the way, was chosen by the computer, and not known in advance to anyone.
SPC Michael "Shaun" Gallagher, who received the keys to his new Jeep (registered trademark) Liberty in Iraq, within the 300,000th OpGrat care package, thankfully just returned with his unit to Fort Lewis, Washington, where he was presented with the actual vehicle this past Tuesday, July 1st. Not only did this soldier receive the promised Jeep Liberty, he also got a promotion the same day, to Corporal.
And this Jeep (Registered Trademark) Liberty was not just any vehicle. When SPC Shaun Gallagher received the keys, he told Carolyn that when he returned home, he intended to have a special mural painted on his new wheels, a memorial tribute to the fallen soldiers from his unit.
Cue to readers: Have those hankies handy.
Our fearless Troop Mom, together with Shaun's terrific family and the folks at Chrysler, had the memorial mural painted before our brave soldier returned home to receive it. When I saw the picture, I cried a bucketful; I'm crying another right now. Here's what the memorial says:
In Memory Of The Fallen Heroes Of Alpha Company 2.23 Infantry
You Will Never Be Forgotten
R.I.P
Joseph Landry III
Donald Valentine III
Nicholas Olson
Luigi Marciante Jr.
Jason Lemke
(photo credits: Operation Gratitude)
The traditional battlefield memorial of combat boots, rifle and dog tags appears on both sideof the names. A phoenix, the bird of mythology that rises out of the ashes, is in the background. The design was Cpl. Gallagher's concept, sketched onto paper by his mother, Karen Gallagher, and permanently memorialized on the vehicle by artist Mike Lavallee of Killer Paint in Snohomish, WA. The words, "Thank You Operation Gratitude" are painted on the rear bumper.
"I felt this would be a way to honor them for their service. It represents their lives," Gallagher said, choking back tears. "Now they are all home and always with us," added his mother, Karen, who traveled from her home in California for the Welcome Home Ceremony and Presentation.
Operation Gratitude, We Salute You!
Every day, without fail, I thank God for my freedom, and for every single man and woman who serves to protect it, every veteran of every branch of the service, and every family member whose many sacrifices go unheralded. And, especially on this 4th of July, our Independence Day 2008, I wave my flag, light those sparklers and cry with joy and thanksgiving for the sacrifice of the millions who've made our liberty possible.
But today, I want to pay a special tribute to America's Troop Mom, Carolyn Blashek, and the thousands of American volunteers, who with their consistent hard work and unsung love, show special fortitude on the home front, "a flank in our war against terrorists, which we cannot allow to go unguarded" (LtCol (ret) Steve Russell).
So, today, Operation Gratitude, this salute's for you!
May God bless you and keep you and make His face to shine upon you and all you do for every American. We could not make it without you!
If you wish to join me in supporting Operation Gratitude, please visit their website and get involved today. Every single penny donated is used for packaging and shipping expenses. Not a single dime goes for advertising, promotion or fundraising activity. Letters, cards, donations, prayers and the names of soldiers serving in harm's way make you part of the OpGrat team.
Kyle-Anne Shiver is a frequent contributor to American Thinker. She welcomes your comments at kyleanneshiver.com. |
Posted on March 22, 2008 - 19:33 PM |
By Kyle-Anne Shiver
One of the most effective groups at work on behalf of our troops is Operation Gratitude, an assemblage of Americans who put aside every difference among them in the common cause of loving our soldiers. Since its founding in 2003, this one group of all-volunteer supporters has sent 300,000 care packages to our troops serving in harm's way.
And all of it started because one American mom decided that she could not sit idly by in her safe, comfortable home doing nothing while our young men and women willingly left safety and comfort behind to fight for the rest of us.
Carolyn Blashek, founder of Operation Gratitude, has become for all intents and purposes, America's Troop Mom. She and her mission to minister to the morale of our troops through her simple, but ingenious, "care" packages are living proof of Basil King's famous injunction: http://www.online-literature.com/basil-king/
"Be bold and mighty forces will come to your aid."
Mighty forces, both seen and unseen, have indeed come to the aid of Operation Gratitude in its essential mission of showing our soldiers we all do care.
And those mighty forces just keep on coming, time and time again, in the most unlikely "coincidences," from the most unlikely sources.
Mighty Forces Take Carolyn to Iraq
In late December last year, when Operation Gratitude's holiday drive was in full gear, with hundreds of volunteers packing thousands of packages, and carefully addressing each to an individual soldier overseas, Carolyn realized that a mission milestone would be reached within the month. The 300,000th package was nearing assembly and its recipient was already named by the computer's data bank.
One of OpGrat's mighty forces had already donated the keys to a brand new Jeep Liberty for the recipient of this milestone care package. And the excitement among the volunteers was palpable.
Coincidentally, the soldier picked by the computer to receive the 300,000th package was a member of the brigade under the charge of Major General Hertling, commanding general of Multi-National Division North in Iraq. Carolyn Blashek and Major General Hertling go all the way back to OpGrat's founding in 2003.
In the beginning, when Carolyn was merely bold, she had no mighty forces. But she had enough boldness to be mighty in her own right, and she got ahold of the General's name through channels, and sent him an email asking for the individual names and addresses of all the soldiers under his command, so that she could send them each a care package from home.
The general now says he thought she was a bit out of it at the time, and wrote back simply: "Ma'am, I don't think you know who I am or how many soldiers I have under my command. I currently have a force of 39,000 soldiers," thinking that would be the end of it.
But our Troop Mom wrote back to the general, quite boldly indeed:
"General, I don't think you know who I am.
Just send me the names and addresses and I will make sure every one of them receives a care package from us at home."
When the 39,000 packages arrived as promised, and the general saw the amazing effect they had on the morale of his troops, he immediately became a treasured mighty force on the side of Operation Gratitude. And as soon as he was notified that one of his own soldiers was slated to receive the 300,000th package, he immediately set things in motion that would coalesce in bringing Carolyn Blashek and her trusted right-hand man, Charlie Othold (USAF, ret), to Iraq to present the package with the keys to the Jeep in person.
Now getting to the middle of the war zone would be nearly impossible for the ordinary American citizen. But with a decorated general in the lead and his own mighty forces covering your flank, neither paperwork nor bureaucracy are supreme obstacles, and you land in Iraq hoping you remembered to pack your hair dryer.
The War through a New Lens
In Iraq, Carolyn found that it's one thing to view the war, our soldiers and their mission through an often non-supportive media lens. But it's quite another to don full body armor and set off for the desert on a Black Hawk helicopter for a genuine birds-eye look around.
For Carolyn Blashek, Troop Mom, who spent 2 days on the ground in Iraq in January, the experience imparted a profound new meaning, not only to her own mission of sending care packages to our soldiers, but also to her perspective on the war itself and our national mission in the Middle East.
True Mom that she is, Carolyn spent most of her time and energy in Iraq delivering packages and hugs, love and reassurances to every man and woman in uniform who crossed her path.
Two Unforgettable Experiences
Carolyn says she had two experiences that truly changed her forever and reinvigorated her resolve to serve from home until true peace with justice can be achieved.
The first experience was a memorial service for six American soldiers and one Iraqi, all of whom had lost their lives in a house-born IED explosion. While the war itself is 24/7, dusty, dirty, smelly and bloody, the memorial service is military pageantry. Civilization in the face of enemy barbarism.
In a desert field, with no shade for solace, men and women of exceptional civility and honor gather to pay their last respects to their own fallen heroes. No detail is spared. Each life lost is given the profound reverence that is due. And each soldier present is given the chance to speak, to pay tribute to the life that has been given so selflessly in the cause of liberty. The generals salute the heroes. The crisp, clean gunshots are heard piercing the silent reverie of those who remain on watch. The brave are sent home to their families for the real grieving to begin.
And the war goes on.
But all who have seen the cost with their own eyes are forever changed, will be forever more diligent in their own meager sacrifice, so that the fallen will not have died in vain.
Life-changing indeed.
Anyone Can Carry an IED
How does a Judeo/Christian civilization fight a war against those for whom our ideas about civilization and honor are meaningless?
Those who would take the life of an innocent young child or a mentally impaired adult, and use that life itself as a weapon, define this war. Among this enemy, all human life is expendable, deemed worthy only in sacrifice.
Al Qaeda forces in Iraq have demonstrated over and over again that there is no limit to their brutality in pursuit of their jihad.
Carolyn Blashek now understands this foe, and her understanding dawned in an instant, even as she stood in a village under heavy armed guard, wearing the weighty body-armor designed to protect.
Major General Hertling needed to inspect a road in the north that had been recently cleared. For five years this road had been blocked by Al Qaeda and their hidden IED's, preventing all commerce and help for the tiny village of Khan Bani Saad. Readers may remember that this is the village where our soldiers found videos showing Al Qaeda training children to bear arms and fight their battles.
While the men of the village bombard the General with their demands for this new building project or another, Carolyn tells me she tried to take in the surroundings and observe the people. Several groups of young children cluster at a short distance, eagerly watching the unusual sight of the American General with his soldiers.
Carolyn smiles at some of the children. That Mom's smile that serves in place of the hug she would rather offer them. Then, she spies a young adult Iraqi male, and he is staring at her. She is frightened and looks away, back at the children. And one of them, a young boy makes eye contact with her and begins walking towards her, away from the group of children. She looks back at the young man, still staring, and back again at the approaching child, still intently watching her.
And suddenly her breathing stops as the question forms:
Is this child harnessed with an IED? Am I about to die?
The answer that time to the question formed by our soldiers every day as they work in and among the villagers, was "No."
Carolyn did not die in Iraq. She came home safely. But she is still haunted by this second experience, that moment in the little village. She says that it profoundly altered the way she views this war.
General Petraeus understands that if we desire to prevail, then our forces cannot remain behind fixed lines, embedded in fortified bases, but must walk among the people, gain their confidence, rebuild their country and help them learn how to build a free society. But in doing this, our men and women who serve are presented every day with those moments of do-or-die-right-now peril.
And yet they remain a civilized people in a land beleaguered by an uncivilized enemy.
And it is obvious that mighty forces are indeed coming to their aid.
This is not the media lens through which we at home view the war, but it is the one our Troop Mom, Carolyn, now carries in her heart every day and every night, never to be forgotten.
Originally printed in American Thinker
(First Page) prev 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 next (Last Page)
