This page is dedicated solely to our servicemen and women
"if it is important to them, it's important to us"
If you know of anything that should be listed here please let us know HERE
Ceremonial Entrance to
Arlington National Cemetery
FACES OF THE FALLEN is a compelling exhibit of more than 1,000 individual portraits honoring America’s service men and women who lost their lives in Afghanistan and Iraq. Talented artists from across the country have donated these works, which will be on display to the public from March 23 - September 5, 2005 at Women In Military Service For America Memorial.
Homes for Our Troops is a Massachusetts based, 501 (c)(3) nonprofit strongly committed to helping those who have selflessly given to their country and have returned home with serious disabilities and injuries. Homes for Our Troops assists injured veterans and their immediate families by building new or adapting existing homes for handicapped accessibility for these American heroes.
What we provide is not a loan to be paid back, we feel as though we owe this to our American heroes. When we build a new home for a severely disabled veteran they owe nothing on the home, they own it free and clear. If we coordinate the effort to adapt an existing home, the veteran pays nothing out of his own pocket. We do this by accepting donations of labor, materials and money.
Many wonderful "Welcome Home" pictures and stories.
Links to some great site who help our troops and provide
current news on our troops.
ATTN: Any Soldier
This program was started by a wonderful Soldier who is from Maryland!
Sergeant Brian Horn from LaPlata, Maryland, an Army Infantry Soldier with the 173rd Airborne Brigade in the Kirkuk area of Iraq started the idea of AnySoldier to help care for his soldiers. He agreed to distribute packages that came to him with "Attn: Any Soldier" in his address to the soldiers who are not getting mail
Here is a grassroots program started by Actor Gary Sinise along with Author Laura Hillenbrand and some of our Troops
Actor Gary Sinise (Forrest Gump, Apollo 13) and author Laura Hillenbrand (Seabiscuit: An American Legend ) announce the launch of Operation Iraqi Children, a program that will enable Americans to send school supplies and Arabic translations of Seabiscuit to Iraqi children.
I have been doing this as a grassroots kind of effort by sending e-mails to whoever I can and encouraging them to forward them on to continue to spread the word throughout the country. We can all help in the rebuilding of Iraq which will ensure that the sacrifices of our soldiers are not in vain. We can help them succeed in their mission there, so please help me get the word out as soon as possible and let's get these supplies over there.
It's very simple. What we did at our school was send home flyers with the kids with a list of suggested supplies and a deadline. We followed up to make sure the parents knew about it and when the supplies were all in, we boxed them up and shipped them out. We also sent pictures of our school classes and a video of the kids packing the supplies so that the Iraqi kids could see who sent it and where it all came from.
The only tricky part is coming up with creative ways to raise the money to pay the boxing and shipping costs. We are working very hard to try to come up with ways to help each school with this but right now it is going to have to be up to each individual school to get these costs paid for.
Think outside the box here. Maybe someone's father works for a shipping company or a box manufacturer or perhaps one or two individuals in town can cover the cost. Or maybe if every child in the school brings in a dollar or two it would pay the freight. You get my point -- whatever works. I hope you can help spread the word.
The following is the address and a list of suggested supplies. Please make your shipment an assortment of items instead of cartons of a a single item. Make sure that your school or organization's name and address is clearly marked on the outside of the package and enclose a self-addressed envelope on the inside of the package.
Send to: Operation Iraqi Children/School Supplies C/O MAJ Doris, Juliann M. HHC, STB 13th COSCOM, G5 APO, AE 09391
Notebooks
Notebook paper
Pencils & Erasers
Color Pencils
Pens
Crayons
Drawing paper
Computer Paper
Folders
Rulers
Whiteboards
Whiteboard pens/erasers
Metric Sticks
Compass
Protractor
Teacher Grade Books
Soccer Balls
Stuffed animals
Old clothes
Backpacks
Be Creative!
Please write letters and send photos to say hello to the Iraqi kids. You can ask that they send back pictures so that you can see who is benefitting from their efforts. You can begin an exchange with the school there and you can write thank you letters to our soldiers for serving our country.
Also, you can forward this information to as many people around the country as you can so that this truly becomes a national project for all Americans. And if you know someone in another country, send it to them too -- they can start their own program. The information here is to be used as a starting point -- a point in the right direction.
The more we can spread the word, the more help we give our troops and help make things a little better over there. When I visited one school we shot video tape and I hope to get my footage on television so that people here can see that there are good things happening there. The negative media coverage is not the whole story -- it's only a small portion of it.
So please join us in Operation Iraqi Children.
Thank you,
Gary Sinise
Information taken from the website of Gary Sinise and Operation Iraqi Children.
Best of luck!
Note: This base is responsible for 1,500 schools that all need help.
This poem is from one of our troops. He is currantly in Kuwait waiting to come home. He should be home by Easter. We would like to thank him for all that he has done for us. We would also like to thank his family for all of their sacrifices too.
This is what he wrote....
I don't really know how to talk about the moment I met this little girl on the road, but I wrote a poem about it, and I hope you don't mind if I share it with you guys.
My Thanks To Someone I May Never Meet Again
(I Hope You Have a Nice Life)
I finally made my peace with the war here in Iraq I think it's the middle of July or did I just lose track?
Anyway, I'm fine now I know exactly why I'm here It's for a girl I met on the side of the road who made it all so clear
Her dress was way too big her face was full of sand and, actually, it kind of shocked me when she reached up for my hand
And all she said was "Thank you" but thank you said it all how could something so big come out of someone so small?
So this is the message to home that I'd really like to send... I wish that I could be there... But I have to help a friend.
Now, here's a message to everyone who is against this war. There is no way I was going to tell that girl that we shouldn't have been here.
A. Bryant
Now this is what we mean!!!
We recently found this at the AVMRA-IL site. We second what they say! We are happy to give credit where credit is due.
SEARS: Have you seen the reports about how Sears is treating its reservist employees who are called up?
By law, they are required to hold their jobs open and available, but nothing more.
Usually, people take a big pay cut and lose benefits as a result of being called up... Sears is voluntarily paying the difference in salaries and maintaining all benefits, including medical insurance and bonus programs, for all called up reservist employees for up to two years. I submit that Sears is an exemplary corporate citizen and should be recognized for its contribution.
Suggest we all shop at Sears, and be sure to find a manager to tell them why we are there so the company gets the positive reinforcement it well deserves.
Pass it on.
Honor those killed supporting Operation Iraqi Freedom by visiting
Here you can put a face to the names of our fallen heroes. We cannot forget what they have sacrificed for us. We thank MilitaryCity.com for honoring our soldiers this way. And we thank our troops and their families for these great sacrifices.
By donating to the USO our service members can receive phone cards to speak to their families this holiday season, or they can receive much needed care packages. Please visit The USO site for further information.
As you must of heard on the news, our men and women who are fighting for freedom in Afganistan and Iraq, are having a difficult time coming home for much needed R&R with their families.
This is where we come in.
We can donate our accumulated frequent flyer miles to an organization that will make sure our troops get to visit their families.
Please visit this site and see if you can help. Every little thing we do here at home to help our troops makes their job that much easier. Also, you can find helful links and that site.
Special Notes: We would like to thank Greta Van Susteren and Fox News for providing this information for us.
UPDATE UPDATE UPDATE
Latest News: The Department of Defense on January 1st began paying for domestic travel costs for the troops on R&R leave. As a result, the demand for free tickets has lessened in the last few weeks. However, there is still a need for travel assistance for soldiers on Emergency Leave, and for family members of soldiers being treated at U.S. military hospitals.
Due to the overwhelming response of the American public there is a large bank of donated miles available to the U.S. military at this time. Discussions are underway in Congress and the Department of Defense to permanently make use of these donated miles. As a result, some airlines have temporarily suspended accepting donations until legislation is introduced to expand the use of donated miles for U.S. military personnel.
Thank you....the programs are working! Visit
11/2/04 Update # 2
WBAL-TV Ruppersberger Receives Medal For 'Operation Hero Miles'
DUNDALKMd. - A Maryland congressman who created a special program to bring thousands of troops serving in Iraq home for rest and relaxation received a special award Tuesday.
Rep. Dutch Ruppersberger, D-District 2, who created Operation Hero Miles, was awarded the Charles Dick Medal of Merit Award.
The National Guard Association recognized Ruppersberger for creating the program that allows civilian travelers to donate frequent flier miles so troops can fly home for free.
"This award should not be about me, this award is about the troops. All of you here representing our country," Ruppersberger said to the crowd at the Dundalk Armory Tuesday morning.
Operation Hero Miles has collected 540 million miles so far, creating 22,000 free trips for troops.
A personal message to our troops from Grabinski & Sons
Our warmest wishes go to all of our troops and their families. Thank you for all that you are doing.
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