Hurricane Sandy came and went here in Northern Virginia.
As the area hunkered down for the storm, soldiers with The Old Guard (3rd U.S. Infantry Regiment) kept guard over the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier.
A photo (pictured above) posted to the unit’s Facebook page quickly went viral after blogs and news agencies started reporting about the photo.
Via Facebook:
“Spc. Brett Hyde, Tomb Sentinel, 3d U.S. Infantry Regiment (The Old Guard), keeps guard over the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier during Hurricane Sandy at Arlington National Cemetery, Va., Oct. 29, 2012. Hyde lives by the Sentinel's Creed which in part says “Through the years of diligence and praise and the discomfort of the elements, I will walk my tour in humble reverence to the best of my ability”. (U.S. Army Photo by Sgt. Jose A. Torres Jr.)”
As of today, the picture has been liked nearly 13,000 times, shared more than 14,000 times on Facebook, and has nearly 1,000 comments.
Source: This Ain’t Hell
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(The Sydney Morning Herald)
Author of Book on Bin Laden Raid Says Tech, Social Media are Key Elements of Story. When history looks back on the raid that killed Osama Bin Laden, its primary focus will likely be on the American decision to send special forces into Pakistan to attack Bin Laden’s complex. As the first few books on the subject start to hit the shelves though, it is becoming clear that the role of tech and social media will be remembered as a prominent part of the story as well...
(Forbes)
Project records tales of Illinois veterans of World War II and Korean War. The stories of more than a dozen Illinois veterans who fought in World War II and the Korean War will be preserved at the Library of Congress. Court reporters, attorneys and others volunteered their time Friday to record the veterans' recollections at Lake County Circuit Court...
(The Republic)
Vietnamese-Americans try to save elders' stories. The knock came at night more than 30 years ago. Hugo Van, then a young man, had a chance to flee newly communist Vietnam and walk to freedom. There were no guarantees, but Van didn’t hesitate to take the risk. With a few hundred dollars, he and his younger sister got a car ride to a Vietnamese village, then a boat to Cambodia and began the trek across barren land until they were caught by Cambodian soldiers...
(AP)
The Gulf War, one sailors story. I enlisted in the Navy on the 2/2/1990, I disscharged on 4/2/1992. When first told we were to go to the Persian Gulf, we knew that this could result in war action being taken. So we were sent home with instructions to make a will, tell no one and end any relationship that was not serious. This I did with the only person in confidence being my father. I also ended a relationship I was currently in and returned to the ship to prepare it and us for the task ahead...
(Fraser Coast Chronicle)
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Very few western journalists have been able to report from the frontlines of the Syrian war.
New York Times contributing reporter Janine Di Giovanni is one of those few journalists.
NYT has posted a video on YouTube with Di Giovanni showing some of the footage she's captured with government soldiers as well as an interview between her and Deputy Foreign Editor Michael Slackman.
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Military history is popular with Twitter users, especially when the Twitter account reports the events as if they were happening in real-time years and years later.
It’s been awhile since I’ve written about a military history Twitter feed, having come across only a handful in the last couple years, but many of those that are online, do well in terms of readership.
Take for example, @RealTimeWWII, which was launched in August 2011 and live tweets World War 2 events. Today, @RealTimeWWII has over 260,000 followers on Twitter and nearly 8,000 Facebook Likes.
The newest military history feed making headlines is @1812now, which its author, Fernando Souza, is using Twitter to trace the events of 1812.
The feed not only covers the year’s military events, but other facts as well.
According to a story in Daily Dot, “Souza was inspired to start work on @1812now after discovering @RealtimeWWII, which tweets about events from World War II as closely as possible to the time in which they occurred 72 years prior. He thought that he could do a similar feed for 1812. It’s like Trivial Pursuit unfolding on Twitter.”
If you're interested in other military history feeds, I've put together a collection of accounts for you.
@RealTimeWWII
24-year old Alwyn Collinson is a former history student at Oxford University. Alwyn launched a Twitter feed that reports World War II events as though they were happening in real-time, 72-years later.
@civilwarreportr
A fictional Civil war newspaper reporter. According to the bio, the National Park Service sponsors the Twitter feed so followers can experience events as they happen.
@1812now
Events as they happen two hundred years ago today.
@CivilianWartime
The messages center on those who served on the home front of North Carolina during the Civil War, including the perspective of an escaped slave.
@CyrusForwood
The Delaware Public Archives tweets entries taken from the diary of Delaware soldier Cyrus Forwood who fought during the Civil War.
@Williams_war
The life of a World War I soldier who served in the British Army.
@iTweetus
A Roman re-enactor commemorates the arrival of thousands of Roman soldiers invading Northern England nearly 2,000 years ago by tweeting. The account still online, but hasn’t been active since July 2011.
If you’ve come across other Twitter feeds you’d like to share, please e-mail milblogging@gmail.com
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(Huffington Post)
On Facebook, IDF illustrates Palestinian violence - with photo from Bahrain. On October 17, the Israeli military posted the above infographic on its Facebook page. The image includes a photograph of a young masked man holding a firebomb and featuring statistics regarding the number of firebomb attacks against Israelis in the West Bank since the start of 2012. The Israeli military urges Facebook users to share the image “because the mainstream media will not.” In fact, the mainstream media did share this photo extensively – in its coverage of protests in Bahrain...
(+972 Magazine)
Stories From the War- Bringing Memories to Life . Every day we capture our lives in images. These digital snapshots tell us a great deal about ourselves, the people who surround us, and our environment. They provide context to a series of fleeting moments. The technology of today provides us the ability to capture an astonishing amount of imagery that often lays hidden on our computers, camera chips, or DVD’s. As our personal visual collections grow each year, they are eventually stored away- hidden in the dark reaches of our closets or lost within stacks of CD’s piled high in the corner of the room. This article is about uncovering one of those personal stories, and bringing it to life...
(CNN iReport)
World War II vets become living historians. WAUKEGAN — Diane Kumala Vojcanin and her siblings are no strangers to their father’s stories of World War II, but they wanted to ensure that Ray Kumala’s memories went beyond an oral tradition. “My dad’s a great storyteller,” she said. “He’d either read us a book or he’d tell his three daughters a story — we heard his ‘good stories’ from the Navy.”
(Lake County News-Sun)
Author inspired by Langley Park men in the Great War. A FATHER helping his son with his school history project on the First World War has ended up as a full-sized historical novel. Eric Collinson, 65, was researching the Durham Light Infantry involvement in The Great War for his son’s project, but found himself absorbed in the story. Mr Collinson said: "Five years later I was still doing it so I thought I’ve got enough information here to write a book"...
(From The Northern Echo)
What Tumblr can tell us about the future of media. If there was any doubt left that Tumblr is trying to become more of a mainstream media entity, albeit with its own odd twist, it was removed recently when the service hired bloggers to cover the Republican and Democratic national conventions in a kind of Tumblr-style stab at political journalism. But that’s just one side of the equation: while Tumblr is becoming more like the traditional media, many media outlets also seem to be working hard to become more like Tumblr — not only adopting the platform, but taking on a lot of its characteristics as well, including a fascination for animated GIFs and memes. You could argue about whether that’s good or bad for journalism, but there’s no question it is happening...
(GigaOm)
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I received an email from multi media artist Derek Eland yesterday, advising me that he has launched a blog called "In Our Own Words".
Eland writes, "Hi, I'm a British artist who spent a month in Afghanistan in 2011 as an official war artist. I set up 'Diary Rooms' on the front line and asked soldiers to write a postcard about their experiences. I've now started a blog about my time in Afghanistan and am publishing one handwritten story a day for a year."
According to the blog the resulting exhibition called 'In Our Own Words' is on show at the Russell-Cotes Art Gallery and Museum in Bournemouth until March 2013.
The first handwritten story was published on October 1, 2012 and reads:
I am that which others did not want to be,
I did what others did not want to do,
and went where others feared to go,
I have felt the blistering cold,
Stared death in the face,
and enjoyed only a moments love,
Even tho no one cares who i am or what I've done,
I can honestly say
I am proud of what i am!
A SOLDIER
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(AOL)
Patch Wins 3 Awards for Military Reporting. Local Patch sites won 24 awards Tuesday night in the San Diego Press Club’s 39th annual Excellence in Journalism Awards. Camp Pendleton Patch won three awards...
(Patch)
WWII vet dies at age 93 after casting last ballot. A World War II veteran who inspired many with his determination to vote even though he had end-stage liver cancer died Wednesday. Frank Tanabe's daughter Barbara Tanabe said he died at her Honolulu home, where he has spent the past few weeks in hospice. He was 93. Barbara Tanabe said she put the American flag up outside the home to mark the day for him and their family. "He really liked it when I put out the flag," she said. Hundreds of thousands of people saw a photo of Frank Tanabe filling out his absentee ballot with the help of his daughter last week, after his grandson posted the picture on the social media site Reddit...
(NBC29)
Taking power through technology in the Arab Spring. The Internet can make that which is on the opposite end of the world seem very local. Yet this can both distort or amplify reality. For example, while the recent “Innocence of Muslims” video served as a catalyst for the dissatisfaction felt toward the lack of Western support toward the Arab world, the protests and riots would not have occurred without YouTube and Vimeo. The ways by which newer and older media come together can turn slander into reality, changing what counts as truth in today’s world...
(Al Jazeera English)
Ceremony to commemorate the arrival of FNDY Squad Engine 270. The Americans in Wartime Museum invites you to attend a special ceremony at 3 p.m. on Thursday, October 25, to commemorate the arrival of FNDY Squad Engine 270. The ceremony will be held at Sean T. Connaughton Community Plaza, 3 County Complex Court, Prince William, Virginia, near Prince William County’s 9-11 Memorial. The FDNY vehicle, which was on scene at the World Trade Center on September 11, 2001, will become part of the Museum’s permanent collection and will honor those who served and sacrificed on 9/11...
(Americans in Wartime Museum)
City courthouse dig tells Civil War story. Call it “Building X.” What remains of it lay, buried and long forgotten until now, beside today’s Fredericksburg City Hall where a new courthouse will soon rise. Now, thanks to intense scrutiny by archaeologists and local researchers in recent weeks, you can add this once-substantial row house to the casualties of the Battle of Fredericksburg...
(Fredericksburg.com)
Syria: activists mobilise to free jailed cartoonist. Cyber activists in Syria are campaigning for the release of jailed cartoonist Akram Raslan, who was reportedly arrested in the city of Hama on the 2nd October. Blogger “The Syrian” believes he was taken in for questioning over one of his recent anti Bashar al-Assad drawings. The cartoon illustrated one of the slogans used by pro-government militia the Shabiha, which would rather see the country put to fire and the sword than see the president leave office...
(FRANCE 24)
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I first wrote about Kyle Miller back in early April 2012.
The teenager had set out on an ambitious plan, as part of his Eagle Scout Project, to capture in writing and record on tape the stories of 1,000 veterans.
At the time, he had captured four stories with 17 others in the pipeline.
Based on my latest count, he has over 2 dozen stories recorded according to Voices from the Front, a website he set up to help reach his goal with help from volunteers.
Yesterday, Kyle's story was one of the top stories on NBC.
Reporter Rehema Ellis writes:
“Kyle Miller hasn’t been around long enough to have much of his own history, but at 16, he’s deeply involved in the military history that others created.
When he was 12, Kyle, a Boy Scout, joined a group for World War II veterans. He was so fascinated by their stories that he became their archivist. Now he’s taken on an even bigger task to make certain their stories are around forever.”
If you'd like to help Kyle reach his goal, visit Voices from the Front to learn more.
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Before I get started, I should say that Sgt. Robert Larson has been found safe and has returned home.
Army Times has the story about social media and how it has helped someone in the military.
Here are the highlights:
- Sgt. Robert Larson suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder and traumatic brain injury
- Fort Jackson media relations officer Patrick Jones confirmed that Rob has a history of behavioral challenges associated with his injury
- Rob and his wife Pamela Larson met during a deployment to Iraq; she suffered a gunshot wound while serving in 2005 as a mechanic with the 54th Engineer Battalion in Ramadi, Iraq
- Sgt. Robert Larson went missing Oct. 6
- Pamela Larson set up a “Help Find Sgt. Robert Larson” Facebook page that she updated daily
- She chronicled every meeting with law enforcement and her husband’s chain of command, while thousands of followers sent in tips and expressed their support for her husband
- On Oct 15. Sgt. Larson returned home safely
- His cousin had found him camping out in a forest near his Minnesota hometown
- The “Help Find Sgt. Robert Larson” Facebook page had collected 11,831 “likes” as of press time, with some posts garnering more than 5,000 “likes” and upward of 800 comments.
- Though the tips sent in didn’t pan out, Pamela said she took comfort in knowing how many people are on her side
At the time of this story, the Facebook page has nearly 12,000 likes.
Full story here.
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The photo of a 93-year old World War II veteran placing his last vote from his deathbed is wildly popular on Reddit this week.
The photo (seen above) was submitted 4 days ago and at the time of this story has reached nearly 600,000 views.
The following message accompanied the photo:
“My grandfather is proud of having voted in every single presidential election since he was awarded his citizenship in order to serve during WWII. Here he is, 93 years old and on his deathbed, with my aunt helping him fill out one last ballot.”
The Associated Press reports the picture is of Frank Tanabe getting help from his daughter Barbara Tanabe filling out his absentee ballot in Honolulu.
According to the AP, “Tanabe volunteered to join the Army from behind barbed wire at the Tule Lake internment camp in California. He was pulled out of college at the University of Washington and taken to the camp when President Franklin D. Roosevelt ordered 110,000 Japanese-Americans detained and isolated after the start of the war with Japan.”
The thread on Reddit has over 700 comments posted.
The top comments on Imgur include, "True Patriotism", "That man is America. Amen." and "Thank you, Citizen."
For the full news story, go here.
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(WTVM.com)
Legacy project tells veterans' stories. After dozens of interviews with veterans from World War II all the way through the current conflict in Afghanistan, Glenville State College's West Virginia Veterans' Legacy Project is now publishing those stories. Next month, West Virginia Public Broadcasting will debut the project's hour-long documentary, "A Tradition of Service." Project organizers also are readying a coffee table book that features photos and excerpts from interviews with veterans and are helping publish a memoir by World War II veteran Warren Matheny...
(Daily Mail)
Patch Blogs: An Inside Look at Afghanistan. Chris Day, a Rocklander who served two tours in Afghanistan with the U.S. Army, gives Patch readers insight into how the 11-year war jibes with the ongoing struggle for the White House. Day—whose brother is currently deployed, and whose father works as a Rockland County legislator—lays out how President Barack Obama and Governor Mitt Romney differ in their Afghanistan strategies. And they don't differ much, according to Day...
(Patch.com)
Odierno Shares Views on Military’s Relationship With Media. The biggest challenge in the relationship between the military and the media is working together in an uncertain environment in an age of instant communication, the Army’s chief of staff said here Oct. 19. Gen. Ray Odierno shared his views on military-media relations in remarks and a question-and-answer session with about 60 journalists attending the 10th annual Military Reporters and Editors Conference. “As we move forward, and as I look at what’s going on around the world, the ability to communicate instantaneously is only going to get faster and faster and faster, and the ability to report is going to get faster and faster and faster,” he said...
(Department of Defense)
Leicestershire PoW's astonishing story being made into a blockbuster film. A photograph of a Leicestershire prisoner of war confronting Nazi leader Heinrich Himmler convinced Hollywood producers to make the soldier's gripping story into a movie. A-list actors are said to be queuing up to star in the film about Horace Greasley, a Second World War soldier who risked his life repeatedly for his German sweetheart, Rosa. Horace, from Ibstock, was a private with the 2nd/5th Leicestershire Regiment when he was captured on May 25, 1940, during the British retreat to Dunkirk...
(This is Leicestershire)
Tranquil Eleven Point river echoes with stories from Civil War era. The Eleven Point River meanders through more than just nature’s beauty. This spring-fed stream also traverses an area rich in history. On a recent canoe trip I have run my hand over rusted iron that was once a grist mill. I have floated along a tree-lined bank haunted with the memory of 40 immigrant families that settled there before the Civil War hoping for a tranquil, peaceful life close to nature. Tranquility wasn’t found. They disappeared from the land...
(Springfield News-Leader)
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“ANC Explorer allows users to use a smart phone or common web browser to locate gravesites, events or other points of interest throughout the cemetery; generate front-and-back photos of a headstone or monument; and receive directions to these locations. This free app is now available on Arlington’s website, the iTunes store, and Google Play and is loaded on new kiosks in Arlington National Cemetery’s Visitors Center.”
For the full story, visit the official website of the Arlington National Cemetery.
To use or download the app, go here.
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There definitely seems to be a trend towards preserving war history through digital means, especially when it comes to earlier wars like World War I and World War II.
According to a story in the Oxford Mail, road shows are being held across Europe to collect and digitize items for the ‘Europeana 1914-1918’ project.
The project is seeking photographs, letters, diaries, film or audio recordings along with family stories.
And the project is wasting no time digitizing the information and sharing it.
The items they come across will be photographed or scanned and uploaded to the Europeana website on the very same day of the road show.
Here’s a look at some of the future collection days:
Banbury Museum, 3 November 2012, 10 am - 4.30 pm
Cultural Services of the Ministry of Education and Culture, Cyprus, 1-2 December 2012, 10 am - 5.30 pm
Flanders Fields Museum, December 2012
Fondazione Museo storico del Trentino, March 2013
If you have a story to share, you can visit the project’s website and add your story to the online collection in four easy steps.
You can explore the story collection here.
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(EIN News)
A Soldier's Story: Returning Home From Iraq. Army veteran Kevin Powers has written what some are calling the first great novel of the Iraq war. Here, Powers shares his own experiences as a returning soldier—and what he sees as the challenges facing this new generation of vets. In the past decade, more than a million troops have returned from Iraq and Afghanistan, with many thousands more still to come. Kevin Powers is one of them. For Powers, 32, who spent 13 months as a combat engineer in Iraq before returning to the States in 2005, "The question you always get is, 'What's it like over there?'" His searing debut novel, The Yellow Birds, tries to answer that question, by capturing the casual brutality and emotional isolation of the war as well as the disquietude of returning home when it no longer feels like home...
(Parade)
Military app saving lives. With an alarming number of soldiers and veterans committing suicide, the Pentagon is hoping that smart-phone technology can help reverse that trend. For thousands of soldiers coming home from war – smart phones are serving as a literal life-line to therapy and rehabilitation. A new military app developed by the Department of Defense is helping soldiers recover from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). It’s all part of an emerging trend where technology is being used to reduce the stresses in post-combat issues...
(Fox News)
Twitter Gives Saudi Arabia a Revolution of Its Own. RIYADH, Saudi Arabia — Saudi Arabia did not have an Arab Spring. But it has had a revolution of sorts. Open criticism of this country’s royal family, once unheard-of, has become commonplace in recent months. Prominent judges and lawyers issue fierce public broadsides about large-scale government corruption and social neglect. Women deride the clerics who limit their freedoms. Even the king has come under attack. All this dissent is taking place on the same forum: Twitter. Unlike other media, Twitter has allowed Saudis to cross social boundaries and address delicate subjects collectively and in real time, via shared subject headings like “Saudi Corruption” and “Political Prisoners,” known in Twitter as hashtags...
(The New York Times)
'War Stores' to be performed at NY State Military Museum; public reading of college project. SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. — War stories originally submitted as part of a college course will be read during a free public event this week at the New York State Military Museum. The state Division of Military and Naval Affairs says six experienced actors will be at the museum in Saratoga Springs on Wednesday to read the stories, which were part of a State University of New York Empire State College course called, "War Stories: Reading and Writing About the Impact of War."
(The Republic)
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“The poetry and prose of more than 50 military veterans will be featured in an anthology titled "Proud to Be: Writing by American Warriors" to be released Nov. 1, 2012 by the Southeast Missouri State University Press.
The project was undertaken with assistance from the Missouri Humanities Council (M.H.C.) and the Warriors Arts Alliance, the latter a non-profit organization dedicated to building communication and understanding between veterans, families, and communities through creative writing and visual arts.
Results from a concurrent contest resulted in $250 awards each in fiction, non-fiction, and poetry categories.
The contest and anthology were earlier attempted in 2011, under the heading of the "Missouri Warrior Writers Project."
More at Red Bull Rising.
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(BuzzFeed)
Syria's Rebels Raise Funds Online. In a small house in Reyhanli, Turkey, three miles from the Syrian border, one of the financial battles of Syria’s civil war is being fought. Abu Mohammed al-Mohandis (his nom de guerre) opens “The Martyrs of Aleppo Brigade Spec-Ops,” a Facebook (FB) page dedicated to the exploits of his unit, one of many fighting President Bashar al-Assad’s forces. Seated cross-legged on a mattress on the living room floor, Abu Mohammed scrolls through the list of links on his laptop and opens one of the videos he shot...
(BusinessWeek)
Newspaper Defends Cartoon Criticizing Military. A day after coming under fire from a military-owned newspaper for publishing a cartoon critical of Burma’s armed forces, The Myanmar Times has defended the move as part of its effort to encourage public debate. The cartoon, by former Irrawaddy cartoonist Harn Lay, depicts a member of Burma’s civilian government releasing doves of peace, while a man in military uniform shoots them down...
(The Irrawaddy Magazine)
Royal British Legion secretary unearths lost stories of Epping's war dead. THE LOST stories behind the names etched into a town’s war memorials have been unearthed. John Duffell of Clover Leas, has spent 12 years digging through archives and newspapers to discover more about the lives and deaths of 150 Epping servicemen who died in the First and Second World Wars. The 57-year-old now hopes to display the fruits of his labour in the district council's Civic Offices in the run-up to November 11...
(Guardian)
Deceased Veteran of the Month: Soldier's diary sheds light on events of World War II. A late World War II veteran’s diary sheds light on some of the war’s most dramatic moments. On Tuesday, Aug. 14, 1945, Army Cpl. Joseph Gamache of Schuylerville was in Hawaii preparing for the invasion of Japan when he learned America’s enemy had surrendered. If not for that, Gamache might have been among the estimated 1 million casualties an invasion would have cost...
(The Saratogian)
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The University Archives & Historical Collections of Michigan State University has been transcribing and digitizing its collections relating to the Civil War as part of the sesquicentennial commemoration.
According the University Archives website, the Civil War collection will be made available online for public use.
It includes hundreds of pages of correspondence, diaries, musters, reminiscences, and photographs.
The project was started by four students in 2010.
The Civil War isn't the only war that MSU has been archiving - the University has also been archiving the Vietnam War.
A story on MSU's website says the Civil War transcriptions are authentic, reflecting exactly what’s written on the 150-year-old pages.
"So in many cases, words are misspelled or obsolete. MSU archivists, students and staff transcribed the material, which was difficult since some soldiers’ handwriting wasn’t legible."
If you'd like to learn more, you can visit the Civil War collections online.
Full news story here.
Photo credit: Flickr
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According to an announcement on the site, the exhibition will display more than 200 unique items from its Civil War collections that tell the story of the war.
The exhibition will include diaries, letters, drawings by special artist-correspondents and soldier artists, maps, song sheets, newspapers and broadsides, photographs, and “unusual” artifacts that will chronicle the sacrifices and accomplishments of those in both the North and South whose lives were lost or affected.
In addition to gallery talks, poetry readings, concerts, films, a dedicated blog site will also be launched that will be authored by historical figures.
The blog isn’t live yet, however, I will make sure to get it added to Milblogging once it goes live.
Source: Library via Associated Press
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While many kids are off playing video games, 12 year old Christopher Edwards is busy running a Facebook campaign called “Huddle Up for Heroes” that helps send care packages to troops.
He started the campaign when he was 11.
Edwards' mother told a Madison County reporter that Christopher began sending care packages to a family friend who had served several tours in Iraq, and a few others, but this past April, he decided to expand his efforts after he saw a news story on TV about another boy who was raising money to send care packages to as many of the troops as possible.
Here’s some information about Huddle Up For Heroes, which has nearly 2,500 likes at the time of this story.
About
Huddle Up was started by an 11 yr old boy who wants all of our Heroes to receive a Huddle Box care package full of items they need to remind them that we are thinking of them and they are not forgotten! Donations can be made on paypal. Thank you!
Mission
Our Mission is to see that all of our Troops receive a Huddle Box full of letters, Hero Bands and other items they need to remind them of home and to bring them some level of comfort!
Description
My name is Christopher Edwards and I am 11 years old. I live in Georgia with my Mom and Dad and our 9 pets. I love to ride dirt-bikes and do motocross. I also like drawing. But most of all I love our Military! My Grandad was in the Army and my Uncle was in the Navy. I also have great uncles and great-great uncles who were veterans. So Military men run in our family. Mom and Dad have always taught me how important it is to thank our heroes fighting for us and to pray for them every day. When ever we are out and I see a Soldier, Sailor or Marine I go up to them, salute them, thank them for fighting for us and tell them I am praying for them. If they will let me I also try to get my picture made with them. I loves meeting our heroes. I heard about a boy named Cody who goes to the airports and welcomes the Troops when they get home and I told my Mom that I wanted to do something to help them too. I remember my Mom sending boxes over to her friend Mr. Jay when he was in Iraq and I asked her if I could do that. But I want to send boxes to lots of Heroes to thank as many as I can. Then we decided to call it HUDDLE UP FOR HEROES. I came up with that! And I call the packages Huddle Boxes. Our Soldiers, Sailors and Marines are the BEST! THEY ROCK! And they are so brave and keep us and other countries safe from bad people. So we need to do what we can to help them when they are far from home. I want to get other people to help send packages over to them too. That way every one fighting for us will get nice things from home. That is why I want to do this. I love our Military. We are even trying to start a Young Marines Group in our area and when I grow up I want to be a Marine too! Thank you for liking my page and please pray for all our Military each and every day! God Bless you and God Bless our Military!! SEMPER FI!!!
General Information
Huddle Up For Heroes is not a non-profit organization as of yet. We are working on obtaining that though. But we still rely on others to help us with Christopher's Mission! There are many ways you can help Huddle Up reach as many Heroes in our Military as possible! One is by making a donation to help with the huddle Box Care Packages or with the Hero Bands. We have a paypal account that you can find by typing in our email address, huddleupforheroes@gmail.com, on the paypal site. If you or your organization would like to help with fundraisers by throwing a car wash, bake sale or something else of that nature that would also be great! There are others ways to help as well! We use coupons to help purchase items at a discounted price, so sending coupons is another way to help us. We also need paracord 550 to use for the Hero Bands. Sending prepaid Visa gift Cards helps with the purchase of items as well as to cover shipping costs which can be expensive. Collecting items for our Huddle Boxes is another big help! The following is a small list of items we normally send...
*Travel packs of baby wipes or wet one
*Powder Drink mix
*Hard Candy
*Gum
*Cookies, crackers, Beef Jerky, Trail mix, M&M's, Skittles and snack cakes
*Dried Fruits
*Deodorant, toothpaste and tooth brushes
*Soap, shampoo and conditioner
*Socks, Chap Stick and Hand sanitizer
*Instant coffee, Hot cocoa, flavored Tea
*Small writing tablets, crossword puzzles, paperback books, pens
*Anything to make our Heroes feel the comfort of home that will fit in a large Priority Mail Shipping box!
LETTERS, LETTERS, LETTERS and did we say LETTERS, Cards and drawings of appreciation!!
If you are interested in helping in any of the above ways please let us know! You can contact us through message on the Huddle Up page or by email at huddleupforheroes@gmail.com
Our mailing address for Visa Cards, Checks, Money Orders or items is
Royston, Ga 30662
Thank you so much for liking HUDDLE UP FOR HEROES and as Christopher says, YOU ROCK! God Bless you and God Bless our HEROES!
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(LA Times)
Syrian Rebels Burn Down a Marijuana Field on Facebook. This is a video, posted on Monday to Facebook, of one of Syria’s stronger rebel factions setting a marijuana field ablaze. The incineration of the weed underscores a basic problem for the U.S.’s approach to Syria’s bloody civil war. No, not because the U.S. suddenly decriminalized marijuana. It’s because the Farouq Brigades, generally considered a competent and media-savvy rebel militia, is promoting its willingness to destroy a drug crop. That’s an action usually identified more with Islamic militant groups than secular ones. And it goes to show how little the U.S. still knows about the Syrian opposition, even as Washington debates directly arming the rebels...
(Wired)
After a Bullet in the Head, Assaults on a Pakistani Schoolgirl’s Character Follow. As a Pakistani schoolgirl who was shot in the head by Taliban militants last week fights for her life in a British hospital, a battle to tarnish her reputation is being waged on social networks and news sites in Pakistan. In yet another statement to the Pakistani news media defending the assassination attempt, a Taliban spokesman claimed on Tuesday that young Malala Yousafzai, who had criticized the Islamists for closing girls’ schools in a blog she wrote for the BBC when she was 11, was “a spy who divulged secrets” and “created propaganda...”
(The Lede)
Military affairs beat: Soldiers help plant seeds of a future. TPT Channel 2 producer Luke Heikkila spent two weeks in Afghanistan with a Minnesota National Guard unit called an Agribusiness Development Team. The result of his experience is "Bridging War & Hope," which looks at how the unit, whose members all have ties to agriculture or agricultural economy in the civilian world, worked with farmers and villagers in a southern Afghanistan province to improve their lives. If firefights and bomb blasts are what you are looking for, tune to G4's "Bomb Patrol Afghanistan" instead. Heikkila's 30-minute effort, which has its broadcast premiere Sunday, is more about shovels and seeds than rifles and bullets...
(StarTribune.com)
Video: Canadian ‘Heritage Minutes’ return with tale of war hero. “Heritage Minutes” are back after a seven-year hiatus with the story of the long, eventful life of former slave and Canadian war hero Richard Pierpoint. The Historica-Dominion Institute has restarted the tradition of 60-second spots on history with funding from the federal government for the commemoration of the War of 1812. The HDI is showing the new minutes, and a selection of classics, at The Royal theatre in Toronto on Monday. Canadians in other parts of the country can watch the new commercial on TV starting Monday, October 15, 2012...
(Metro)
Syria denies but videos show cluster bombs. Damascus denied using cluster bombs to combat rebel forces, as new videos showed cluster bomb canisters and widely ejected small "bomblets" in Syrian cities. Syria's army "does not possess these kinds of weapons" and the allegations are therefore "baseless," the armed forces general command said in a statement carried over state television...
(UPI.com)
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