Posts Tagged ‘iraq’

Please Help Our Soldiers

Monday, November 2nd, 2009

My son’s teacher heads up this great cause and I wanted to make you all aware of it. This is the letter she sends home at the beginning of her classes:

My name is Jacky and I am an early education instructor with the Oak Lawn Park District.  I started mailing boxes when one of my student’s only parent was sent to Iraq.  Now, boxes go out weekly to each soldier on my list who shares the boxes with their units.  I know first hand from the soldiers who return stateside that these boxes mean so much more than their contents;  they mean people care.  The families back home also appreciate the moral booster their loved ons are receiving each time a box arrives.  These boxes may be small, but they are mighty with support and positive thinking to bring our soldiers safely home.  All my soldiers have relatives, friends who live in Oak Lawn, or are residents of Oak Lawn.  It is a local support of our community.  Below are item lists of some of the things that have been sent out since March 2003:

Shampoo

Baby Wipes

Soap

Toothpaste

Hard Candy

Juice boxes

Snack food

Lip Balm

Combs

Sunscreen

Gum

Tylenol

Food Bars

Toilet Paper

Foot Powder

Small botthle of hand “no water” soap sanitizier

Band Aides

Canisters of presweetened Kool-Aid, Tea, and Lemonade

Mouthwash

User Paperback books

Toothpaste samples or floss

Sunday Comics

Extra condiment packets (sugar, ketchup)

Toothbrushes

Children’s drawings

Extra item in a pack (example:  6th gum free in a 5 pack)

Encouraging letters

Hotel shoe shine kits

Hotel small shampoo

Hotel small soap

Hotel small lotion

Hotel sewing kits

Hotel small conditioner

Hotel small mouth wash

As you can see, you don’t have to spend a lot of money to help the soldiers out.  We donate things every week and it doesn’t cost me a cent extra from what we already do.  Also, she will take ANY leftover Halloween candy you have!!!

They will also take any donated stamps or funds for stamps.  Items and postage can be dropped off at (or mailed to) Oak View Center, 4625 West 110th St., Oak Lawn IL 60453.  I’d just put a little note on there that it’s for the soldiers.

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Didn’t see this on the 6′oclock news, did you?? The Mike Monsoor Story

Saturday, October 17th, 2009

mike The sailor pictured here is Navy Petty Officer, PO2 (Petty Officer, Second Class) EOD2 (Explosive Ordnance Disposal, Second Class) MIKE MONSOOR. April 5th, 1981 ~ September 29th, 2006

Mike Monsoor, was awarded “The Congressional Medal Of Honor”, for giving his life in Iraq, as he jumped on, and covered with his body, a live hand grenade, that was accidentally dropped by a Navy Seal, saving the lives of a large group of Navy Seals that was passing by!

During Mike Monsoor’s funeral, at Ft. Rosecrans National Cemetery, on San Diego, California, the six pallbearers removed the rosewood casket from the hearse, and lined up on each side of Mike Monsoor’s casket, were his family members, friends, fellow sailors, and well-wishers. The column of people continued from the hearse, all the way to the grave site.

What the group didn’t know at the time was, every Navy Seal (45 To Be Exact) that Mike Monsoor saved that day was scattered through-out the column! As the pallbearers carried the rosewood casket down the column of people to the grave site, the column would collapse which formed a group of people that followed behind.

Every time the rosewood casket passed a Navy Seal, he would remove his gold trident pin from his unifform and slap it down hard causing the gold trident pin to embed itself into the top of the wooden casket. Then the Navy Seal would step back from the column and salute!

coffin

For those who don’t know what a Trident Pin Is:

After you complete the basic Navy Seals Programs which lasts for three weeks and is followed by Seal Qualification training (which is 15 more weeks of training) necessary to continue improving basic skills and to learn new tactics and techniques required for an assignment to a Navy Seal Platoon. After successful completion, trainees are given their Naval Enlisted Code and are awarded the Navy Seal Trident Pin. With this gold pink, they are officially Navy Seals.

It was said that you could hear each of the 45 claps from across the cemetery. By the time the rosewood casket reached the grave site, It looked as if it had a gold inlay from the 45 Trident Pins that lined the top.

What a fitting end to an eternal send off for a hero! Why isn’t this front page news? I got this in an email. Since the main stream media won’t make this news, let’s do it ourselves online. The world needs more heroes like Mike Monsoor.

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Wednesday’s Hero

Wednesday, August 5th, 2009

Lance Cpl. Jeremy P. TamburelloLance Cpl. Jeremy P. Tamburello
19 years old from Denver, Colorado
1st Light Armor Reconnaissance Battalion, 1st Marine Division, I Marine Expeditionary Force
November 8, 2005
U.S.M.C

His parents didn’t want him to enlist, but it was his passion for helping people that led L/Cpl. Jeremy Tamburello to the military. “He was a very noble, very compassionate, very brave man” said L/Cpl. Tamburello’s father, Kevin. “He knew that he was going to have to go to Iraq and he knew that he might die, but he went anyway.”

L/Cpl. Tamburello was killed by an IED while conducting combat operations near Rutbah, Iraq.

These brave men and women sacrifice so much in their lives so that others may enjoy the freedoms we get to enjoy everyday. For that, I am proud to call them Hero.
We Should Not Only Mourn These Men And Women Who Died, We Should Also Thank God That Such People Lived

This post is part of the Wednesday Hero Blogroll. For more information about Wednesday Hero, or if you would like to post it on your site, you can go here.

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Wednesday’s Hero

Wednesday, July 8th, 2009

Cpl. Reynold ArmandCpl. Reynold Armand
21 years old from Rochester, New York
2nd Assault Amphibian Battalion, 2nd Marine Division, II Marine Expeditionary Force
August 7, 2007
U.S. Marines

Reynold Armand didn’t want to wait until he turned 18 to join the Marines. He persuaded his adoptive mother to sign papers allowing him to sign up a year early.

“I’m very proud of him,” said his father, Carl Armand. “When he was home, he gave no sign of being afraid.” Armand didn’t speak much about his experiences in Iraq, according to family members, saying only that most Iraqi civilians he encountered were very nice.

“We used to send him a lot of candy,” said his mother, Alma Armand. “He would pass it out.”

Manny Rodriguez, 21, of Rochester met Armand five years ago at New Day Church in Rochester, where both young men were members of the youth group. “He was such an amazing all-around person. He was so easy and comfortable to be around. He liked people for who they are.”

No definitive report could be found on how Cpl. Armand died. Some report that he was killed when shot and others report that he was killed by an IED that exploded near his vehicle in Balad, Iraq.

All Information Was Found On And Copied From MilitaryCity.com with help from Kathi

These brave men and women sacrifice so much in their lives so that others may enjoy the freedoms we get to enjoy everyday. For that, I am proud to call them Hero.
We Should Not Only Mourn These Men And Women Who Died, We Should Also Thank God That Such People Lived

This post is part of the Wednesday Hero Blogroll. For more information about Wednesday Hero, or if you would like to post it on your site, you can go here.

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Wednesday’s Hero

Wednesday, June 10th, 2009

Aviation Ordnanceman 2nd Class (SEAL) Marc A. LeeAviation Ordnanceman 2nd Class (SEAL) Marc A. Lee
28 years old from Hood River, Oregon
Navy SEAL
August 2, 2006
U.S. Navy

“Marc was amazing. He was my best friend, my love,” his widow, Maya, said.

Petty Officer Marc A. Lee joined the Navy in 2001 and became an AO after completing Naval Air Technical Training. Later that year he attempted to complete the grueling BUD/S program but caught pneumonia and had to drop out. He tried again in 2004 and completed the course.

On August 2, 2006, Marc A. Lee became the first SEAL to be killed in combat in Iraq when he was fatally wounded in a firefight in Ramadi, Iraq. The following is from the award citation:

“During the operation, one element member was wounded by enemy fire. The element completed the casualty evacuation, regrouped and returned onto the battlefield to continue the fight. Petty Officer Lee and his SEAL element maneuvered to assault an unidentified enemy position. He, his teammates, Bradley Fighting Vehicles and Abrams tanks engaged enemy positions with suppressive fire from an adjacent building to the north.

“To protect the lives of his teammates, he fearlessly exposed himself to direct enemy fire by engaging the enemy with his machine gun and was mortally wounded in the engagement. His brave actions in the line of fire saved the lives of many of his teammates”

“It was so like Marc to give up his life to save his friends,” his mother, Debbie Lee, told the Hood River News. “I am so proud of him. He is my hero.”

Petty Officer Lee was posthumously awarded a Bronze Star with combat “V” for his actions in Iraq during his team?s combat tour and the Purple Heart medal.

All Information Was Found On And Copied From MilitaryCity.com

These brave men and women sacrifice so much in their lives so that others may enjoy the freedoms we get to enjoy everyday. For that, I am proud to call them Hero.
We Should Not Only Mourn These Men And Women Who Died, We Should Also Thank God That Such People Lived

This post is part of the Wednesday Hero Blogroll. For more information about Wednesday Hero, or if you would like to post it on your site, you can go here.

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