It's War

[heyang]

Well, no more point in arguing for or against this war.

My friend's husband is currently at Ft. Dix in NJ. They just got married in October and their daughter was born Feb 23, 2003. Everyone was happy that Al was still stateside and able to spend time with his newborn daughter. They are still not sure if Al will be deployed since his assignment is Turkey. If TPTB decide not to send troops into Turkey, he will probably be deployed stateside for homeland security. Only issue with the latter is that he won't neccessarily be local for homeland security.

My friend mentioned that people can volunteer for Family Readiness. Essentially, you help out the families of our armed forces. For example, if a pipe bursts and the family needs a plumber, the co-ordinator will arrange for a volunteer to fix the pipe for them. It helps our soldiers concentrate on their mission instead of worrying if their families are having problems. So, if you want to support our soldiers and live near a base, you can look into involving yourself in this manner.

I've also heard about programs to 'adopt a solider' where you would send care packages to a soldier. Last fall, our company had a week long bake sale to raise money to buy stuff for the soldiers that the armed forces doesn't neccessarily supply. Donations of magazines and books, videos, and video games were also accepted.

So, there are lots of ways to support our troops directly without advocating war.

[JOHIO2]

Hi heyang,

your post reminded me to look at the article I kept from the newspaper on Monday and find some of the sites referred to.

So, anyone who wants to express support for our troops and their families can actually DO something.

Here goes:

Care packages for deployed servicemen? Letters of support? The former Operation Dear Abby can't just ship stuff since 9/11, but you can get in touch with organizations that CAN.
<a href="http://www.adoptaplatoon.org/" target="top">www.adoptaplatoon.org/</a>

Join the BlueStar Mothers (or Dads) and help families get through this.
<a href="http://www.bluestarmothers.org/" target="top">
www.bluestarmothers.org/</a>

Here's one you can do to help military personnel if you're NOT near a base. Take care of their beloved pets while they are on active duty. After all, Fido and Kitty can't go along to Kuwait. And why should innocent pets suffer because our country's gone to war.
<a href="http://www.netpets.org/netp/foster.php" target="top">www.netpets.org/netp/foster.php</a>

You don't have to carry an M16 or even support the war. Just help those who are sacrificing time, money, family and living their regular lives.

[JOHIO2]

Another way to make life better for troops and their families and friends----purchase phone time so they can keep in touch. The VFW has a program, Operation Uplink (you know, phonecards!) to donate telephone time for our deployed and active duty personnel can hear and be heard by phone.

<a href="http://www.operationuplink.org/" target="top">www.operationuplink.org/</a>

[DORISPULASKI]

Some more things that you can do to support those in military service:

Write your senators and representatives and the president that they need not to be cancelling veteran's medical and drug benefits for those who make over $24k. This ruling was done by fiat (not by Congressional vote) of the bureaucrat responsible for the VA hospitals.

Write the same cast of characters that the money supporting school districts with large military populations needs to be put back in the 2003 budget.

I hope this war will end with as little loss of life as possible on both sides, particularly the lives of innocents caught in the crossfire.

dpp