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Excellent program to support your military families! The USO helps to unite the separated loved ones and you can help with the upcoming holiday season. I know when my husband was in Iraq three year's ago at Christmas time, he loved every package he received from me. Not all soldiers are so lucky and some can't afford to send much as the salary of an enlisted soldier isn't much. My husband is one of the "lucky" ones in which his tours don't normally put him on the streets fighting so he does have the ability to communicate with me frequently. Each assignment is different so we'll see how next Christmas will be when he's in Kuwait.
See the message from the USO on how you can help this year:
As military deployments tear families apart, United Through Reading helps bring them together. Thanks to this program, GIs who are thousands of miles away from home and loved ones can still read a bedtime story to their kids every night.
In 62 locations around the globe, the USO's United Through Reading volunteers make DVDs of GIs reading children's books – like "Goodnight Moon" or "The Cat In The Hat" – aloud. The DVD and the book are then mailed to the kids back home to show them that mommy or daddy, though far away, is in fact OK.
Program participants tell of children touching the TV screen or talking back to the recorded image of their parent every time the DVD is played. And troops in harm's way will line up for hours just for the chance to make a recording for their kids.
In less than three years, the United Through Reading program has exploded. Over 50,000 recordings have been made this year, and 100,000 are projected for 2010. Your donation will help the USO provide the cameras (many are wearing out from overuse)... the books… the DVDs and mailers... even the boxes of tissues that must be placed in every recording location.
Our men and women in uniform give up so much when they go off to war on our behalf. Please help the USO bring them a little closer to the loved ones left behind by supporting United Through Reading as generously as you can. On behalf of those we serve, Thank You!
Click here to go to the USO site for more information or to donate.
My husband, who was just in Iraq and returned in August, was just informed he got the choice of his next location for our PCS. For those of you not in the military, a PCS means Permanent Change of Station.
Now, you may think that the word choice means a lot but when you hear of the choices of the two locations, you will understand my not so happy thoughts:
- Iraq - 15 months
- Kuwait - 12 months
He will miss a very valuable year of our two year old's life since they grow and change so much and of course, he will miss out on our six year old as well. They are both daddy's girls.
Unfortunately, I'm not alone as since 9/11, 1.9 million men and women have deployed and 876,000 of those are parents. According to the Department of Defense, 245,000 have been deployed twice, 91,000 have been deployed three times and 48,000 have been deployed four or more times which the latter, is where my husband falls. He has served in Afghanistan, Iraq (twice) and Kuwait (not to mention his other assignments in Germany, Korea, etc).
I'm proud of my husband, all the men and women who have served their countries and to all the spouses, children and loved one's left behind to keep up the fort.
