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November 6, 2009 By CJ
Posted in Uncategorized
The Way We Get By, the awesome documentary that we publicized on our radio show a few months ago, will have its national premiere on PBS Veterans Day November 11th at 9pm.
On call 24 hours a day for the past five years, a group of senior citizens has made history by greeting nearly 900,000 American troops at a tiny airport in Bangor, Maine. The Way We Get By is an intimate look at three of these greeters as they confront the universal losses that come with aging and rediscover their reason for living. Bill Knight, Jerry Mundy and Joan Gaudet find the strength to overcome their personal battles and transform their lives through service. This inspirational and surprising story shatters the stereotypes of today’s senior citizens as the greeters redefine the meaning of community.
You can view the trailer here: http://www.pbs.org/pov/waywegetby/
This film already has support from a number of organizations, including Serve.gov, the USO and Operation Homefront. The film demonstrates how important it is to support our troops, and puts a very human face on those who are deployed and returning. I hope that you will tune-in to the PBS broadcast or watch the film online. You won’t be sorry!!
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Read more about VA Loans and VA Benefits programs on our main site. Thanks for reading!
By Claire
Posted in Military News, Spouse and Family
Soldier’s Angels was on top of things. This was posted to Facebook yesterday — please do what you can.
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Soldiers’ Angels is assessing the needs and–with our founder currently residing in Texas–standing by to offer physical and emotional support to our heroes and their families at Fort Hood.
RIGHT NOW: Collecting encouraging notes and NEW stuffed animals for the families and children of the injured or killed. Please send cards/letters and stuffed animals (and anything NEW that may brighten the life of a child) to:
Soldiers’ Angels
4408 PanAm Expressway
San Antonio, TX 78218
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By Troy
Posted in MilBlogger Interviews, Video
This is a great interview with someone who is a leading force in the financial blog world and has been a guest speaker at Blog World Expo for three years now. Even after being there three years, this was his first introduction to milblogging and his first time attending the milblog panels. Zac and I talked a lot about how bloggers and milbloggers could help educate each other.
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By Claire
Posted in Spouse and Family
The post office has posted the APO mailing schedule. If you want to get those packages out on time, follow the guide below. We know there’s never a guarantee, but normally if you follow the calendar your package will arrive in time for the Holidays.
Click to view larger image
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November 5, 2009 By Troy
Posted in MilBlogger Interviews
8:20:07 PM: Talking with SFC Greg Stube, http://bit.ly/1Nd8JS
8:22:06 PM: New blog entry: 110509 You Served Show http://bit.ly/1Y6GmC
8:24:04 PM: SFC Stube was hit with an IED, and lost his intestine’s part of his leg and was severly wounded and shot up
8:24:35 PM: The medevac could not get him out for a couple of hours after he was wouded
8:29:43 PM: SFC Stube has had 17 surgeries over 3 years
8:38:37 PM: SFC Stube still hunts and fishes ever after wounded
8:41:45 PM: “Serve something greater than yourself” SFC Stube
8:49:15 PM: Now talking to Tom Neely from Bridge of Sighs, http://www.bosband.com
8:51:24 PM: Steven Crowder is a stand up comedian and is touring with BOS before the show
8:52:01 PM: Tom said he was prepared to drink with the Marines and soldiers this time
9:08:36 PM: Now listening to Bridge of Sighs song, Freedom Stain
9:22:56 PM: Troy and Marcus are chatting
9:31:43 PM: We are talking about the shootings at Ft. Hood
9:45:22 PM: Talking to @TammyMunson who is the current On Loan blogger at YouServed.com
9:45:49 PM: @TammyMunson is a army spouse blogger who’s husband is deployed in Afghanistan
9:59:33 PM: Listening to Mark Wills as the outro musi
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By Troy
Posted in Charities/Contests, You Served Radio
We here at You Served Blog and Radio are always auctioning items off on the You Served eBay store to help raise money for military charities. The great and popular band Smile Empty Soul who we had as a guest on the radio show a few weeks ago has donated many items to the show to help raise money from signed CDs to T-shirts to posters. The one big thing they donated, which is by far the biggest thing we have ever had on our eBay store is a Schecter Black Omen guitar signed by all the members of the band. This guitar lists for $399.00 retail, when it is not signed by such an awesome band. This one has a starting bid of $99.00 and we hope will go up from there.
The proceeds from this guitar are going 100% to the Valour-IT program which is run by Soldiers’ Angels.
Please check out http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=320445244585 to see the item and make a bid.
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By CJ
Posted in Veteran Benefits
On Tuesday, November 10, at 8:30AM EST, the Call of Duty Endowment (CODE), a non-profit public benefit corporation whose mission is to help soldiers transition to civilian careers, will host a launch breakfast and press conference at the Newseum in Washington, DC. A major grant announcement and new partnership will also be unveiled.
Recent trends show that America’s veterans are facing a new adversary – unemployment. According to figures from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, there are more than 500,000 unemployed veterans between the ages of 18 and 64 in the United States.
WHO:Bobby Kotick, Activision Blizzard CEO
CODE Advisory Council Members: MG Matthew P. Caulfield (USMC-Ret.), COL Roger Dimsdale (USA-Ret.), RADM Ronne Froman (USN-Ret.), CPT Gordon H. Mansfield (USA-Ret.), BG James A. “Spider” Marks (USA-Ret.), GEN Montgomery C. Meigs (USA-Ret.), SFC Steve Robinson (USA-Ret.), BG Harry A. Sieben, Jr. (USANG-Ret.), MG Craig Whelden (USA-Ret.), MCPO Maurice Wilson (USN-Ret.)
WHAT:Breakfast & Press Conference (Program to begin at 9:00 AM)
WHEN: Tuesday, November 10th at 8:30 AM EST
WHERE:The Newseum
555 Pennsylvania Ave, NW
Washington, DC 20001
**Breakfast will be provided
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By Troy
Posted in MilBlogger Interviews, Video
The video below is an interview that was conducted on the 2009 Blog World Expo show floor with the guys from the famous Chad Vadar Internet video series (http://www.blamesociety.net/chadvader/index.php). It may be somewhat hard to hear Troy at first, but the audio gets better. As you will hear, Chad’s voice is very clear. These guys are hilarious so be sure to check out their website and watch some of their videos.
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November 4, 2009 By Claire
Posted in Spouse and Family
The following annoucnement is from the Army’s Stand-To blog:
Military Family Appreciation Month: “Honoring the sacrifices of the military family”
What is it?
Military Family Appreciation Month is a time to honor the sacrifices of our military families. Army families of Active, Guard, Reserve, veterans, and retirees are giving back in a time of need and sustain and support the Soldiers who defend our Nation. Army Families are Army Strong.
What has the Army done?
Throughout the month of November, Army families serving around the world are being honored through a variety of observances and are being recognized for the commitment and contributions they make every day. Efforts to recognize the sacrifices of the Army family by Active, Guard, and Reserve leaders are being joined and supported by DoD organizations to include the Army Air Force Exchange Service, Defense Commissary Agency, and others. In coordination with the Office of the Chief of Public Affairs, U.S. Army Entertainment, and the Army Multimedia Visual Information Directorate, a music video is being produced featuring the song “Life of a Soldier,” written and performed by Spc. Daniel Jens (America’s Got Talent) and Sgt 1st Class Sean Bennett (Nashville Star). The song is dedicated to Army families world-wide.
What continued efforts does the Army have planned for the future?
Through Army Family Covenant commitments, the Army will continue to build trust and confidence that the Army cares for Soldiers and families. At all levels, we will continue to recognize the continued support and sacrifices Army families make every day, knowing that the strength of our Soldiers comes from the strength of their families, and sustaining Soldiers is critical to sustaining an all-volunteer force. Through the commitments represented by the Army Family Covenant, the Army will continue to standardize and fund existing family programs and services, increase accessibility and quality of health care, improve Soldier and family housing, increase excellence in schools, youth services and child care, expand education and employment opportunities for family members, and continue to provide families a strong, supportive environment where they can thrive.
Why is it important to the Army?
Army families are important as the strength of our Soldiers comes from the strength of their families. They are a vital connection between Soldiers and the Army’s ability to remain strong. All Army families, Active, Guard, Reserve, veterans and retirees are giving back in this time of need. With thousands of Soldiers deployed, recognizing the daily sacrifices made by Army families has never been more important.
Resources:
My Army One Source
Army Entertainment
Defense Commissary Agency
Army Air Force Exchange Service
Army National Guard
Army Reserve
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By Claire
Posted in Military News, Spouse and Family
I know this has been on the table for sometime — it started a couple of years ago.
ALEXANDRIA, Va., Nov. 3 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ — Military Officers Association of America (MOAA)President Vice Admiral Norb Ryan, Jr., USN-Ret, praised Congress for its action to approve the Military Spouse Residency Relief Act and send it to the President for signature into law.
“MOAA is proud to have worked with congressional leaders for two years on this important legislation to allow military spouses the option to elect the same state of domicile as their active duty spouse,” said Ryan. “We’re grateful for the leadership of Rep. John Carter (R-TX) for shepherding it to a successful vote in the House of Representatives on Nov. 2, and to Senators Richard Burr (R-NC) and Diane Feinstein (D-CA) for their efforts to win Senate approval earlier this fall. Their bipartisan efforts will make a huge difference for military spouses.”
The new legislation would let the spouse claim the servicemember’s state for voting, tax, and other purposes. Under current law, many spouses must change their residency when the servicemember is reassigned to a different state.
“This is fantastic news for our service families worldwide,” said Rep. Carter. “We should have done this long ago, but at least we are now on track to have a new law in 2009.”
“This legislation is one small way we can help ease the burden of military families, who make sacrifices everyday to support our men and women in uniform and to keep our country safe,” said Senator Burr.
“What a great way to kick off Military Family Appreciation Month,” said Joy Dunlap, MOAA’s Deputy Director of Government Relations. “Our thanks go to all the spouses and servicemembers – past and present – who spoke out on this issue.”
MOAA’s president spoke at the bill’s introductory press conference, and provided testimony, briefings, e-mails and phone calls to Hill staffers. Most recently, MOAA highlighted every legislator’s support status in the November issue of its Military Officer magazine.
SOURCE Military Officers Association of America
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