July 6, 2007 By You Served Editorial Staff
Posted in Charities/Contests
How many push ups can you do? C’mon, if you’re a military guy or gal we know you’ve had to do your fair share. Now’s your chance to bring home some money for it.
That’s right, show You Served your push up prowess through our new Push Up Contest and you can win prizes totalling $300.
The rules are simple: make a video of yourself doing the most push ups you can muster and submit it to our contest here. The person who can complete the most full push ups without stopping wins the big prize!
This isn’t a race either - it’s not “push ups per minute”, it’s total push ups without stopping. Most push ups receives $200, 2nd place will get $100.
You can upload your video directly or by using YouTube, iFilm, or any other online video source below. Submit to You Served before July 20th and we’ll announce the winner on July 24th.
You can contact us with any questions at blog@vamortgagecenter.com.
Good luck,
You Served Editorial Staff
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July 5, 2007 By CJ
Posted in Guest Blogger, Military News
Definition: A traitor who turns against his or her own country to serve an invader. But what constitutes a traitor to a Soldier?
You hear from both sides they “support the troops”. Yet they both have overwhelmingly different methods of showing it. As a Soldier, I cannot stand hearing from people that supporting the troops means bringing them home before the mission is over. There is a group called Bring Them Home Now who sends out postcards that say “give the troops real support…bring them home now!” Presidential hopeful Barrack Obama even stooped so low as to say that “over three thousand lives of the bravest young Americans [were] wasted” in Iraq. Really? Wasted?
Tell that to “Kindi Girl”. This 13-year old little girl was being harassed and threatened with rape before American Soldiers stepped in to catch the men making the verbal assaults against her. One of those young troops died in a roadside bomb, but that little girl is now 15 years old. Was that Soldier’s life wasted? She wouldn’t think so. Who knows how many other countless “Kindi Girls” had been saved by that Soldier? Soldiers gladly lay down their lives in defense of the defenseless.
Many politicians on both sides of the aisle lately have begun to get worn out by the constant “bring them home now” drumbeat. Convinced that “we cannot win”, even our own government is admitting defeat. We are signaling to the terrorists that our resolve is weak and our will bending. Sen. John McCain recently asked Gen. Patraeus a very poignant question:
“Suppose that we send additional troops and we tell those troops, ‘we support you, but we are convinced you cannot accomplish your mission… we do not support the mission we are sending you on’? What effect does that have on morale of the troops?”
No one should be surprised that the General’s response was, ““It would not be a beneficial effect, sir.” Absolutely not.
The anti-war movement has it all wrong. They want to support us by “getting us out of harm’s way”. The job of a Soldier is inherently dangerous. The mere task of peacetime training is “harmful”, but so is riding my motorcycle on the highways of DC. Should we put an end to that as well? If we never put Soldiers in harm’s way, this country would not be here today. By putting Soldiers in harm’s way, we ended slavery and allowed minorities more opportunities than ever before. By putting Soldiers in harm’s way, we defeated communism and defeated the Japanese.
As much as I love my life, I knew what I got myself into when I signed that little pink form. We are an armed force. We train to kill for a living. We train to survive attempts at killing us. And we train for the unwanted event wherein one of us is killed. It’s expected that in combat SOMEONE is going to die. I accepted death three times in Iraq and survived. But, I didn’t ask to come home after each life-altering event. The progress being made in Iraq and the seeds being planted in the Middle East are well worth the more than 3000 service members that have paid that ultimate price. That is a difficult to statement to make, but I make it as a Soldier who has experienced combat, who has lost friends, and who almost lost his own life on more than one occasion. I would rather I didn’t lose ONE Soldier. But, I recognize that it is an unrealistic desire.
The purpose of combat is to kill the enemy. To the American people, the enemy is the terrorists. The enemy kills indiscriminately without regard for combatant/non-combatant, parent/child, innocent/guilty. Their purpose is to spread their brand of hatred and if it takes 50% of our national budget to defeat that enemy, we should accept it without reservation and do everything in our favor to support it.
We support our troops’ efforts of defeating these religious zealots by writing letters and cards of encouragement to our troops in combat; not by marching through the streets shouting down our President. We support our troops by honoring their sacrifice; not by creating mock funerals decked out with flag-draped coffins and little white crosses. We support our troops by sending care packages; not by sending legislation before Congress that defunds our efforts and establishes artificial withdrawal timelines. The timelines will be drawn then one side wins or one side loses. If we have “lost” this war in Iraq, who has won? I wish one of these big mouth, quisling-like politicians would tell us that. And if they are saying that the terrorists won, isn’t that the very definition of a Quisling?
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July 3, 2007 By CJ
Posted in Guest Blogger
What better time to start my regular presence here at VAMC than on the anniversary of when we became a nation?! I’ve signed on to be a regular blogger as I transition from one duty station to another. I’ll take you through the stresses of moving on the Soldier and military family.
Continue reading this post…
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July 2, 2007 By You Served Editorial Staff
Posted in Life in the Military
With the war halfway through its fourth year, wives across the nation are being affected by long and multiple deployments. All the time apart, not to mention the related stress, can leave wives feeling lonely and saddened. Add on the stresses of work and motherhood, and sometimes things may seem too much to handle for a Military Wife. That is where sites like Solo-Ops.com come in.
Solo-Ops provides a wealth of resources for military wives. There is a forum where women can network, seek advice or simply find a friend to chat with. In the store, wives can buy military-related jewelry and clothing to show their support and pride. They can also pick up a copy of founder Hilary Martin’s book Solo-Ops: A Survival Guide for Military Wives, which was the inspiration for the website. There is also a photo gallery where women can share treasured pictures and a links page for sharing interesting sites.
Other personal touches to the site, such as a world clock letting women know what time it is in Baghdad and a Christmas countdown, can help women through the everyday struggles. Visitors to Solo-Ops can look forward to a new site design and new features in the next 2 months.
Read on to see our interview with site founder and webmaster, Hilary Martin….
1. Tell us a little about yourself and how you got started with the site.
Martin: I actually started the site in order to promote the book and it kind of snowballed. Now the site is bigger than the book. I was an Army brat and was surprised when I married my husband that my peers didn’t have the same understanding about the military that I do. That’s why I wrote the book– I wanted to help people gain that understanding which other books didn’t seem to provide.
I also felt like the other sites I visited didn’t inform people, but rather only provided them with a forum to complain about things and maybe if they were lucky get info from a peer. The goal with our forum was really to provide a place for answers AND support. Hence the “survival” part of the book and the website. It was really meant to be like a “Swiss army knife” for military wife-dom.
At this point the book has taken a back seat to running the site and most of the people on the site are completely unaware that there ever was a book. I met wonderful people online who have helped me run that site almost from day 1 and it has been a really nice experience for me.
2. What are some of the more common issues and challenges faced by military wives?
Martin: You know there are a lot of unique situations, just as there are with all families. The most common of course are the ones in which the military presents special challenges. Its not unusual for a wife to have to deal with shared custody of her husbands child from a previous relationship… but it IS unique when the husband is in Iraq and the two women are forced to deal with the situation alone.
The other I would say is just being overwhelmed and confused by the military in general. It’s hard to get thrown into a completely different lifestyle that you never even knew existed. I am amazed that we now have Lifetime’s “Army Wives” which is not true to life; however, I think it raises awareness enough that it will now be less of a culture shock for new inductees…
3. In what ways do you see forums and other types of support systems helping military wives?
Martin: I think forums in general are helping people. The internet revolution has really made information and support readily available and easy to find for everyone and it has been doing so for a few years now. I think its very exciting that if you are doing a military move you can jump online and not only find information about military moves, but also find people who have DONE them and can give you real life advice about them.
4. What is the number one piece of advice you would give to a military wife?
Martin: Don’t sweat the small stuff. When the military throws you a ton of crap every day and your husband could be sent away for years at a time, what use is it spending your time together arguing over the toilet seat? I think gaining perspective like that can actually help a marriage immeasurably.
Appreciating your spouse and your life, being thankful for small things that you DO have, etc, these are all things you can gain even from a negative experience with the military. And when you don’t have a choice about stuff it seems like the best thing to do is try to get something positive out of it.
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