Author Archives: Claire

We had this discussion just recently here at You Served, HERE and HERE. It has happened again. This time it’s not a spouse.  What can the military do to block the leaks? This time the widow got a message to call someone in the unit and when she called she was told of the death. She was home alone with her children. They posted there was an emergency on her Facebook page. *Face-Palm*

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COLUMBUS, Ohio -Ariell Taylor-Brown learned her husband, the father of her two daughters, was killed in Afghanistan last week when another soldier from his unit posted on her Facebook page that there was an emergency.

“I was told via Facebook,” said Taylor-Brown. “It was a girl in his platoon. She wrote to me and told me to call her immediately,” Taylor-Brown said.

Taylor-Brown called her, and the soldier told her of the death. Taylor-Brown, who has two children and is pregnant with the couple’s third was at home alone with the kids.

“She told me over the phone, right in front of my kids and I completely had a meltdown. She wasn’t supposed to but I guess she took it on her own power to do it,” she said.

Hours later, two soldiers arrived at her home in Mobile, Ala., but she knew about it already. Standard procedure is for the Army to be the first to notify the family through messengers who come to the house.

“It was a horrible way for me to find out. She didn’t even give me a chance. I could have been driving and I could have harmed myself learning this,” Taylor-Brown said. SOURCE LINK

Image courtesy NBC4

I wanted to share this great resource. I know the folks at VOW personally and I know they always strive to bring high quality people onto their show. This particular show caught my eye. It airs tonight. I would not ask you to give up listening to the show here at You Served tonight at 7pm, so I am going to give you some information about the show and then you can listen to the archive later. Deal? Deal. Continue reading →

April is fast approaching and along with Easter, April Showers, Springtime fun, and all that jazz, comes the Month of the Military Child!  If you are looking for a fun way to honor your military child(ren) then check out this free offer from Blue Star Families:

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Throughout their lives, our military kids endure a lot. They attend multiple schools, sometimes moving mid-school year, they deal with a parent coming and going on a regular basis to both stateside and deployed locations, and they make new friends and leave old friends repeatedly. That’s a lot for anyone to deal with, especially a young child or teenager. We ask a lot of our military kids, and they adapt and bounce back to grow and thrive in the face of adversity and change.

April is a special time set aside for us as a nation to recognize our military children as we honor them throughout the Month of the Military Child. They are just as deserving of the adoration that we give their parents in uniform as they serve side by side with their family.

Blue Star Families and Operation Appreciation would like to provide all of our military families and service members the opportunity to recognize their outstanding military children through our Outstanding Military Child/Teen Award Certificates. Service members are often recognized with certificates and medals for their outstanding service, and we at Blue Star Families would like to provide the opportunity for the outstanding military children in our lives to receive that same recognition. We want our children to be able to hang their own certificate on the wall along with those of their parents.

Every military child is eligible for this award. We want for every military family to tell their child how outstanding and important they are!

Click HERE to order your certificate. 

Photo courtesy Herald Post

Seeing all of the great welcome home pictures being posted here at You Served lately reminded me of my son’s first time back in the states after being in Iraq. It wasn’t his redeployment time, but his time on leave. It was a 15-month deployment so mid-way through already felt like a small eternity.

I did the motherly thing (and the thing that a lot of milspouses do)… I got a banner made to welcome him home. Now for the rest of the story. I had it all planned out. He would walk down the ramp at the airport and would be greeted by his loving family, all waving little flags and cheering him on. What really happened was his plane was early (like that is every supposed to happen!!), I was running late, my youngest who was 3 at the time, was in a really foul mood and wouldn’t let me dress her, and I missed his landing.

So instead of actually using the banner, I ran down the hall to baggage claim at the airport and burst into tears and hugged his neck when I saw him. Then I showed him the banner.  Continue reading →

This event takes place March 28th, but the deadline to register is March 20th. This is not just for spouses, but for Veterans as well. Let us know if you are planning on going! I would love to hear about it!

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The U.S. Chamber of Commerce’s Hiring Our Heroes Military Spouse Hiring Fair scheduled for March 28, 2012 at Club Hood is committed to making this one-of–a-kind FREE hiring fair a win-win for employers and veteran/military spouse job seekers.

This hiring event, sponsored by Capital One and the Fort Hood Officers’ Spouse Club, is being conducted by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, Killeen Chamber of Commerce, Fort Hood, Texas, Fort Hood Enlisted Spouses Club, U.S. Army Morale, 3rd Corps, Welfare and Recreation, Club Hood, Fort Hood ACAP Center, the U.S. Department of Labor Veterans’ Employment and Training Services (DOL VETS), Employer Support of the Guard and Reserve (ESGR), and the United States Army Reserve.

March 28, 2012 
7:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m.
Club Hood - Bldg. 5764
24th St. & Wainwright Dr
Ft. Hood, TX  76544

Registration

• Job seekers, click here.
• Employers, click here.
• Registration for employers and job seekers closes March 20, 2012
• Click here to view the event flyer.

For more information, please contact Hiring Our Heroes at hiringourheroes@uschamber.com

There is a good discussion going on at SpouseBzz right now about notification and who is to blame for the very horrible and grievous situation of a spouse being notified of her husband’s death via text message/facebook.

When a person receives information like the death of a spouse it is very important that he/she be notified officially for many reasons — one just being the plain decency and respect that a personal, face to face notification offers. The second being the immediate shock the person faces and making sure he/she is secure or has someone who can come and be with the family. I don’t always understand military protocol, but this one seems to be a pretty, painfully, obvious one.

I am a boundary loving person. One boundary I draw in my own life is an understanding of the difference between blame and responsibility. We can point the finger of blame at social media and living in a world where anything can be said at nearly the speed of light, but the responsibility of what is actually put out there lays on the shoulders of the human being behind the keyboard. Regardless of intent. Intent does not erase responsibility.

I have never even been close to facing the pain and grief this young military widow is facing, but I also faced a breach of notification when DBS was hurt in training. It was about the time he was in recovery from surgery, and I had not been notified yet (he was at Ft. Benning and I was in TN).  I got an email from a fellow OCS Candidate’s fiance. She went on about how sorry she was for what happened and she heard his surgery went well, etc. etc.

I remember literally shutting the computer down and walking away. I was in shock. I could barely remember what she said in the email and I was numb … about 10 minutes later I rebooted my computer and with trembling hands I re-opened the email and called her immediately asking her (forgive my language) “What in the living hell are you talking about woman!”

She was embarrassed and apologized. I was livid and in shock. Blessedly his surgery did go well and we got through it all. If notification like that was such a shock about an injury in training I can not even imagine getting a notification of death.

What’s your opinion on the matter? How can this be prevented in the future? Do you think it will happen more, the more we become connected?

Act of Valor is being released this Friday. It is being haled as a military masterpiece, and rightfully so. It sounds like a wonderful movie filled with real American Heroes. I won’t be going to see it with my guys . I did do a super cool thing though and set up a ‘dudes’ day out’ for the guys. A steak, a beer and a good movie they can’t wait to see? They know who loves them!

My not attending is not a statement or a protest at all. It is just the simple fact that I can not watch modern warfare movies as a Blue Star parent. It’s too hard. It’s too close to home. I am too empathetic and the movies are too realistic. I know there are many other Blue Star parents who feel the same, and many others who are able to sort it out enough to go and enjoy the movie. I think it all depends on where you are emotionally. I am writing this for the other moms and dads who can not see it out of the fear of falling apart in the theater. Continue reading →

My Valentine is home, but I have many friends and loved ones whose Valentines are overseas or out in the field today. I wanted to post a few sentiments I found doing a search. If your sweetheart is at home with you today or if he or she is thousands of miles away, I hope that you both get to find a way to remind the other how much you love one another. Yes, we should do it daily, but isn’t it nice that we have an excuse to lavish each other with a little extra love on a given day?

Here are a few I found from various sources (Links to the sources are the end). Do you have a special poem you have written? If so, please share it in the comment section.

Red roses, chocolate, and champagne,
Are not enough for me,
My Lord, I need protection
For my Valentine at sea.

My Valentine is far away
Serving in Iraq,
No flowers, chocolate, candy hearts,
Please Lord, just bring him back.

I share my love with all the world,
She’s stationed in Iraq,
Please keep her in your thoughts and prayers,
Ask God to bring her back.
Continue reading →

Are any of you planning on attending? I am a day away from where it’s being held. I really need to find an excuse to be there! It looks like a wonderful event and they are still open for registration. Let me know if you go! I would love interview anyone who does attend!

Join us March 2-3 for the 2012 Spouse Summit in Arlington, VA!

Military.com’s Spouse Summit is a first-of-its kind event aimed at informing and empowering military spouses. The Summit brings together Subject Matter Experts to address the most pressing issues facing military families today. Whether it’s learning how to overcome obstacles that stand in the way of career or education goals, or how the state of the economy could affect military pay and benefits, the 2012 Spouse Summit will cover the substantive issues which are crucial to maintaining the mental, physical and financial health of our military families.

Brought to you by the team responsible for the highly successful MilBlog Conference and SpouseBUZZ LIVE events, the Military Spouse Summit promises to be a must-attend event for military spouses.

CLICK HERE TO REGISTER

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