Archive for the ‘Podcast’ Category
May 23, 2009 By Claire
Posted in Patriotism, Podcast, Spouse and Family
Join me Monday, Memorial Day (observed), at 1:00pm EST, for a special You Served Blog Talk Radio show.
Bob Parks, a Navy Veteran, owner of the website Black & Right.com, an “African American leader” according to the Washington Times, conservative activist, and co-founder of New Media Alliance Television will join us Monday to talk about Memorial Day, what it means to him and any how we can observe it respectfully.
Also joining me on the show is Jim Spiri. Jim and his wife of 35-years, Candi, are both Gold and Blue star parents. The Spiri’s lost their beloved son, 2nd Lieutenant Jesse James Spiri to a brain tumor. Lt. Spiri served in the USMC.
A battle with Tri-Care followed the death of their son that led them to Congress and the passing of the “2nd Lt. Jesse James Spiri Military Medical Coverage Act of 2004″ signed by former President George W. Bush, on November 25, 2003.
The Spiri’s youngest son joined the Army in 2000 and is currently serving in his 5th deployment. He is an Army Aviator flying CH47 helicopters. Jim and Candi have joined their son in Iraq on several occasions filling various jobs and roles. Jim traveled with the USMC Infantry and US Army Infantry as a combat photographer during the Surge.
Jim will join us and talk about the trips he has been on to Iraq, his love for America’s sons and daughters who are in harms way in that war zone, and what he is doing to try and go back again.
I also have a few Memorial Day write ups submitted by listeners and readers that I will read off at the end of the show.
It’s sure to be a great show! Please join us if you can. I will have the chat room open right before the show. I hope to see you there!
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May 8, 2009 By Claire
Posted in Podcast, Spouse and Family
Tomorrow, Saturday May 9th at 1:00pm (EST) I will air an interview with troop support wonder-worker, Ruth Ray! Ruth is a well deserving recipient of President Bush’s Volunteer Service Award. Ruth shares what life as a little girl during WWII was like while her father served, and the attitude of citizens then. She shares about the changes she saw in our culture to the current day. She talks about our troops with much love, affection and immense respect and support.
I know I am richer for having had the opportunity to hear her story, and you will be blessed too!
Tune in tomorrow at You Served Spouse and Family Blog Talk Radio, HERE. I am opening a chat room that will be visible 10 minutes before the show airs. Ruth plans on joining us in chat, and it’s sure to be a lively and fun time. Please join us as we celebrate our brave and wonderful troops, and congratulate Ruth for her outstanding years of giving.
Also, don’t forget to send in your shout outs to claire@kneedeepinthehooah.com I will read off your mother’s day greetings on the air.
Let me know your first name, military affiliation (retired, active, reserves, currently deployed, veteran, branch, spouse, child, etc), your mother’s first name, and a short message you would like for me to read on the air to her. I will read these at the close of the radio show on Saturday, so you can have mom listen then, or she can listen to the archived show on demand to hear your wish, salute or shout out to her on her special day!
I have received a handful, but I still have room for more.
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April 30, 2009 By Troy
Posted in Life in the Military, MilBlogger Interviews, Podcast
Tonight we will be catching up with film-maker and embedded freelance journalist/blogger, Scott Kesterson, live from Afghanistan. Scott’s film, At War, was just shown at the Annual Milblog Conference last weekend and is showing at the Buffalo-Niagara Film Festival this weekend. He has been out on missions the last few days and will be giving us a fresh perspective of how things are going on the front lines of the Global War on Terror.
We are also talking with Mark Baker, creator of the popular Army Times cartoon “PVT Murphy’s Law” (http://www.pvtmurphy.com/). Mark and CJ are old friends so it should be a good time to find out any dirt on CJ from the past. We will be talking about his very famous comic strip, the feedback he gets about it and how Murphy has grown over the years from a Private to a Sergeant.
Last but not least, Wesley Gray, author of “EMBEDDED: A Marine Corps Advisor Inside the Iraqi Army” will join CJ and Troy to talk about his book and the story he is trying to tell the world through this book.
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April 25, 2009 By Claire
Posted in Podcast, Spouse and Family
CONDUCT A LETTER WRITING CAMPAIGN FOR OPERATION GRATITUDE
American troops are deployed in hostile and remote regions of the world, including the Middle East, Afghanistan, Africa and on ships throughout international waters. The physical conditions they must endure are difficult and they may be separated from loved ones for long periods of time. OPERATION GRATITUDE seeks to lift troops’ morale, and bring a smile to their faces by sending care packages addressed to individual service members deployed overseas. These care packages contain food, toiletries, entertainment items, and personal letters of appreciation, all wrapped with good wishes of love and support.
Operation Gratitude sends 100,000+ packages per year.
PURPOSE
The purpose of a ‘Letters to Heroes’ letter writing campaign is to provide quality, heartfelt letters to include in each Operation Gratitude care package.
HEART
The Heart of this program is to bring a smile to the faces of the Service Members who receive and
read the letters and cards.
WHAT TO WRITE ABOUT
Be thankful ~~ share a little bit of yourself with them. Ask questions (but not about death or killing).
Avoid politics completely and religion in excess. Saying you pray for them is OK – don’t over do it.
It’s all about heart, appreciation and respect.
Ask yourself: “Will this letter bring a smile to someone’s face?”
BE CREATIVE
Involve your whole organization or school ~ award prizes for the most letters turned in. Students or group members can conduct their own campaign with family and friends. Feel free to include your child’s artwork, but bear in mind our boxes are only 8″ x 10″ so please keep them under that size to avoid folding.
Please avoid glitter.
MORE HELPFUL INFORMATION
No stamps are needed. ~~ Do not seal the envelopes.
Sample salutations include: Dear Service Member, Dear Hero, Dear Brave One, etc.
Please include your own contact information (mail or email) so recipients can choose to reply.
A self addressed envelope included with the letter is thoughtful… no stamps needed.
Hand Written letters or cards with nice notes are most appreciated.
All letters will be screened by Operation Gratitude, so don’t seal them.
Don’t be concerned about how many you send, but about the heart in each letter.
If you do not receive a reply, don’t be discouraged – remember they are busy.
WHERE TO SEND
OPERATION GRATITUDE
16444 Refugio Road
Encino, California 91436
For more information: www.operationgratitude.com
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April 24, 2009 By Claire
Posted in Podcast, Spouse and Family
Tomorrow I will be airing an interview with Operation Gratitude Founder Carolyn Blashek along with service member volunteer SSG Cowie and Blue Star mom Marty Martin. SSG Cowie saw the morale building of Operation Gratitude box delivery up close during a tour in Iraq, and Marty Martin recalls her son’s report of how Operation Gratitude touched the Sailors he was deployed with. Many have been touched by this wonderful, Troop supporting organization. To date Operation Gratitude has mailed out over 417,000+ care packages to Iraq and Afghanistan as well as other places our service members are deployed. Nearly a half-million packages sent and counting!
Join us at 1:00pm EDT, to hear Carolyn’s story about what compelled her to support the troops in both word and deed tomorrow HERE at the Show Homepage. I will have a chat room open, but the folks from Operation Gratitude will not be able to join us for the chat session. They will be… well, packing boxes tomorrow!
and, if you would like more information about Operation Gratitude visit their Home Page HERE.
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April 16, 2009 By Troy
Posted in Podcast, Why We Serve
Tonight on You Served Radio, we will be talking with Ed Darack, Author of the new book Victory Point which tells the enthralling and much broader story of Operation Red Wings and the follow-up mission, Operation Whalers. Missions that ultimately led to enabling free elections in Afghanistan.
We will also be speaking with Pete Hegseth, Chairman of Vets For Freedom. He will be on to discuss how contrary to the Administration’s rhetoric, the President’s budget request does NOT grow our military to meet the needs of our obligations. In addition to that we will be talking with Pete about the recently leaked DHS report classifying returning war veterans as possible terrorists.
Last by not least, we will talk with Eric from Tygrrr Express blog, who will talk about his new book “Ideological Bigotry.”
All of that plus our new special feature of starting the show with the Pledge of Allegiance from a very awesome group of kids. Of course, there will also be no shortage of Troy and CJ ranting about many other military related topics, and playing of some new music by bands stepping up to support America’s Military.
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April 9, 2009 By Troy
Posted in Podcast, Spouse and Family, Veteran Benefits
Tonight we’re speaking with Eli Williamson who is the Executive Director of “Leave No Veteran Behind” (www.leavenoveteranbehind.org). They are a 501(c)(3) non-profit service run by veterans that works to relieve the educational debt of veterans who are serving and have served in the US Military.
Currently, many service members who receive higher education during, before, or after their service have to take out costly loans to pay for their education. While there are military educational programs that help relieve this educational debt, not all veterans are covered under these programs. Leave No Veteran Behind addresses this issue by taking private donations and applying them directly to veterans’ student loan accounts. After receiving aid veterans are required to give back 100 hours of community service. “While our main goal is to give veterans what they deserve; free access to an education, we also want to allow these same veterans the ability to give back to their community. Providing them educational debt relief will remove any roadblocks that may impact their ability to use the skills that they learned in the military and higher education to improve the lives of others.”
We will also be talking with Brittany McKee who is a military spouse and also works for the Sierra Club. She will be discussing the world premiere of a new documentary called Red, White & Green at the DC Environmental Film Festival. The film highlights children of military families as our nation’s youngest heroes and showcases the benefits of outdoor experiences. The documentary shows the journey of military kids who came together last summer at Operation Purple® summer camps, which are designed to provide a bit of brief outdoor respite and support-building for military kids dealing with the deployment of a parent. The film tells moving stories of kids learning to cope with a parent’s deployment, and also highlights the ways in which the healing power of nature helps the children grow and bond. Together with the National Military Family Association, they will provide over 9000 military kids with a free week of summer camp at over 60 different week-long camps across the country this summer. http://www.dcenvironmentalfilmfest.org/films.php?FilmID=362
So be sure and join CJ and Troy tonight at www.blogtalkradio.com/youserved for another jam-packed and exciting show.
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March 26, 2009 By Troy
Posted in Podcast, Why We Serve
Tonight on You Served Radio we will be talking with freelance and war-front embedded journalist P.J. Tobia. P.J. wrote the Washington Post Article (http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/12/12/AR2008121203291.html) exposing the article-32 hearing and the grave injustices being imposed on CPT Hill and 1SG Scott.
We are also talking with NY National Guard SGM, Dave Oliver. Dave joined the regular army in 1985 as an Infantryman. He served four years, two in Germany and two in Georgia. After he left active duty, he joined the New York Army National Guard. Dave has served as a infantry team leader, squad leader, scout platoon section leader, scout platoon sergeant, infantry platoon sergeant, first sergeant and operations sergeant major. Since 9-11 he has deployed for six homeland security missions to include Operation Noble Eagle and Operation Jump Start. In addition Dave has served two tours of duty for Operation Enduring Freedom. This last deployment he served as the Afghan National Police Development Sergeant Major for the Combined Security Transition Command-Afghanistan.
In addition to talking with all these tough guys we will be talking with one soft lady, who supports tough guys. Gina Elise from www.pinupsforvets.com will talk to CJ and Troy about what great things she is doing to benefit our troops with the gifts God has given her.
It is not a show to miss, so be sure to tell your friends, family and co-workers to tune in to www.blogtalkradio.com/youserved at 8PM EST.
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March 19, 2009 By Troy
Posted in Podcast
On tonight’s show we will be talking to and getting an update from Andi (www.spousebuzz.com) on how the milblog conference (April 24-25th) is coming along.
Also we will be talking with Afghanistan and Iraq vet Mike Jones. Mike was a Company Commander on the ground during Operation Anaconda and served with last week’s guest Brandon Friedman. Mike has recognized the stresses that combat puts on our men and women today, in addition to the stresses put on the family members of those that must share the house of the veteran. This recognition has motivated him to start the website www.notalone.com.
As per the Notalone.com website “Not Alone began with the idea of creating a space for warriors and families dealing with combat stress to come together, where they can spend time with others and start the healing process.”
In addition to those great guests CJ and Troy will be talking about several hot topics in the news this week, to include but not limited to; The ending of the Stop Loss policy, the repeal of the Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell policy, and other hot topics that come to mind.
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March 5, 2009 By Troy
Posted in Podcast
Tonight, starting at 7PM EST, we will speak with Jesse Loren, editor of Bombshells: War Stories and Poems by Women On The Homefront. We’ll also speak with Missy Martin, who wrote one of the stories in the book, along with her brother who just returned from Iraq. Clint Van Winkle, author of “Soft Spots: A Marine’s Memoir of Combat and Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder”. SOFT SPOTS moves effortlessly back and forth across time and continents as war scenes in reality are intermixed with war ravages remembered. Van Winkle desperately sought help from the Veteran’s Administration, but each trip to a VA facility would be another maddening adventure into bureaucratic red tape and ineptitude. He discovered it was an indifferent system that gives lip service about their concern for veterans but in reality seems to abandon them.
We hope you join us at www.blogtalkradio.com/youserved
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