Remember when you could get matchbooks of all kinds on base or post? There were some colorful, some olive drab (not like we didn’t have enough of that to wear), and some said what you were all about.

My Mom loved to collect matchbooks. A very good friend of the family, a US Marine Colonel, loved to collect all kinds of bottles - mostly ones holding alcohol. A trade started that lasted a life time.

I remember stories of what Colonel Benedict went through during WWII. I remember his HUGE bushy eyebrows! And I remember how kind he was and how much he and his wife cared about my Mom and Dad, and our whole family. Their conversations would go on for hours when they came over for dinner.

Colonel Benedict passed many years ago. I remember going with my Dad to their house in “The City” to help his wife get the old Impala running so she could sell it. And, we walked through his old study, and I saw all the bottles and trains he collected. I could still hear his booming voice and his soft grip when he’d shake my hand - he didn’t want to crush my hand ya know!

Here’s a little something from a box my Mom left me after she passed this year. So, in memory of Colonel Benedict, and my Mom, a little USMC Officers’ Training Corps matchbook:

I’ve got TONS of these. I’m gonna drop them on ya, every so often. If any of these “strike” a memory, or make you think of someone you know, drop me a note!

Without passion, we have no path. Without commitment, we have no honor. Without conviction, we have lost our way. Without faith, we have surrendered our soul. Without duty, we have forfeited our “six”. Without reverence, we have no passion.

So ask yourselves, without these, what have you? And, what will become of our great country, The United States of America?

[Thanks, Amy and Johnny, for the muse - the words just fell out.]

“Atlas doesn’t shrug, Atlas heaves with cries of agony at our myopia.”

DoD DVIDS Photo by Spc. Ferdinand Thomas, 214th MPAD, Richmond, VA

Your freedom to hate the US Military,
Your freedom to vilify those prosecuting the Global War on Terror,
Your freedom to burn Old Glory, our standard, the banner of freedom,
Your freedom to key my truck because you hate my showing pride in my service,
Your freedom to be born and later carelessly take the life of the unborn,
Your freedom to feel guilt for your own success because others are not,
Your freedom to stand in awe of this great country,

This is your freedom, paid for by 480,000 servicemembers being honored at the WWII Memorial in Washington D.C. Each star represents 100 souls and the memorial has 4,800 stars.

DoD DVIDS Photo by Spc. Ferdinand Thomas, 214th MPAD, Richmond, VA

Will you continue to disrespect this man, someone’s Dad, someone’s GrandPa, someone who truly knows what freedom means? Can you take for granted, with all you have today, the freedom this man’s brothers in arms sacrificed? Are you so bent on being right that you have forgotten the fact that previous governments and regimes would snuff an inconsequential person such as yourself without a care? Has the value of freedom paid by so many been lost on you, ’cause you forgot? Do you not see that freedom is costly, requires commitment and sacrifice, and cannot be taken lightly?

Freedom is earned. It is blood, sweat, tears, and long periods of time alone in foreign lands and at home. It is a path not all take. It is the families left behind that continue to pay the day to day sacrifices for freedom.

Your freedom must be cherished, because you have been given the greatest gift.

God Speed to all before me. God Bless those left behind.

Also posted at US Army: Stand-To!

Also posted at California Conservative

I have been contacted by one of The Soldiers’ Angels representatives and the call is going out for everyone to help. At this time please understand that no names are to be provided in this post to provide a high degree of safety for the family as their situation is very personal. Also, there are so many bad people out there that would just love to send scum-like cards, and this family just does not need that right now (you remember those cards, don’t you?).

Our Marine family is stationed in Twenty-Nine Palms, CA. They have one son who is 11 years old and one daughter who is 7 years old. They are in desperate need of our prayers, gifts, cards of encouragement, donations, or just more support from the Milblogosphere! Their son was recently diagnosed with Hodgkin’s Lymphoma. The reason that donations of money or maybe clothes is important is because for the past three weeks the Dad, our Marine in Need, has been paying for everything out of his own pocket. It just so happens that the government doesn’t move as fast as a family, or the situation, may require - if you’ve served or are serving now, you know this to be true. And, you may also know that all our brave men and women don’t get paid very much, so this hardship is even more acute.

Please take a moment and read the family’s story:

[Marine in Need] is an active duty Marine Staff Sergeant assigned to the 3rd LAR Battalion, Delta Company. He was deployed to Iraq on March 6, 2006 and was out in the Fallujah area. On or about the 1st week of May he was notified by a message from the Red Cross that his son was diagnosed with Lymphoma cancer. As hard as it was for him to accept this information, he had to make the toughest decision any Marine must make: to leave his fellow Marines to carry on without him. He returned to the United States to be at his son’s side, and supporting his wife, for the ongoing process of undergoing chemotherapy treatments.

Our [Marine in Need’s] son was diagnosed with Hodgkin’s Lymphoma on May 3, 2006 while he was in Iraq. His son had a mass on the right side of his neck that was noticed in November of 2005, and after a biopsy it was found that he had cancer. On May 4, 2006 they had an appointment with a Pediatric Oncologist and that is when their entire situation changed.

Our [Marine in Need’s] son is currently undergoing chemotherapy in the San Diego area at a military hospital. The hospital is about three hours (if traffic is good) from Twenty-Nine Palms where they are currently stationed. The doctor will not allow our [Marine in Need’s] son to travel to Twenty-Nine Palms throughout the length of chemotherapy, which is about six months. The doctor told them that the hospital at Twenty-Nine palms does not have adequate facilities if their son was to get sick. Chemotherapy wipes out one’s immune system; therefore any infection can be fatal.

The need for the this family is immediate. The last three weeks our [Marine in Need] has been paying everything out of his pocket. They have sent their 7 year old daughter to stay with family in Texas so that the Mom and Dad can focus on their son’s health. As far as any of us know, this family is all alone in California - except the biggest family in the world, the United States Marine Corps! Corps takes good care of Corps - but we need to help too! The family needs items like gas cards, gift cards (food), cash donations, cards of encouragement for the family, or drawings from your kids to give to their kids.

Contact me via comments in this post (or my e-mail if ya have it). I’ll provide updates as I receive them.

We really need to get this family some help and some good feelings

We just crossed the Memorial Day line, and we now need to help those in need who are always there ready to help us.

And, spread the word! We need the entire Milblogosphere to get the word out so this family can have a little peace in this very trying time.

UPDATE: Those Helping Us Get the Word Out!

• Soldiers’ Angels - NY
• Chromed Curses
• It’s So Obvious
• A Lady’s Ruminations
• The Uncooperative Blogger
• Mudville Gazette Open Post
• The Voice
• Sister Toldjah Open Post
• Media Lies
• Common Sense America
• The Bullwinkle Blog
• The Florida Masochist
• bRight & Early
• My Country - My View

UPDATE: PLEASE STAND DOWN!

I have been contacted by the Executive Director at Soldiers’ Angels and they have informed me that the Staff Sergeant and his family are overwhelmed! They have had so much support that they’d really appreciate it if we helped out other soldiers, sailors, airmen, and marines. That said, please see my new post above: Two of California’s Brave Men Need Help

Thanks all of you for your help!

I just got pinged by LinkedInUSAF about this program. It seems that the state of Illinois has implemented a program supporting the US Military. Folks that are residents of Illinois before and plan to return after their tour can get an MBA through the University of Illinois, for free! Now, that four letter word is pretty important, wouldn’t you say?! Here is the info from LinkedInUSAF’s blog post:

Here is a link that provides the background on this program:

Illinois Veteran Grant (IVG) Program

Here is the quick version of eligibility from his site and the link above:

To be a qualified applicant, you must:

Have served at least one year of federal active duty service in the Armed Forces of the United States, unless you:

• served in a foreign country in a time of hostilities in that country, or
• were medically discharged and the medical reason for discharge was service related, or
• were discharged prior to August 11, 1967.
• Have received an honorable discharge for each period of federal active duty service, and/or be honorably serving.
• Not be a member of the Reserve Officer Training Corps (ROTC).
• Have resided in Illinois within six months before entering federal active duty service or within six months prior to entering the service.
• Have returned or plan to return to Illinois within six months after leaving federal active duty service unless you are residing with a spouse in continued military service and establish or plan to establish Illinois residency within six months of his/her leaving federal active duty service.
• Be enrolled at an Illinois public 2 or 4 year college.
• Reside in Illinois unless you are serving federal active duty service at the time of enrollment in college or residing with a spouse in continued military service who is currently stationed outside of Illinois.
• Not be in default on any student loan, nor owe a refund on any state or federal grant.
• Maintain the minimum grade point average (GPA) required by your college.

If you are currently serving in the Illinois National Guard you may also be eligible for the Illinois National Guard Grant Program.

If you receive benefits from the IVG Program while serving federal active duty service, upon discharge you will be required to verify that your service has been characterized as honorable.

Now some of you may be asking, “But, isn’t this a statewide program?”

Yeah, but I was contacted directly to help spread the word, by two very dedicated gentlemen looking to help our brave fighting men and women. I believe that the University of Illinois deserves the bulk of this post for that alone. It took a cold call to me, a short conversation, and some exchanging of LinkedIn connecting to seal the deal. No other college or university has done that with me, until now. Lion’s share goes to the one to execute and follow through.

Ya know the saying, “To the victor goes the spoils.”

Well, I have to agree, if the University of Illinois contacted me directly, they’d get the bulk of the page too.

I did a little extra hunting and found out that there is another place actively promoting this program. When I did a web-search I found a company called Bradley/Wiltjer, a marketing firm. They are trying to help U of I get the word out, too. You can go here to see their post about the program. And they also encourage you to read more about the Executive MBA Program at www.mba.illinois.edu/veterans.

So, get the word out and help some of our brave fighting men and women an MBA. I wish this was around when I was serving, as I suspect some of you do as well. Just because it wasn’t around when we were serving doesn’t mean we cannot help everyone else today!

When you write what you feel, and what you feel says so much to others, that’s when I enjoy my fellow Milbloggers. And, as she often does, Days Gone By puts it right out there for us all in her latest post:

She wakes up in the middle of the night
Wishing he were there to squeeze her tight.
But he’s been gone for what seems like years
And no one understands all her fears.
She waits by the phone every day
She looks up high and starts to pray
Another day and still no call
She closes her eyes and tears start to fall
He’s over in another land
Without her there to hold his hand
And she counts the days till he comes home
When she will no longer have to be alone.
She’s loved this man for so many years
And watched him go and then shed tears
But this is the life you choose to lead
When you fall in love with a United States Marine

Semper Fi!
dyzgoneby

Keep your chin up and remember that everyone else is out there praying for you both!