Holiday blessings:

to our troops, their families, and our country!!  We have many things to be grateful for and one of them is a very strong, all-volunteer force that defends our nation from threats around the globe.  They are well-trained and dedicated to the cause.  For this, we are very proud.  IHONORUSA.com appreciates all the donations to help keep their morale high with our care package program.

We must also acknowledge:

those who gave the ultimate sacrifice to defend and protect us throughout the world.  Their families feel the loss as a Gold Star family.  Let us never forget them.  Those warriors who have taken their place remain steadfast and focused.  Please continue to keep the Gold Star families and current military in our prayers.

 As a very young private:

mail call in Germany was especially poignant.  I relied on family members to keep flooding my mailbox with letters from home, talking of things that I was familiar with, keeping that sense of “home”.  This was way before computers, cell phones, and internet.  The mailroom had limited operational hours too so if there was nothing there, it was another long wait, hoping for next time.  In Germany and Korea, we had one American TV station and they had pre-programmed shows so if you didn’t like their choice for that hour – you were out of luck.  The movie theatre on post only showed one movie for a week so if you didn’t like their offering, there was no multi-plex alternative.  VHS had just been invented and not too many of those were floating around either.  Long Distance home was through the host country’s phone bank so that only happened once from Germany, never from Korea.

Let’s make “next time” now:

for our troops with your continued donations.  Drop a line to IH to let them know how you feel about our military’s service and sacrifice.  So many times we hear from our recipients to say that they are so grateful total strangers are thankful for their service.  You see, they think we forget/don’t care.  We are a proud warrior base and want our servicemembers to have that sense of “home” through your generous support.  If these men and women didn’t step up through their branch of service, to honor and defend, who would?

That’s why I support IHONORUSA.com:

financially and through their Board of Directors.  I was an Intelligence Analyst in the Army, serving abroad for many years, years I didn’t come home very often to partake of special events and holidays.  I did my duty and am very proud of those who continue to serve, honor, and protect.  Thank you for joining with me to rally our troops with goodies from home!!

IHONORUSA.com also:

provides limited support to a veterans homeless shelter in Georgia.  They too served their country and some just need a boost to reintegrate themselves into productive society.  Your donations are most appreciated to continue to remember them.

Laurie Simms- Secretary