It’s Memorial Day, the beginning of summer, time for barbecues, picnics, swimming and boating. Or at least that’s how most of America celebrates. And how we used to. We didn’t give much thought to our military; they were just there to protect us, but we weren’t involved.
Then we became military parents. Our son Patrick joined the Army (82nd Airborne) seven years ago and served three year-long enlistments, one in Afghanistan and two in Iraq. We learned what it’s like to really worry about a child; our hearts raced every time we heard about another IED, mortar attack, ambush. Was Patrick involved? His phone calls and skypes were our lifelines. He’s still in the Army, now a Staff Sergeant, Senior Jump Master and Advanced Infantry trainer. We’re very proud of all he has accomplished, for his dedication protecting and serving our country. We support our troops and the groups who provide help to all those service men and women who came home with horrible injuries, seen and unseen, and for the families whose sons and daughters didn’t come home. We are indeed blessed.
So on this Memorial Day, I ask anyone who reads this blog to think about what this day really celebrates. And maybe give a little money to the groups that support our troops.
www.woundedwarriorproject.org is one of our favorites. Here are a few others:
The Gary Sinise Foundation
http://www.garysinisefoundation.org
Healing Wounded Heroes
www.healingourwoundedheroes.org
Homes For Heroes
http://www.homesforheroes.com
Homes For Our Troops
http://www.homesforourtroops.org
Operation Homefront
http://www.operationhomefront.net
Operation Second Chance
http://www.operationsecondchance.org
Paws & Stripes
www.pawsandstripes.org
The USO
http://www.uso.org
Your son is a true hero, Noelle. Great post on this Memorial Day. May all our soldiers be safe…and hope they know we keep them in our hearts. What they do is the ultimate sacrifice.
Have a great Memorial Day!