My mom sent me this video last night. It was made by the wife of a Naval Officer (and family friend) for her husband who has deployed for seven months. My neighbor (and good friend) also left this month for a six month tour in Iraq. These men and women leave behind husbands, wives, sons, daughters, mothers and fathers. They sacrifice for us. Even though I live on an army base, sometimes I forget what these families are doing for my family, and yours. Whether or not you support the war, please support our troops. They and their families need and deserve our support. I am thankful for their sacrifice and pray for their safe return.
[youtube:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U6M92bRRK34]
13 Things You Can Do to Support Our Troops.
1. Put one of those yellow ribbons on your car or tie a yellow ribbon around a tree in your front yard.
2. Invite a Single Service Member over to your house for dinner. People are usually pretty good about doing this around the holidays, but they would enjoy a home cooked meal any time of the year.
3. If you know someone who is deployed send them a letter, or a care package. Make sure you check with someone who knows them well to see what they really need.
4. Tell them that you appreciate their service to our country. You might be surprised how little they hear this.
5. If you own or manage a store, give a military discount. Even 10% is appreciated.
6. For families whose loved one is deployed… invite them for dinner, or bring them a meal.
7. Offer to babysit….military families often spend months apart. Mom and Dad would love to have some time alone together.
8. Call…. check up on the families whose loved one is deployed. A lot of times they would love someone to talk to. Don’t think it is a bad time… if it is they just won’t answer the phone.
9. Be a friend… military life can be hard on everyone. There are frequent moves, separations, and other trials. Friends can make all the difference to a military family.
10. Attend a troop homecoming.
11. Offer to babysit for the spouse who is on the homefront during the deployment, I’m sure they could use some quiet moments to themselves.
12. Help the family out by offering to run an errand; return library books, videos, run to the post office, pick up milk, especially if you’re already going there.
13. Pray- for the troops that are abroad, the ones here at home, and the families that support them.
For more Gratituesday visit Laura.
{ 15 comments… read them below or add one }
Great post! My husband works with a man who has been deployed a few times already. We have made care packages for him to take over. It a small token of our thanks to each and every one of them for what they do for us. Thank you for the other suggestions to do as well.
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Thanks for the post. We are AF, and have only had to face remotes, not deployments yet. We have several friends who are deployed and it is really easy to forget and to put it out of mind! Thanks for the reminder to support, love, and pray for our troops and their families!
I appreciate your blog. I only have half as many kiddos as you, but I am encouraged by you! Thanks!
I think you mentioned once you were on fort meade – we have some friends out there also! Sounds like a great place!
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I hope you don’t mind – I posted this video at my bloggy home with credit/links to you with my own thank you!
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Wow.
Thank you.
And thank you to your whole family for the sacrifies you make so that I can live a life of so much freedom.
I cannot even fathom what life would be like if there weren’t those who are brave enough to fight for the rest of us.
I am so thankful. And this video even makes me realize it more. Thank you.
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Great post! The video made me cry! Can I steai it?
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Great post and as a military wife, it really touched me
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Thank you for sharing this! I live on base and both neighbors husbands are deployed. We help with yard work and I bring them goodies. I try to help out with others as well.
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What a great post. Thanks for the tips to help out the families.
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I’m always so glad when you give reminders to us like this. Living in NE, I feel a little out of that loop, so it’s always good to hear about our troops and be reminded about what all they and their families do.
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My son leaves for Iraq in January. He will leave behind a wife and an eight-month-old daughter. While I struggle daily with the war in Iraq, I will always support our troops and their families. God bless us all.
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This really meant a lot to me. Especially being a military spouse. 10 out of the last 15 months have been with out “Daddy” with us. Deployment is hard and many times military spouses feel so alone. This really meant a lot to me. I have added your blog to my blog list. I really enjoy your blog! HUGS and God bless! GO NAVY! (wink)
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Thank you for posting that. My brother is halfway through his deployment. Prayers for his safe return too!
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Thank you for this post. As an army wife and daughter it brought tears to my eyes. My husband has been on 2 back to back 18 month deployments and the song just brought all those memories back. Thank you for what you do.
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I try to support our troops in many ways and one of them is http://www.anysoldier.com/ a charity which I encourage everyone to participate in.
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My 4 kids and I just spent 15 mos. missing the love of our lives. He is in the Army and thankfully has now been home safe for 3 mos. I just saw this and it brought tears to my eyes. Thank you so much for posting it!
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