"If you are able, save for them a place inside of you....and save one backward glance when you are leaving for the places they can no longer go.....Be not ashamed to say you loved them....
Take what they have left and what they have taught you with their dying and keep it with your own....And in that time when men decide and feel safe to call the war insane, take one moment to embrace those gentle heroes you left behind...."
Quote from a letter home by Maj. Michael Davis O'Donnell
KIA 24 March 1970. Distinguished Flying Cross: Shot down and Killed while attempting to rescue 8 fellow soldiers surrounded by attacking enemy forces.
Yesterday, I posted a diary about a young man named ‘Butch’ who was killed-in-action in Vietnam, April of 1968. My recall of the memories of his return home prompted one reader, our own illustrious TexDem, to do a little research about one Charles Stanley ‘Butch’ Cox. What he found on the Vietnam Veteran’s Memorial Fund website was a beautiful and very moving list of tributes and remembrances of this young soldier, who had only served ‘in-country’ for two months before he was killed.
You can see Butch’s wall at your leisure, but there is one particularly moving remembrance I’d like to share with you:
My Dearest Uncle:
"I was 5 and in kindergarten when you were killed. I remember coming home from school and lots of cars being in the driveway and mom crying on the bed. That's when I learned you had been killed. I remember your horse "beauty" and how you used to ride me on her on Saturday mornings. I remember riding on your foot while you walked around the house. Mom always has your picture in full view no matter where she's lived. I thank you and love you for giving your life for the service of our country. I only wish.."
Posted by Michael B.
Sometimes it is easy to slip into unconscious and unintended apathy when our lives are full of stress and worry. Iraq and Afghanistan are far, far away on our daily radar. Without a face, a name, or a voice, we don’t feel a connection to our military men and women. Yet, like Butch, they have a name, a face, a voice, and those back home who love them and care for them deeply. Our hope is that we don’t lose any of our recipients, however, we want each and every one to know that someone back home recognizes and appreciates the sacrifices they are making on our behalf.
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Getting Started
There are two ways you can help: 1)Make an individual donation by clicking on the Donate button and/or 2) Register to be a Personal Fundraiser by clicking the Register button to the left. We're ready to help you get started by creating your own personal fundraising page! Once you've signed up, we will email (within 36 to 48 hrs.)to you a Fundraising Kit that includes sample solicitation letters, how to order business cards, and tips for how to ask people to support your cause.
Use your imagination to raise funds. Last year we had a kossack and her daughters raise funds at a neighborhood event by selling lemonade. Ask your church, temple, synagogue etc. to assist you in your effort. Approach a small retailer about "putting up a jar". Have fun with it. Make up a flier to put on every car you see with a "Support Our Troups" magnet on it.
What Can I Do On Daily Kos?
We're asking you not to post a diary for your personal pages on Daily Kos. Daily Kos is NFTT's home base and we'll still be posting general diaries for fundraising on Daily Kos. We're also asking that you refrain from posting comments within the general NFTT diaries promoting your personal page.
What you can do, is post a comment in Open Thread and other open forums requesting someone to go through your personal page to make a donation.You can also make your sig. line your donation page link. Just be courteous and polite in whatever you do for NFTT. People love supporting the troops, so you don't need to be overly aggressive in soliciting for their benefit. Your actions reflect upon all of us.
Netroots For The Troops mission is two-fold: annual shipment of CARE packages to US soldiers and Marines serving in hostile regions of Iraq and Afghanistan for the duration of their deployment, and on-going financial assistance for veterans and their families upon their return to the states.