A Tribute to our American Heroes

I would like to take this opportunity to personally Honor our military men, women, and families of the United States Armed services all over the world.  Many of these men and women who have fought vigorously to keep us safe are not given good opportunities once their tour of duty has ended and they return to civilian lives.            

I think Veterans need to know that they are not forgotten, and that we appreciate their loyalty and service to us and our country. Veterans are our heroes and we should make more of an effort to show them our appreciation for their works, their sacrifices, and all they have done for our country. Many of our troops have loss their lives and we do not know their family private pain, as well as the pain the troop that’s alive is living with. May God bless you all, and may God help every family to be strong and bring healing to your soul.

I think that our service men and woman has been grossly overlooked, and they are only celebrated and remembered on certain days such as Veteran’s day and Memorial Day.

Memorial Day & Veteran’s day:

These should not be the only days out of the entire year that we make it a point of duty to remember and honor our military troops throughout the nation. We should remember all the soldiers throughout our nation’s history who have served, and those who are still serving up to this day making daily sacrifices, serving bravely on the battlefield, and who protects our security and freedom from the enemy. We as a country should demonstrate our appreciation in deeds not just in words, because there are many veterans that have been left out in the cold by our government and is having a very hard time adjusting to civilian life and making ends meet.

The First War was the American Revolution, it was from 1775 – 1782 led by General Washington and they won.

The war of 1812 is one of the forgotten wars of the United States and it brought forth our independence.

Mexican – American War, the Civil War and the Spanish – American war, World War 1 & World War 2, the Korean and Vietnam War, and Desert storm, first war of the 20^th century when Kuwait invaded Iraq.

Operation Enduring Freedom went into effect in response to the attack in NY and Washington on September 11^th, 2001 where many people perished in the course of a single day.

The Afghanistan war began in October 7, 2001 – Present.

Iraqi Freedom, on March 19^th 2003 the United States of America invaded Iraq in order to overthrow the government of Saddam Hussein, and 8 years later our troops are still there.

These are all wars that our military personal served in, and in many cases some came home safe and unarm, some safe but injured, and many didn’t make it back home. Many Veterans are facing a multitude of emotional and physical problems due to the effect of the war; they suffer from such things like post traumatic stress, flashbacks, and battle fatigue.

Today many families are suffering because they are worried over their relatives being engaged in war, being deployed many times over for long period of time, and being on the front line facing eminent danger on a daily basis. Many families that have loss loved ones their pain is very deep, and they struggle daily with moving forward without their love ones in their lives, they do not yet know how to come to grips with these emotions and say their goodbyes.

Although the military is viewed as a man’s domain, because the call to Arms was for men only back in the day, a woman infiltrated the men’s domain and fought alongside them and they were no more the wiser. The first American woman to break through the barrier was Deborah Sampson of Massachusetts.

Deborah was born on December 17, 1760 and died on April 29^th, 1827; she was a remarkable woman with courage and conviction to do what she did. Her story is a unique one and it goes like this: On May 20, 1782 Deborah Sampson enlisted in the Army with the American revolution where she served with the light infantry company of the 4^th Massachusetts regiment under the command of captain George Webb, she enter under the pretence of being a man, as Continental Army soldier using the name of her deceased brother “Robert Shurtlief”.

Deborah was the first and only woman to fight in the Revolutionary War; she served for a year and a half in the Revolutionary war, and was wounded twice before her secret was exposed. She was discharged from the military and was given an honorable discharge by George Washington; she later lectured on her experiences and went on to be a champion of women rights.

Because of her act she paved the way for women today to have an active career in the military, and today men and women both serve in the same infantry in all the various branch of the military. Some of the women who have been first are such people as: Loretta Walsh enlisted in March of 1917, the first woman Yeoman in the Navy. Twin sisters Genevieve and Lucille Baker joined the Coast Guard.

Opha M. Johnson first woman enlisted in the U.S. Marine Corps Reserve in August of 1918.

Sgt Esther M Blake, first woman in the Air Force in July of 1948

Lt. Kara Hultgreen, the Navy first female fleet fighter pilot, her Tomcat slammed into the Pacific Ocean in 1994 making her the first female combat pilot to die in service.

First Honors to Female military personnel:

In 1995 Lt. Kelly Flinn became the first woman B-52 Bomber Pilot. 1990 Cmdr. Darlene Iskra was the first woman to command a U.S. Navy ship – the U.S.S. Opportune.

The first and only woman to receive the Medal of Honor was Dr. Mary E. Walker, a contract surgeon during the civil war.

The first woman to receive the Purple Heart was Annie G. Fox, she serve during the attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941.

The first woman to receive 2 awards was 1st Lt. Cordelia E. Cook, Army nurse Corps, during WW11 in Italy, she received the Bronze Star, and she also received the Purple Heart.

My first son is an officer in the United States Navy and he has been away from us for approximately 13 years now, but we do keep in touch. We miss him dearly but I thank God every day for keeping him safe as well as all the other military personnel. I have other members of my family in different branch of the military such as the Marines and the Air Force so I can empathize with the plight of these military families.

Oprah Show

Mrs. Michelle Obama was on the Oprah’s show and where they were honoring some of the bravest military families in America, as they cope with the invisible wounds of the war. Mrs. Obama spoke about the new bill that was recently passed on behalf of our military personnel; this bill will make it possible to be able to support and strengthen military families more, and enhance their well-being and quality of life. Community partnership is needed and will be very helpful and beneficial to our service men, women, and families all over our nation. Mrs. Obama will be launching a major military – focused program in March of this year on how America can help our military families.

Visit serve.gov to see how you can make a difference in a military family life, find out what more you can do to help them transition back into their lives. There are veterans who are homeless, can’t get a job, have no food to eat, can’t get decent medical care because of non coverage or work related diseases, because the military have not provided well for these brave soldiers who incur these sicknesses doing their tour of duty.

If you are looking for a way to help support and honor U.S. military service members and veterans you can help through financial contributions, letters, and email or volunteering your time through a non-profit organization.    http://www.military.com/benefits/resources/support-our-troops

This website gives you a list of the following organization that can help you send gifts, card, and care packages to our troops.