Holidays are a time for families to gather and celebrate the blessings of the year. For the brave men and women of our military gathering with families can often prove to be a hardship. Such was the case with the troops from the 172nd Infantry Unit of the Maine National Guard. They were training in a base in Indiana with no way to get home for the holidays. Luckily, fright master, Stephen King and his wife Tabitha came to the rescue with a donation that is allowing all 150 members of Bravo Company to fly home for the holidays. They needed thirteen-thousand dollars but Mr. King felt compelled to just donate twelve-thousand, nine hundred and ninety-nine. That’s understandable: he’s got a thing for the number “13.”
But you don’t have to be a famous novelist or have deep pockets to say thanks to the troops. Apparently, all you need is a sewing needle. At least that’s what Christina Powell and her fellow quilters discovered as they lovingly created handcrafted quilts donated to the Quilts for Injured Soldiers Project. In this CNN story, Christina explains why this is so important to her and how grateful the injured vets are to be remembered.
Sometimes the simple act of helping keep up a holiday tradition can show plenty of gratitude to our military personnel. The Trees for Troops program has been doing this for years by providing free Christmas trees to military families across the country. Building great Christmas memories goes a long way towards easing the pain that military families might feel around the holidays as their loved ones prepare to be deployed. The ABC News recently highlighted the great work this foundation is doing.
The holidays can be especially challenging for those who have fallen heroes as part of their family. Whether these are veterans from the past or present, they still should be honored for their sacrificed and that’s just what Wreathes Across America does every year. You can see how their program works in this poignant NBC Nightly News feature.
Those are just a sampling of a hundreds of programs happening all across the country which hope to our all servicemen and women how grateful we are. If you’ve got some stories like this to share, let us know.
— Meyer
One Comment
Thank you Meyer-)