I recently asked Sgt. Honda what he wears when driving the general. He told me that it depends on what event the general is attending. Apparently, if they are going to a military function then Sgt. Honda wears his Service “A” or Alpha uniform. I have only seen him in this uniform once. It was during his boot camp graduation. Unfortunately my computer acquired a virus and many of those photos were lost.

Here is an illustration of the Service “A” uniform.

When the general attends private social events, Sgt Honda dresses in a suit and tie. Here he is in front of the car that carries the general. Nice.

Yes the car is cool, but I prefer to see a fine young man dressed in suit any day.

The war on terrorism has been long and tedious. It is not over by a long shot. But for quite a few families, the chance to spend the holidays together is now a reality.

Homecoming is a special event. I’ve lived through the waiting. Still waiting for another. I found this story especially uplifting in this season of joy.

Miss you son. Merry Christmas.

Tomorrow we will sit down and give thanks for all that we have. Most of us will spend time with loved ones and friends. Some may not be as lucky.

I will be privileged to spend another year with my parents, Grandma M and Grandpa DingDon, my sister Crafty and her husband, my daughter Cinderella, her husband, my precious Butterfly and newest grandson, D.D.

I will miss other family members. Especially ones that are far away. Sgt. Honda is once again absent because of his service. Sgt. Red will not be joining us this year.

I know how hard it is for military families during the holidays and all year. I feel for the children that can not be with their parents. Wives that can not be with their husbands. Husbands that can not be with their wives.

Mommies that miss their sons.

I miss my son.

At least I know he is safe. Thank you God.

Here is a video sent to me.

“Dinner at Quantico”

This slide show consists of photos taken  at a formal dinner at the National Museum of the Marine Corps in Quantico, VA.

It is a beautiful presentation of the honor, commitment, and pride that today’s heroes share with yesterday’s heroes.

If you know a Sailor, Marine, Soldier, Airman, or someone of any branch of the military (of any age), make sure he or she sees this.

Please tell them thank you and Happy Thanksgiving.

I recently heard about a group dedicated to bringing awareness and help from military returning from service with serious wounds and disabilities. Walking With The Wounded raises money for groups that help retrain military men and women for civilian life.

Walking With The Wounded recently made news when two expedition leaders Ed Parker and Simon Daglish along with one polar guide, Inge Solheim and four wounded servicemen, Captain Guy Disney(amputee), Sergeant Steve Young(wounded), Private Jaco Van Gass (amputee), and Captain Martin Hewitt (wounded) made an incredible 13 day trek to the North Pole. Prince Harry join them for 4 of those days.

It wasn’t easy, the team battled -38 degree tempuratures and bad weather conditions on the Barneo Ice Field but they persisted and arrived 3 days ahead of schedule. You can read about the whole expedition here. There is a new challenge of 2012. The team plans to tackle Mt. Everest. Over 200 people have lost their lives on that mountain so this is no easy task especially for 4 wounded servicemen. They will train in the Alps, Himalayans, and British mountains. Please pray for the success of this monumental expedition.

There are many ways to help that do not involve climbing mountains or going to the North Pole. You can join the WWTW community, become a fan on Facebook, and follow them on Twitter. You can also set up your own Just Giving page to help raise donations for WWTW.

Whatever you decide it is easy to help and these men and women who deserve all the help they can get. They gave to us and we can give back to show we care and our gratitude.

It is no surprise that Dakota Meyer says he is not a hero. True heroes always play down what they did in combat. If they did not I think we would be in trouble. I am glad to see that more living service members are receiving the highest award available. They should not all have to die to show acts of great bravery.

Former Marine Sargent Meyer is the first living Marine to receive this honor for the Iraq and Afghanistan wars. He went against orders and repeatedly risked his own life in order to rescue four missing service members while receiving injuries and later to find the men were killed in the hours long battle.

He insists he was “Only doing what Marines do…” He feels he failed the men he tried to save and their families. All I can say as a military mom is if that was my child he was trying to save, I would walk up the Sargent Meyer and hug him tightly. I would then thank him for his service and extraordinary valour.

Thank you sir from one military mom.

It is hard to believe that one month from now will be the 10th anniversary of 911. Hard to believe it took us 10 years to catch and kill Osama bin Laden. I am glad we did and I am glad we gotten rid of so many other evil people that want to kill us and destroy our way of life.

Even though America has its share of crazy and immoral people, I would not want to live anywhere else. Here we have freedom to choose what we wear, what do for a living, and where we live.

Even though I support our military I truly wish our troops could all come home. I am however not foolish enough to believe that will ever truly happen. This can of worms is probably going to be bottomless. There is evidence all the time of the terrorists continually trying to hurt Americans. Sad but true.

I have read quite a few article lately by families of 911 victims. For them the pain is still very real. I have no doubt about that. Grief never goes away. It is like the ocean. Sometimes the waves are gently and lapping. Sometimes they come crashing into the shore. But they never stop.

I hope we can honor these victims next month and remember to pray for the families. Also pray for the safety of all Americans and our heroes that give there all. Everyday.

This one made me cry. Especially thinking that someday I might have a grandchild doing something like this.

Click here to view the embedded video.

I was recently contacted by a representative from Open Sky, a new shopping site. The site is filled with unique items such as toiletries, food and fun gifts. The reason I am writing this is Open Sky along with some very special curators have teamed up to have a very special sale on Thursday, May 19th that will benefit Operation Homefront.

This wonderful organization helps families of deployed service members. Spouses are left alone here at home for extended periods of time and have to shoulder the burden of running the family. Sometimes things go wrong. The car breaks down. Kids get sick. You get the picture. Well Operation Homefront is there to help pick up the slack and lend a helping hand. As a military mom I understand the need and want to spread the word.

So tomorrow the sale will feature special items for Memorial Day that are up to 50% off. You can pick up some great items for your Memorial Day activities while helping families of our military.

Here is the press release detailing the sale and the celebrities that are helping make this possible.

BOBBY FLAY, ‘CAKE BOSS’ BUDDY VALASTRO, THE JUDDS, KELLY KILLOREN BENSIMON AND LUCINDA SCALA QUINN ALIGN ON OPENSKY TO SUPPORT THE FAMILIES OF US TROOPS IN HONOR OF MEMORIAL DAY

–Private online sale Thursday, May 19 will benefit Operation Homefront—

NEW YORK, NY (May 18, 2011) – In honor of the upcoming Memorial Day holiday, renowned curators on the new social shopping site OpenSky including Chef Bobby Flay, TLC’s Cake Boss Buddy Valastro, Country Music Legends The Judds, Real Housewife of NYC Kelly Killoren Bensimon and Host of Mad Hungry Lucinda Scala Quinn are offering fans a fun way to show their support for the troops who defend our freedom every day.  Beginning Thursday, May 19 at 12:00 p.m. EST each curator is participating in an exclusive Memorial Day private sale on OpenSky.com that will last for 24-hours and benefit Operation Homefront — a non-profit organization that provides emergency financial services and other assistance to the families of our service members and wounded warriors in need.

“I am fortunate enough to spend time with my family both at home and at work,” said Buddy Valastro. “Our troops sacrifice time away from their loved ones to protect our country, and I’m honored to do what I can to show my gratitude.”

“As a curator on OpenSky, I’m proud of the fact that they teamed up with Operation Homefront. Our troops are out there every single day protecting our country and it’s important that we remember that,” said Bobby Flay.

The sale will include 5 different featured items perfect for enjoying the holiday with family, each one hand-picked by one of the participating curators and made in the USA.  Guaranteed to arrive by Memorial Day, 50% of the net proceeds from each product sold will benefit Operation Homefront. In addition, OpenSky will donate $1 to Operation Homefront for each person who joins OpenSky from today until Memorial Day.

“It is an honor for us to give back to the heroic men and women and their families who sacrifice daily to protect our freedom,” says OpenSky CEO John Caplan. “Operation Homefront gives us a way to be there for our servicemen and women when they need us — through programs that provide financial assistance and other services. We’re grateful we can support them in that effort.”

Operation Homefront provides financial and other assistance to the families of our service members and wounded warriors — whether it’s a place to stay, emergency financial help, food, school supplies for their children or other necessities. Since its inception, Operation Homefront has taken care of more than 400,000 needs and has provided more than $128 million dollars of funding to programs that benefit military families.

OpenSky, which launched in April, empowers consumers to design their own shopping experience and discover new products and ideas curated by the world’s most interesting people. OpenSky brings together celebrities, authors, stylists, chefs and other experts in Food, Style, Health and Design to give shoppers the ultimate hook-up on the best of what they eat, buy, wear, use and love every day.

Consider checking out Open Sky and help a military family.

I was not compensated for this post. I do what I can to honor and help our military and their families. My opinions are my own.

Not much new here except for the dog trouble that I posted about here and here. I have not heard from Cpl Honda since he left for training. I have talked to his girlfriend each weekend though and she talked to him last weekend. I sent him my phone number through Facebook and it is possible he did not get it. Might not have internet access since he has not been on Facebook.

Oh well, training is about half over and he will be back in Okinawa. I guess it is good he is not there with the earthquakes that seem to keep coming.

Anyway, since I got nothing I am going to link to a post written by Julie the Army Wife. It is about website called Joining Forces that was started by Michele Obama and Dr. Jill Biden. The focus is getting involved and supporting our troops. They really do need all the help they can get because the way things look in the world I do believe they will be needed more and more in the future.

You can find Julie’s post here.

I wrote about my weekend at juliannah by design. I can not rehash it here. I did speak to Cinderella and Butterfly this weekend. I also talked to Hippie Guy. I was hoping to speak to Cpl Honda but did not get a call. He is training in another country so it is possible that he worked through the weekend.

I am glad that our stupid congress got their @*$& together this weekend. I just want to know why it has to come to this? People are depending on the government doing business as usual. Especially the military. People, they are giving their lives for us so now do their families back home have to possibly choose from paying rent or eating! Not acceptable.

And that is all I have to say about that.