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Blue Star Voices Blogs

Here are the latest entries from all our blogs. Scroll down to read them, or select one these links on the sidebar for the community you're most interested in.

The Importance of Volunteerism | Post date: 07/15/2009 - 02:00

As military family members, we understand how important service to your country is. We send loved ones off to defend our country, but we also volunteer in our communities and raise our children to give back to their communities and their countries as well.

When we ran across this amazing video on Serve.gov, we couldn't help but be moved. Every living U.S. president talks about the importance of volunteering in your community, of working to make a difference, and I think that's part of what makes the video so special. Helping your fellow man isn't about party affiliation or politics. It's about doing the right thing.

Go to www.Serve.gov for more information on how you can make a difference.

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Welcome, Dora, to the BSF Blog! | Post date: 07/14/2009 - 02:00

Hi everyone!

My name's Dora and I'm new to the blogging world but not to the military one. I would like to share my military wife experiences with others.

I'm like many of you, a wife, a working mom and someone who juggles the many responsibilities that life throws at me. Sometimes gracefully, sometimes not, but I do the best that I can. The best things that I look forward to are the hugs from my kids and when my husband has a "normal" work schedule and we can have a "normal" life. I'm sure one day we'll find out what that is, but not now.

I hope you'll join me as I share my experiences on the BSF blog!

Dora T.

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400 Days by Danette Hayes | Post date: 07/14/2009 - 02:00

Blue Star Families' Director of National Guard/Reserve Outreach, Danette Hayes, has written a book about her National Guard family's experience with activation and deployment. We asked Danette to tell us about the publishing experience and how the book came about. You can purchase 400 Days now and 5% of the proceeds will go to support military families.

I was approached by a local newpaper columnist to do an interview shortly before September 11, 2009, based off a letter I sent to the editor. Turns out the letter was too long to publish as a letter but they wanted to do an interview.

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A Hero's Journey Home | Post date: 07/10/2009 - 02:00

Killed in action the week before, the body of Sergeant First Class John C. Beale was returned to Falcon Field in Peachtree City, Georgia, just south of Atlanta, on June 11, 2009.

The Henry County Police Department escorted the procession to the funeral home in McDonough, Georgia.

A simple notice in local papers indicated the road route to be taken and the approximate time.

The link below is a short travelogue of that day's remarkable and painful journey.

Sergeant First Class John Beale

Please pass his story on and reflect on what it means to our military familiea and communities.

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Happy Independence Day! | Post date: 07/05/2009 - 15:58

I loved this video one of our veterans coordinators, Jim White, sent me. It's set to Johnny Cash's Ragged Old Flag.

Happy Independence Day.

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Volume' | Post date: 06/01/2009 - 03:00

So this is my outing as a nascent blogger, often threatened but never followed through - sounds like my obituary!! So please forgive my initial bumblings. I am as the name suggests a Navy Husband, spouse to active duty and stay at home Dad to two darling (read challenging) girls (soon to be 4 and 6).

I have been through deployments, work ups, spouse meetings, FRGs, pass offices, potty training, post offices with two toddlers, commissary on pay day.....why the resume? well we are in the minority and I always feel as though I need to proffer my real time experience as a milspouse to be taken seriously. The reality is of course that I feel as welcomed and as valued as any other military spouse, by both service members and spouses alike. So why then do I feel this way?

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Members of Congress Inquire about VA Health Care | Post date: 03/18/2009 - 02:00

Yesterday, 45 members of Congress, led by Glenn Nye (D-Va), sent a letter to the president opposing any possible plan to bill third party insurers for veterans care for service related injuries and disabilities. While no official proposal has been drafted by the administration, they have confirmed that the idea is still on the table.

March 17, 2009

The Honorable Barack Obama
President of the United States
The White House
Washington, DC

Dear Mr. President,

We first want to take this opportunity to thank you for the clear commitment your administration’s budget outline makes to our nation’s veterans. The proposed 10 percent increase in discretionary funding for the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) for next fiscal year is truly historic. We believe the 2010 budget will ensure the VA never again faces the chronic under-funding that prevented countless veterans from receiving the health benefits they have earned.

While we strongly support your plans to increase funding for the VA by $25 billion over the next five years, it is with equal conviction that we oppose the proposal to bill veterans’ private health insurance plans for care and treatment of service-connected injuries or disabilities.

We do not give our veterans health care - they earn it - and it would be unacceptable for the VA to ask our veterans to pay for the treatment of injuries received while serving our nation in uniform. That responsibility belongs to the VA, and it would be wrong to outsource the responsibility of covering the care of those veterans to private insurance companies.

Additionally, this proposal could harm our veterans and their families in unintended, yet very serious ways, jeopardizing their families’ health care and even negatively affecting veterans’ employment opportunities. Billing a veteran’s private health insurance for the treatment of service-connected injuries could lead to increased health care premiums, and could potentially discourage employers from hiring veterans.

We know you are committed to expanding employment opportunities for veterans. Already this year, your administration and Congress have worked to create countless jobs for veterans returning from the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, but this proposal would undermine our efforts.

We urge you to take this proposal off the table, and let us instead focus on ensuring that our veterans receive the full care and benefits they have earned. The moral obligation our nation has to our veterans demands nothing less. We are happy to discuss these issues with you further as we move toward a final budget for the VA.

We would like to thank you again for your commitment to improving care for the men and women who have borne the battle, and who have sacrificed their health and well-being in serving their country. Thank you for your service to our nation.

Sincerely,

Glenn Nye
MEMBER OF CONGRESS

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Duties that are Best Shared - Go Read It! | Post date: 03/15/2009 - 02:00

In the Washington Post last week, Matthew Bogdanos, a Marine Corps reservist, shared a wonderful essay on the divide between the civilian and military worlds. He writes eloquently about how military veterans (and their families) no longer have the sort of shared cultural and generational experiences like the World War II and even Vietnam generations did. He reminds us:

As the British general Sir William Butler warned a century ago, "A nation that will insist upon drawing a broad line of demarcation between the fighting man and the thinking man is liable to find its fighting done by fools and its thinking done by cowards."
Bogdanos goes on to say:

Without greater understanding between the military and civilian worlds or, better, a return to a synthesis of the two, we risk a future without all of us working toward the same ends -- whatever society decides those ends should be. And we risk misusing military force because of misunderstandings about what it can and can't do or, once used, its being prematurely withdrawn because of unrealistic expectations. The solution is an educated citizenry that understands its soldiers, sailors, airmen and Marines -- understands that we are you.

Go read it.

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The First Lady at Fort Bragg | Post date: 03/14/2009 - 02:00

Michelle Obama spent Thursday, March 12 touring Fort Bragg and speaking to community volunteers and officials in neighboring Fayetteville, NC. It was her first trip away from Washington since her husband's inauguration and was seen by many as her making good on a campaign promise to make military families one of her top priorities.

The first lady spent the early part of the day visiting with soldiers and their spouses and touring the Soldier Support Center and a child development center on post. She read the Dr. Suess book "The Cat in the Hat" to preschoolers in the center and when she told them that she had children of her own, a two-year-old called out, "I know Sasha! I know Malia!" which seemed to charm Mrs. Obama.

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2009 Year of the Military Family | Post date: 03/12/2009 - 02:00

by Anita T.

On March 11^th the U.S House of Representatives declared 2009 the “Year of the Military Family”. The bipartisan resolution was approved by a 422-0 roll call vote.

This resolution will hopefully be followed by President Barack Obama’s proclamation designating 2009 as a year to honor military families through ceremonies and events that highlight our commitment to this life of service and acknowledge our sacrifices.

While the resolution doesn’t expand benefits or make changes in pay, working and living conditions, it does highlight the importance of military families in the public and private arena. It gives us a stronger voice and an opportunity to talk about the issues that are important to us.

This is a great time to get involved with our local communities, participate in the national debate and, take our survey!

President Obama and the First Lady have pledged their commitment to military families during the campaign and continue to show their support. It’s up to us to maintain a dialogue that will be beneficial to the military and to society at large. Get involved and let your voices be heard!

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