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MarineParents.com Newsletter
a Place to Connect & Share™ | |
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Support Our Marines! |
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The Care Package Project™
Operation PAL™
Team Marine Parents™
Show your support of our Marines and their families at home! Participate in one of the MarineParents.com Outreach Programs today! Our Marines need YOU! |
| Support for You:
a Place to
Connect & Share™ |
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| Learning Center:
Operations Security |
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NOTE: When communicating online, your Marine's privacy is as important as Operations Security. Please respect YOUR Marine's privacy! |
| Local Support Groups in Your Area |
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NEWEST SUPPORT GOUPS:
Central Indiana Area
For a list of all support groups in our database or to find one in your area, see:
If you are interested in starting a local support group in your area, please visit the "Support Groups" section of our website:
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| Learning Center:
About Deployment |
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(from your Marine, with the USMC, and with other families)
(tips, tricks and money savers for mailing to YOUR Marine)
(bills, taxes, legal issues, injuries, notification from the Marine Corps)
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Learning Center:
About Homecoming |
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(Tip: While in our store, check in your Marine's unit store for more homecoming shirts!) |
| Learning Center:
Bootcamp |
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| Marine Corps Spirit
T-shirts, Gifts & More |
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Show your Marine Corps spirit and pride! Proceeds from sales support MarineParents.com, an IRS approved 501(c)(3) public charity.
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Graduation Announcements! |
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Graduation Announcements are now available for your Soon-To-Graduate recruit! Use the coupon at the bottom of the newsletter to save $5!
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| Thank You to This Week's Newsletter Contributors |
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A special thank you to:
Linda Crooms, Director of Outreach Services
Stephanie Nigro, Bethesda Lunch Coordinator
Kathi Harju, Manager of the Marine Parents Message Board and News Room |
| Sign Up for the Newsletter |
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Dear Marine Families,
If this is the first edition of the MarineParents.com Newsletter you have received, WELCOME! If you are a returning reader we are glad you have joined us.
The first wave of the 2007 holiday season has come and gone. Many of us are experiencing holidays with key members of our families far from home; some on deployments, some at bootcamp, and still others at bases around the United States. Each of these young men and women are selflessly serving our country. Our thanks to them and to their families will never seem sufficient compared to the sacrifices they make.
I would like to share a letter with you that we received in the office today, from an 11-year-old boy in California. He sent the letter to our office so we could include it in a care package to any Marine in Iraq. Please share this with your sons and daughters to let them know their sacrifice does not go unnoticed.
Dear Warriors,
My name is Jake R. I'm a student at ____ Middle School. I appreciate all the sacrifices that all the men and women in uniform make to keep us safe at home. My uncle has told me about his time served in Vietnam. I hope that the politicians let you finish what you have started. I know how important it is for the U.S. to be successful, not just for the Iraqi people but for the safety and security of the whole world. My prayers and thoughts are with all of you in this important time in history. May God watch over all of you and return you all safely.
Your friend and Supporter,
Jake R., 11 years old
I only wish there were thousands of these to send to every Marine in Iraq! Thank you Jake... |
| Protecting from Identity Theft |
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It just takes one phone call for military personnel to help prevent identity theft during deployment
 Any member of the military who is away from his/her usual duty station may place an "active duty alert" on his/her credit report to help minimize the risk of identity theft while deployed. This includes deployment to combat zones, while on ships (floats) or any other overseas location.
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has put a system in place for military personnel to make one phone call to a credit reporting agency that will alert all agencies to take additional steps to verify identity prior to opening new accounts while the alert is in place. It's an easy step to take prior to or during deployment to help protect against identity theft.
For more information, please visit the new deployment section of the MarineParents.com website, or use the link below to go directly to the page:
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| Unit Information Pages: UIP |
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 Find Your Marine's Unit Information
If your Marine is active duty and assigned to a permanent duty station, you can connect with families in that unit immediately by using the "Unit Information Page", or UIP, a unique feature offered only at MarineParents.com. Search for your son or daughter's unit in the simple interface and you'll quickly locate information and message boards with those families.
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Give the Gift of Troop Support |
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| Show a Marine that you and your family care! Buy a care package sponsorship for everyone on your Christmas list this year.
For $22 you can give the gift of troop support this Christmas season by purchasing a care package sponsorship for everyone on your gift list! Through The Care Package Project™, you can sponsor a care package to be sent to a Marine in Iraq on January 5, 2008. Or, purchase a gift sponsorship this holiday season, and we'll send a gift card to your gift recipient letting them know that a care package will be sent on his/her behalf to a Marine in Iraq. Your gift recipient's name will be included in the overseas package.
To learn more about The Care Package Project ™ and how we support the Marines year round, please visit the website at:
For additional ways to support the projects of MarineParents.com through gift giving this holiday season, we've provided a selection of the items we offer here on our "Christmas Catalog" page for your shopping ease. You're sure to find gifts to please the Marine Corps enthusiasts on your list!
Thank you for supporting MarineParents.com this holiday season. We appreciate your support! MarineParents.com, Inc. is an IRS approved 501(c)(3) public charity. All proceeds go to MarineParents.com, Inc.
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| Marine Corps Delivers Relief Aid |
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22nd MEU (SOC) delivers first military relief aid to Bangladesh
 ABOARD USS KEARSARGE (Nov. 23, 2007) -- A pair of Marine helicopters lifted from the flight deck of USS Kearsarge (LHD-3) today with loads of bottled water, marking the first delivery of US military aid to the storm-battered nation of Bangladesh.
The 750 gallon shipment of water was delivered to a relief-supply distribution hub in Barisal, a city in southern Bangladesh.
"I feel ecstatic," said Capt. Andrew Traynor, a CH-46E helicopter pilot with the Aviation Combat Element for the 22nd Marine Expeditionary Unit (Special Operations Capable). "(This mission) can show that the US military is not all about combat; we're here to help people."
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| Operation PAL™ Holiday Cards |
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| Start writing Christmas Cards now for our Injured Marines
To assure Christmas delivery, we need to receive your cards and letters for Operation PAL™ Marines and Navy Corpsman in our Jacksonville office by December 12. If you haven't visited the Operation PAL™ website recently, please take a look and write a card or two for our newest Marines in the program.
Operation PAL™ is an outreach program of MarineParents.com that offers opportunities for the community to support our injured or ill troops through Prayers and Letters. Please take a moment to reach out to them today through prayers and letters.
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| Price Reduced for the Holidays! |
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Our Marine Corps Chef Gift Box now just $53.95 through December 10!
We've reduced the price of our Marine Corps Chef's gift box for the Christmas season. Originally $70, we've discounted it to $53.95 (includes US Priority Mail Shipping) from now until December 10, 2007. Hurry, quantities are limited!
The gift box includes our original (and sold out!) Devil Dog Chow Cookbook, two ceramic coffee mugs with the Marine Corps Eagle, Globe and Anchor, a beautifully embroidered Marine Corps Red Chef's Apron, a collectable Marine Corps Teddy Bear, plus "Marine Spirited" hot sauce, chili and cornbread mix, and barbecue sauce. The gift box is offered only from MarineParents.com. All proceeds go back to support the projects of MarineParents.com, Inc.
(Adorable former Marine not included.) |
| Our Newest T-Shirt Design |
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 For everyone in your Marine Corps family!
It's new, it's fresh, and it's another original from MarineParents.com! Let your entire family show they are the proud family member of a United States Marine! Shirts available for adults and children, t-shirts or sweatshirts, in whites, lights, and an array of "Ooh Rah" colors.
FREE SHIPPING LIMITED TIME!
Get free shipping on all orders of $75 or more only through midnight, Friday, November 30. Use coupon code SHIP07 at checkout.
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| Once a Warrior: Wired For Life |
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 Book Discussion Group Now Online
We've opened a new discussion group for family members and military personnel to have discussions with one another about the book Once a Warrior, Wired for Life. You'll find the discussion group here: USMCParents.com
The authors, Dr. Bridget Cantrell and Chuck Dean, (also of the critically acclaimed book on PTSD, Downrange to Iraq), have once again written a self-help guide that will assist the families of Warriors understand "why" the civilian world is tough for anyone who has been in combat (downrange). The book will guide the Warrior through different scenarios, validate the feelings and emotions and difficulties they face at homecoming, and provide them with practical, useful suggestions for living life as a civilian. The authors take this one step further by encouraging our Warriors to make good use of their military skills outside the military--yes, even infantrymen have skills and qualities that will be useful in civilian professions.
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| Purple Heart Hero Support™ |
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 Thanksgiving Weekend Lunches Served to Families
Purple Heart Hero Support™ ended the Thanksgiving weekend by providing a Sunday lunch for the patients and their families at the National Naval Medical Center in Bethesda, MD. Five volunteers from MarineParents.com served 100 burritos, salad, chips, salsa and soda to Marines injured in combat zones. The burritos were a welcome treat for the Marines and their families. The Marine Liaison office assisted the volunteers to bring meals up to Marines in the Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) Center on a another floor of the hospital. The two Marines in treatment there particularly appreciated this.
The next lunch is scheduled for December 15, 2007. Donations are always appreciated to help cover the cost of meals at Bethesda and for Purple Heart Hero Support™ to ultimately expand its much-needed services.
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| Website Overhaul Progress |
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 A Quick Update
The progress on the website overhaul is moving forward, albeit more slowly than we had anticipated and much more slowly than we would like. But we are making progress. The Recruit Parents websit is now finished. We started work on the largest section of the website just prior to Thanksgiving.
Much has been added and updated as we work to move "all things deployment" to the look and feel of the new website. While it's not quite finished, if you have not perused that section of the website lately, you will likely find some new information that will be helpful during deployments. As with the other sections we have moved, we won't take the "old" pages away until we complete the entire new section.
Thank you for your patience as we continue to work toward the new and improved website!
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We hope this week's edition of our email newsletter has been useful for you and your family. If there are topics you would like us to address, or if you have other suggestions for the newsletter, please contact us.
The banner used at the top of this newsletter is a USMC photo of THAR THAR REGION, Iraq (Nov. 20, 2007) - Master Sgt. Paul Vanek collects gear at COP Hawas after spending more than a month there as 6th Engineer Support Battalion worked to construct the outpost. Photo by: Cpl. Andrew Kalwitz. Click here to read accompanying story.
MarineParents.com, Inc. is a 501(c)(3) public charity. MarineParents.com, Inc. was founded in January, 2003 in response to parents' needs to find information and to Connect & Share™ with one another during deployments. Our free online services and connections have expanded to support and educate Marine moms & dads, spouses, families and friends and we'll be offering the 3rd Annual National Conference in Washington DC, 2008. We've helped over 40,000 Marine and recruit families during bootcamp, training, active duty and deployments. We've shipped thousands of care packages overseas to our Marines in Iraq and Afghanistan, sent thousands of prayers and letters to injured Marines and served hundreds of lunches to families caring for their Marines at Bethesda Hospital. You've found a Place to Connect & Share™.
God Bless and Semper Fidelis,
Tracy Della Vecchia
Founder and Executive Director MarineParents.com, Inc.
Neither the United States Marine Corps nor any other component of the Department of Defense has approved, endorsed, or authorized this service. |
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