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MarineParents.com Newsletter
a Place to Connect & Share 
In This Issue
Deployment Learning Center
Homecoming Learning Center
Please Visit Our Sponsors
Participate in the All-States Challenge
Dr. Cantrell Chat Night is Back!
Help Wounded Warriors Attend the Birthday Ball
KC Marines Hold Tribute Ceremony
Pledge to Support Gold Star Mothers
Marine Corps Birthday Cards Coming Soon!
Collect Items for Marines at Camp Dwyer
DONATE with every swipe of your card
Support for You:
a Place to
Connect & Share™
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Learning Center:
Operational Security
Operational Security

NOTE: When communicating online, your Marine's privacy is as important as Operational Security. Please respect YOUR Marine's privacy!

Learning Center:
About Deployment
 
 
 
 
 
 
Learning Center:
About Homecoming
 
 
 
 
 
 
Tip: While in our store, check in your Marine's unit store for more homecoming shirts!
Unit Chat Nights
Unit Chat Night Schedule:
 
Monday: 1/7, 1/2, 2/6
Tuesday: 1st LAR, 26th MEU
Wednesday: 3/7, 1/8, 3/1, 3/3
Thursday: 2/9
 
For additional information about the Chat Room and Unit Chat Nights for your Marine's Unit, please see:
 
           MarineParents.com Chat Gif 
Local Support Groups in Your 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:
Support Our Marines!
 
 
Purple Heart Hero Support™ an Outreach Program of Marine Parents.com
 
 
Show your support of our Marines and their families!Participate in one of the Marine Parents Outreach Programs today! Our Marines need YOU!
Visit Our Sponsors
 
Sign Up for the Newsletter 
Join Our Mailing List
September 22, 2010
Greetings 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.
 
Looking back over the past several months we have realized just how many great things Marine Parents has been able to do for our Marines, and these things are all thanks to YOU and your generous support.
 
This newsletter contains some of Marine Parents' latest successes including our campaigns and fundraisers, but we also can't forget how your support helped us reach a resolution of the Pact Act issue and make great progress with S504, the proposal to change "The Department of the Navy" to "The Department of the Navy and Marine Corps."
 
Scroll down to read about all of the ways you have supported - and are supporting - the Marines and their families at home. We truly would not be able to provide support for our Marines in so many critical and beneficial ways without you!
Nationwide Care Package Support
Participate in the CPP All-States Challenge 
 
All-States Challenge!As many of you know, our Care Package Project™ sends about 1200 care packages to Marines overseas five times a year.
 
Part of the project
includes the All-States Challenge, which encourages each state to gather monthly sponsors who will fund care packages for Marines each month.
 
We have made significant progress with this thanks to all of our generous sponsors! We have sponsors from 39 states, and together they have reached a grand total of 559 sponsored care packages - almost half the number of care packages we ship on each pack day! 
 
This is an incredible accomplishment, and we know we can soon get all 50 states involved!
 
Texas is currently taking the lead in this challenge at 64 sponsored care packages, but YOU can help get your state in the running. Encourage your family and friends to participate too, and watch your state's progress on our website.
 
Dr. Bridget Cantrell is Back!
Chat Nights Will Begin Thursday, October 7th

Chat Nights With Dr. Bridget CantrellBridgett C. Cantrell, Ph.D. and author of several acclaimed books on combat recovery, is back in the MarineParents.com chat room once a month to discuss with Marines and family members topics such as Post Traumatic Stress Disorder and Warrior Transitioning.

 
Her next chat will be held on Thursday, October 7th from 8-9:30 p.m. Central Time.
 
Dr. Cantrell is an excellent resource for recovering Marines and their families, so pass this information along to other Marine families!
 
2010 Marine Corps Birthday Ball
Fundraiser To Help Wounded Warriors Attend
 
USMC Birthday BallOn November 19, 2010, the Wounded Warrior Barracks in San Diego will hold a Marine Corps Birthday Ball for 300 wounded, ill and injured Marines at the Westin Hotel. The Marine Corps Birthday is a very important day for all Marines, but for some of our Wounded Warriors this ball has greater meaning.
 
Some will be attending the ball for the first time; for others this will be their last Marine Corps Birthday Ball as they will soon be discharged from the Marine Corps due to the extent of their injuries. 
 
You can make this year's ball even more memorable for a Marine and guest by buying their dinner for that evening.
KC Marines Hold Tribute Ceremony
Memorial Will Be Dedicated to Fallen Heroes

KC 24th Marines Memorial CeremonyOn Saturday, October 2nd the 24th Marine Regiment of Kansas City will hold a public ceremony to honor the 39 Marines and one Navy Corpsman who were killed in action during Operation Iraqi Freedom.

 
They will also dedicate a memorial to all of the unit's Marines and Sailors who have given their lives since the unit's establishment.
 
If you're in the area, attend the event in support of all Marines!

Click here to learn more...

Hundreds Pledge to Support Gold Star Mothers
Join them in their effort on September 26th!
 
Honor Gold Star MothersOur Gold Star Mother's Day initiative began only last year, and this year we have been extremely successful in gaining support for this day!
 
484 individuals and 11 neighborhoods across the country have committed to displaying Gold Star Luminaries in front of their homes in honor of families of service men and women KIA.
 
And just recently, the governor of Michigan honored a request to officially establish the last Sunday in September as Gold Star Mothers Day in Michigan. Make this day a statewide remembrance in your state by contacting your governor. 
 
Visit www.GoldStarMothersDay.com for more information on honoring this day and displaying a luminary. Pass it along to family and friends!
 
Thank you to all that will be displaying a Gold Star Luminary this Sunday! Your support is much appreciated!
Marine Corps Birthday Cards
Coming Soon! 
 
USMC Birthday CardsNovember 10th marks the Marine Corps' 235th birthday, so let's help them celebrate! Starting September 27th, our EGA Store will be featuring Marine Corps birthday cards available for purchase.  
 
They are blank on the inside, so you can write your own personal birthday note to your Marine. You can purchase a single card or in packages of 6 or 24.
 
Would you like to send birthday cards in the care packages we are shipping out on November 6th?
 
Supporting Camp Dwyer Warriors
Attention on Deck: From & About Our Marines
 
Items For Dwyer Wounded WarriorsMarine Parents is currently working with Army medic Sgt Hernandez-Trujillo, stationed with the 31st Combat Support Hospital at Camp Dwyer, Afghanistan, to collect donations of entertainment items for its recovery center.
 

The hospital is fairly new, and the Wounded Warrior Center, which is a place for the wounded to recover, receive follow-up care, and wait to return to their units, is still in its early stages. While all branches of the service use this facility, many of the patients there are Marines, and they are in need of items to help speed their recovery process.  

Marine Parents will be collecting new or gently used donations of any musical listening devices such as headphones, MP3 players, iPods and CD players/CDs, as well as entertainment items such as board games, DVD players/DVDs and sports items for the Wounded Warrior Center. (We will not be sending VHS tapes, cassette players, cassette tapes or magazines.) The Sgt said that a microwave would also be very much appreciated.

You can help speed the recovery time for the Wounded Warriors by donating any of the items listed above! 
 
Gold Star Members Stay Connected 
Families Recognized at Nationwide Concerts
 
Gold Star Families Attend Freedom ConcertsFor the second year in a row, several of our Gold Star family members attended Freedom Concerts at various locations across the country. 
 
The Freedom Alliance sponsors these concerts and the proceeds are used to provide scholarships to the children of service members who were either killed or permanently disabled in the line of duty.
 
 
DONATE with every swipe of your card!

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 September 2010 USMC Photo by Lance Cpl. Reece E. Lodder of students of the School Infantry West - Detachment Hawaii's Martial Arts Instructor Course 7-10 hiking toward a shallow-water grappling station of the course's Battle Endurance Course at Fort Hase Beach Sept. 15. Click here to read additional credits.  
 
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 have a Place 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. We've helped over 130,000 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 meals to Wounded Warriors and their families on both the East and West coasts. 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.