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Posted on March 22, 2008 - 19:33 PM |
By Kyle-Anne Shiver
One of the most effective groups at work on behalf of our troops is Operation Gratitude, an assemblage of Americans who put aside every difference among them in the common cause of loving our soldiers. Since its founding in 2003, this one group of all-volunteer supporters has sent 300,000 care packages to our troops serving in harm's way.
And all of it started because one American mom decided that she could not sit idly by in her safe, comfortable home doing nothing while our young men and women willingly left safety and comfort behind to fight for the rest of us.
Carolyn Blashek, founder of Operation Gratitude, has become for all intents and purposes, America's Troop Mom. She and her mission to minister to the morale of our troops through her simple, but ingenious, "care" packages are living proof of Basil King's famous injunction: http://www.online-literature.com/basil-king/
"Be bold and mighty forces will come to your aid."
Mighty forces, both seen and unseen, have indeed come to the aid of Operation Gratitude in its essential mission of showing our soldiers we all do care.
And those mighty forces just keep on coming, time and time again, in the most unlikely "coincidences," from the most unlikely sources.
Mighty Forces Take Carolyn to Iraq
In late December last year, when Operation Gratitude's holiday drive was in full gear, with hundreds of volunteers packing thousands of packages, and carefully addressing each to an individual soldier overseas, Carolyn realized that a mission milestone would be reached within the month. The 300,000th package was nearing assembly and its recipient was already named by the computer's data bank.
One of OpGrat's mighty forces had already donated the keys to a brand new Jeep Liberty for the recipient of this milestone care package. And the excitement among the volunteers was palpable.
Coincidentally, the soldier picked by the computer to receive the 300,000th package was a member of the brigade under the charge of Major General Hertling, commanding general of Multi-National Division North in Iraq. Carolyn Blashek and Major General Hertling go all the way back to OpGrat's founding in 2003.
In the beginning, when Carolyn was merely bold, she had no mighty forces. But she had enough boldness to be mighty in her own right, and she got ahold of the General's name through channels, and sent him an email asking for the individual names and addresses of all the soldiers under his command, so that she could send them each a care package from home.
The general now says he thought she was a bit out of it at the time, and wrote back simply: "Ma'am, I don't think you know who I am or how many soldiers I have under my command. I currently have a force of 39,000 soldiers," thinking that would be the end of it.
But our Troop Mom wrote back to the general, quite boldly indeed:
"General, I don't think you know who I am.
Just send me the names and addresses and I will make sure every one of them receives a care package from us at home."
When the 39,000 packages arrived as promised, and the general saw the amazing effect they had on the morale of his troops, he immediately became a treasured mighty force on the side of Operation Gratitude. And as soon as he was notified that one of his own soldiers was slated to receive the 300,000th package, he immediately set things in motion that would coalesce in bringing Carolyn Blashek and her trusted right-hand man, Charlie Othold (USAF, ret), to Iraq to present the package with the keys to the Jeep in person.
Now getting to the middle of the war zone would be nearly impossible for the ordinary American citizen. But with a decorated general in the lead and his own mighty forces covering your flank, neither paperwork nor bureaucracy are supreme obstacles, and you land in Iraq hoping you remembered to pack your hair dryer.
The War through a New Lens
In Iraq, Carolyn found that it's one thing to view the war, our soldiers and their mission through an often non-supportive media lens. But it's quite another to don full body armor and set off for the desert on a Black Hawk helicopter for a genuine birds-eye look around.
For Carolyn Blashek, Troop Mom, who spent 2 days on the ground in Iraq in January, the experience imparted a profound new meaning, not only to her own mission of sending care packages to our soldiers, but also to her perspective on the war itself and our national mission in the Middle East.
True Mom that she is, Carolyn spent most of her time and energy in Iraq delivering packages and hugs, love and reassurances to every man and woman in uniform who crossed her path.
Two Unforgettable Experiences
Carolyn says she had two experiences that truly changed her forever and reinvigorated her resolve to serve from home until true peace with justice can be achieved.
The first experience was a memorial service for six American soldiers and one Iraqi, all of whom had lost their lives in a house-born IED explosion. While the war itself is 24/7, dusty, dirty, smelly and bloody, the memorial service is military pageantry. Civilization in the face of enemy barbarism.
In a desert field, with no shade for solace, men and women of exceptional civility and honor gather to pay their last respects to their own fallen heroes. No detail is spared. Each life lost is given the profound reverence that is due. And each soldier present is given the chance to speak, to pay tribute to the life that has been given so selflessly in the cause of liberty. The generals salute the heroes. The crisp, clean gunshots are heard piercing the silent reverie of those who remain on watch. The brave are sent home to their families for the real grieving to begin.
And the war goes on.
But all who have seen the cost with their own eyes are forever changed, will be forever more diligent in their own meager sacrifice, so that the fallen will not have died in vain.
Life-changing indeed.
Anyone Can Carry an IED
How does a Judeo/Christian civilization fight a war against those for whom our ideas about civilization and honor are meaningless?
Those who would take the life of an innocent young child or a mentally impaired adult, and use that life itself as a weapon, define this war. Among this enemy, all human life is expendable, deemed worthy only in sacrifice.
Al Qaeda forces in Iraq have demonstrated over and over again that there is no limit to their brutality in pursuit of their jihad.
Carolyn Blashek now understands this foe, and her understanding dawned in an instant, even as she stood in a village under heavy armed guard, wearing the weighty body-armor designed to protect.
Major General Hertling needed to inspect a road in the north that had been recently cleared. For five years this road had been blocked by Al Qaeda and their hidden IED's, preventing all commerce and help for the tiny village of Khan Bani Saad. Readers may remember that this is the village where our soldiers found videos showing Al Qaeda training children to bear arms and fight their battles.
While the men of the village bombard the General with their demands for this new building project or another, Carolyn tells me she tried to take in the surroundings and observe the people. Several groups of young children cluster at a short distance, eagerly watching the unusual sight of the American General with his soldiers.
Carolyn smiles at some of the children. That Mom's smile that serves in place of the hug she would rather offer them. Then, she spies a young adult Iraqi male, and he is staring at her. She is frightened and looks away, back at the children. And one of them, a young boy makes eye contact with her and begins walking towards her, away from the group of children. She looks back at the young man, still staring, and back again at the approaching child, still intently watching her.
And suddenly her breathing stops as the question forms:
Is this child harnessed with an IED? Am I about to die?
The answer that time to the question formed by our soldiers every day as they work in and among the villagers, was "No."
Carolyn did not die in Iraq. She came home safely. But she is still haunted by this second experience, that moment in the little village. She says that it profoundly altered the way she views this war.
General Petraeus understands that if we desire to prevail, then our forces cannot remain behind fixed lines, embedded in fortified bases, but must walk among the people, gain their confidence, rebuild their country and help them learn how to build a free society. But in doing this, our men and women who serve are presented every day with those moments of do-or-die-right-now peril.
And yet they remain a civilized people in a land beleaguered by an uncivilized enemy.
And it is obvious that mighty forces are indeed coming to their aid.
This is not the media lens through which we at home view the war, but it is the one our Troop Mom, Carolyn, now carries in her heart every day and every night, never to be forgotten.
Originally printed in American Thinker
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Posted on March 3, 2008 - 11:28 AM |
James Dicks Magazine, February, 2008 by Jack Lott
One of the special moments that help to break up the daily routine for military forces assigned in far away places is the excitement of receiving a care package from home. Just like when you first went away to college, a care package could turn an ordinary day into a day to remember...
At the age of 19, I was assigned with the U.S. Air Force in Southeast Asia during the Vietnam Conflict and actually received a care package from a VFW group in the Midwest. It was greatly appreciated and brought us all a bit closer to the home we missed. Sadly, the only time we ever received anything like this was during the holidays. So, today’s military members who receive an Operation Gratitude package from home “just because” actually have their daily routines turned into very special events. That’s extremely important for these young military members going through this current difficult period in their lives. Blashek said, “I want it to be Christmas all year round for our troops. What could be better?
To read the entire article: Preserve, Protect & Defend pages 18-21. |
Posted on December 26, 2007 - 00:17 AM |
When all the Christmas presents to thousands of soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan were wrapped, labeled and mailed, the San Fernando Valley's No. 1 Santa Claus did what she always does when another monthlong Operation Gratitude holiday drive ends.
She hit the wall.
"You're so worn out, so physically and emotionally spent that you don't think you can do it anymore," Carolyn Blashek says.
"Then you open your mailbox or receive an e-mail, and there it is again - another little miracle."
Another thank-you note from a lonely soldier far from family and home who just received one of your Christmas presents. He needed a lift, and you gave it to him.
You read all these little miracles and you're not tired anymore, Blashek says. You're reinvigorated and ready to do whatever it takes to make sure every soldier away from home for the holidays gets a personally addressed package with gifts and letters from school kids wishing they come home safe and soon.
Blashek started Operation Gratitude more than four years ago from the living room of her Encino home. She began writing company commanders overseas on her own, asking them for the names of soldiers who were not getting any mail from home.
"I had heard that there were soldiers getting nothing from home, and that just wasn't right," she said. No, it wasn't.
As the number of soldiers grew, so did the number of local elves - more than 1,000 now - who volunteered to help Blashek with her Operation Gratitude holiday drive at the National Guard Armory in Van Nuys.
In the past four years, incredibly, they've packaged and sent holiday presents to more than 300,000 servicemen and -women.
Inside the 300,000th soldier's package, which should arrive a few days after Christmas, there is also the set of keys to a 2008 Jeep.
I wrote about one of those little miracles Blashek is talking about for the USA Weekend Magazine edition Sunday, but because of space limitations I couldn't tell the whole story.
Now I can.
"All the e-mails I get from soldiers are special, but this one was the most powerful," Blashek said. "This one broke my heart."
It was from a staff sergeant who asked that his name and unit and the soldier's name not be used because he didn't want the soldier "labeled" by his superiors.
"Although the Army preaches that nothing will be held against a soldier who threatens or thinks about killing himself, even if he gets help, I've been in long enough to know they do have a negative label put on them," he wrote.
The soldier in his platoon never got mail, care packages or anything from home, the sergeant wrote. He was estranged from his family and the only packages he got were labeled "to any service person."
He began to feel exactly like that. Not an individual, but a nameless soldier - an "occupant," the sergeant said.
"He was planning suicide on Christmas. We found that out after he finally opened up and talked to the chain of command about what was going through his mind and finally got help for his depression."
What changed his mind, his superiors wanted to know? The soldier told them he came back to his barracks alone on Christmas Eve (last year) and saw a package on his bunk.
He picked it up expecting to see the label "to any service person" on it. Instead, he saw his name staring back at him.
He opened the package and read the letters from kids addressed to him, and he began to cry. Over the next month, the soldier sought counseling and reached out to his family back home to reconcile their differences.
"Over my deployments I have lost a few soldiers in the platoons I have taken into combat," the sergeant wrote Blashek. "I have lost a few friends that I have known my entire Army career.
"It's always heart tearingly hard to write the `letters' to the families and loved ones. What words can ease the pain?
"I don't know if I would have the strength, or even what to say to the family of a soldier who had taken his own life.
"But one package, one present from you containing some little things and a few letters from kids made a huge impact in a human's life.
"It made the difference between a soldier walking down an airplane ramp to the waiting arms of loved ones, or being carried down in a flag draped metal box to their tears.
"You've let an old sergeant bring one more of his soldiers back home safely, and for that I am forever in your debt."
Little miracles on Christmas Day. |
Posted on December 26, 2007 - 00:13 AM |
By Kyle-Anne Shiver
'Tis the season to be jolly and joyful, and one of my greatest personal joys this year has been corresponding with some of our soldiers on the front lines of America's defenses in Iraq and Afghanistan. In all my years of motherhood, I have never seen such a steady demonstration of courage, sound reason and deep passion emanating from any group of young people.
And as our own grown children would readily testify, I never give gratuitous praise; it's against my motherhood ethics.
Our soldiers seem to scorn the feelings of entitlement, so commonplace among our sheltered, pampered youth. Saying nothing about what they are due, their words are filled with gratitude and thanksgiving for the opportunity to serve a Nation they love. General George Washington quite surely smiles upon them from his heavenly observation post, as their own Gentleman-General Petraeus must likewise do every day on the ground.
These American men and women do us all proud. Every wife, husband, fiancé, child, mom, dad, brother, sister, cousin, buddy, pal, Joe and Sally Citizen among us.
One of the most gratifying things of all is that they know we love them and that we care about every single hair upon their heads in harms way. They have a sense of our prayers and our genuine concern for their welfare. Their correspondence is overflowing with their gratitude for our gifts, letters and cards.
America's message is getting through loud and clear in myriad ways, both tangible and intangible. The NYT etal no longer have the power to stifle our love for those who take our flag into battle and who suffer the injury and insults of battling America's enemies in our name.
This direct citizen-to-unknown-soldier contact has never been the case in our Nation's history.
Until the Vietnam War, our troops were protected in battle from the outcries of naysayers at home by a national press endeared to their missions. But all that changed dramatically with the Vietnam War, when so many in the national media scorned our Nation's intent, our soldiers, their mission, even their families. And the only media coverage Stateside was then garnered by the small numbers of anti-war demonstrators who shared the media's contempt for our Country and our war effort.
This was the message our soldiers far from home received; it was a lie. Even though 80%* of the American public supported our war effort in Vietnam for its entirety, the silent majority was forced into silence due to technological barriers only breached in the past two and half decades.
Cell phones and the internet have set our voices free! We can now be heard all over the world by the ears and eyes of our valiant fighting forces. And the real, un-filtered, non-politicized war news can be found on the internet by any American who truly wants to know.
So, Rejoice! Americans are no longer gagged by the media moguls and their bully-pulpits, their microphones, their privilege. The media's ivory tower has been shattered to tiny bits and lies in smithereens at the foot of citizen power all over our great, great Land.
A few days ago, I had the profound privilege of speaking at length with the founder of Operation Gratitude, an entirely volunteer citizen organization who has had perhaps the loudest voice in getting our message to our troops in every theater of the War against the IslamoFascists and their terror armies. Of all the groups mentioned for praise by our troops, Operation Gratitude seems known and appreciated by all, from every rank. Carolyn Blashek, Operation Gratitude's driving force, is an amazing woman, I must say, possessed not only of great care for every individual soldier, but also of boundless energy, focus and fortitude. She also must have quite a way with persuasion; she has raised a veritable army of givers, individual and corporate alike.
From her living room in Encino, California she began a tiny enterprise in the wake of her post-9/11 experiences as a volunteer in the USO airport lounge in Los Angeles. One soldier -- one soldier -- she says, so touched her motherly heart that she knew she had to do something about his feeling that no one would care if he never made it back home. (Yes, I know, this breaks my heart as well.)
That one soldier's need to know we all care has led to the sending of more than 300,000 care packages filled with Stateside goodies, cards and personal letters since 2003. Thousands of on-site volunteers, and hundreds of thousands of citizen supporters from every town in America have seized upon Carolyn's outstretched opportunity to show we care.
Carolyn says that her inbox is filled every day with countless letters of friendship, thanks and American kinship from the many soldiers who have received the care packages, so lovingly sent by citizens through Operation Gratitude.
Among the many simple thanks she receives, one message emerges loud and clear. The soldiers love the goodies, enjoy the movies and games, appreciate the batteries and toiletries, but they positively cherish the hand-written letters.
Carolyn tells of one soldier, a young man with little support from family or friends at home, who after partaking of the sweets and watching the movie sent, carefully opens the hand-written letter of a little unknown girl from Michigan, reads her words of love and her heartfelt prayer for his safety, sheds a few silent tears, then folds the lined notebook page and carefully places it in his combat helmet, taking it with him into every battle, his most cherished possession.
Hollywood wake up! Here is your blockbuster war movie!
Writing now, as an older, wiser Boomer, one of the gagged silent majority of Vietnam-War days, I have found it especially heartening to learn that a large proportion of Operation Gratitude volunteers at the now vastly expanded packaging headquarters in the National Guard Amory in Encino, are Vietnam Vets. And these men are now getting through giving, the healing of their hearts and minds, and understanding perhaps for the very first time, that this outpouring of love and respect is what we as a Nation would have done for them if only we had had the opportunity to do so.
This, in itself, is a very belated gift to our veterans, for which all Americans have just cause for rejoicing.
Time and space here simply do not permit a listing of the myriad organizations that have sprouted to fill our national need to be part of our Country's war effort. The purely spontaneous, individual and group ventures, formed to support and thank our troops in harms way, abound in the variety and scope that exemplifies our uniquely American, creative, entrepreneurial spirit. They represent young and old, rich and poor, religious and non-religious, right and left, north, south, east, west and everywhere in between.
So rejoice, America! The once-all-powerful gag of the mainstream media is broken at last!
Let freedom ring!
*This statistic comes from the book, Modern Times, by Paul Johnson; Harper Collins; 1991; p. 637. |
Posted on December 7, 2007 - 00:31 AM |
Van Nuys, CA-Operation Gratitude presented the first annual NATIONAL FREEDOM AWARD to retired U.S. Army Lieutenant General Hal Moore at the National Guard Armory in Van Nuys, California on December 1, 2007. Joined by We Were Soldiers Once and Young co-author Joe Galloway and the movie adaptation's director Randy Wallace, hundreds of Military personnel and volunteers gathered to pay tribute to the General's renowned career. Several Cavalry Veterans who served under Moore's command surprised the General, and arrived wearing their revered Stetsons, the hallmark of the Cavalry.
"This experience was a most moving and sincere gathering of Americans, drawn together out of deep love and respect for each other, for our troops and for our nation," said Lt. General Moore. "I accepted the National Freedom Award on behalf of all those in harm's way who ensure our continued freedom and to whom we pay great tribute."
Serving as the ceremony's distinguished speaker, Lt. General Moore deeply touched the crowd as he recounted his dramatic return to the scene of the 1965 Battle of Ia Drang in Vietnam. Eric Weider, publisher of the Armchair General and Operation Gratitude Magazines relayed part of General Moore's moving speech in his online forum that night:
"General Moore became overcome with emotion and tears as he recalled visiting LZ Xray with Joe Galloway and others of his troopers in 1993.
At night he walked the perimeter and recalled the men in their foxholes and trenches..."Don't worry Colonel they won't get through us" he heard them say. Painfully, now in 1993, Moore knew which of those brave young men would be killed in the next morning's assault by the North Vietnamese Army.
As Moore stood by the ant hill that marked his command post he vividly recalled the dead men laying under their ponchos with only their boots poking out...awaiting evacuation.
Lt. General Moore stood on that hallowed field for a minute of silence to remember all the dead of the conflict on both sides. At that moment, his opponent from the Ia Drang battle, Vietnamese Lt. General An, approached Moore and kissed him on both cheeks. Thirty years earlier they had been trying to kill each other.
That night a meteor shower of several hundred shooting stars went on for about 10 minutes. Moore and Galloway believe those stars were the souls of all those lost at Ia Drang.
They stayed the night at LZ-XRAY because a monsoon blew through and no helicopters could fly in to retrieve them. The next morning, the Vietnamese Army was sent in to rescue them. Lt. General Moore exclaimed it was quite a jarring sight to see 150 Vietnamese Soldiers in their brown uniforms carrying AK47s emerge from the jungle. But this time it was to save, not kill them!"
Throughout the day, General Moore met and spoke with hundreds of soldiers, Marines, airmen, and volunteers. One soldier's response typified the sentiments of most attendees. "I read We Were Soldiers in Boot Camp. I just couldn't wait to meet Lt. General Moore." While shaking hands, another soldier excitedly told the General, "I have read every history book that exists about you. I would serve under you any day!"
General Moore joined Operation Gratitude volunteers on the Assembly Line as they continued their Holiday Drive to ship 70,000 care packages by year-end to troops deployed in combat zones. "I will be forever moved by the greatness of Americans," states Moore. "It was very uplifting to stand shoulder to shoulder with more than 800 volunteers to assemble care packages for our troops. For all the ugliness that comes at times, there are great examples of genuine goodness - and Operation Gratitude is that many times over."
A special gift was included in every care package this year-General Moore's new book,A General's Spiritual Journey, a compelling treatise describing his spiritual journey from childhood to his golden years. Moore also autographed copies of the "Journey" for the volunteers to take home.
"This day changed my life," said one volunteer. "I am so inspired to do whatever I can to show my admiration and respect to the members of our military."
Marine Staff Sergeant Scott Richardson, who has served tours in Iraq and Afghanistan, flew in from Michigan for the opportunity to meet General Moore. "While deployed, I received an Operation Gratitude gift box, as did many of the soldiers here today. Opening that box felt like I had a little piece of home with me out there in the desert," Richardson stated. "After spending the day with Lt. General Moore and so many hundreds of energized volunteers, I am motivated to go back to Iraq or Afghanistan to do my part-again-to do whatever it takes to defend our freedom. These Americans are the reason I love serving my country," he said. |
300,000th Care Package to be Shipped December 15!
On December 15, 2007, Operation Gratitude will celebrate another milestone: the shipment of it's 300,000th care package since its inception! Several Military and political dignitaries, celebrities and corporate sponsors will be in attendance as the Volunteers assemble the 300,000th package and learn of the special gift to be included. The 200,000th and 250,000th packages contained the keys to new vehicles.
The excitement will begin at 9am when the Assembly Line starts production; the 300,000th package is expected to hit the line at about 11:30 a.m. A short Ceremony will take place at that time, followed by the mass Photo Op, a special lunch, product samples and fun activities provided by generous corporate sponsors.
All media and volunteers (ages 12 and older) are welcome to attend the Celebration at the:
California National Guard Armory
17330 Victory Blvd.
Van Nuys, CA 91406
Corner of Victory and Louise; parking available as directed by the National Guard. |
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