New Website for Novel MRS. LIEUTENANT and New Facebook Group for Your Military

The new website for my novel MRS. LIEUTENANT has launched. Yael Miller created a terrific site, especially the header art that she designed.

Visit MRS. LIEUTENANT now.

Also, Nancy Brown, my co-host on our BlogTalkRadio show YourMilitaryLife.com, has just launched the Facebook group Your Military.

"Your Military group has two new discussions," Nancy Brown said, "and I would like you to pass this information to others who may benefit. The first new discussion is for military brats to share their life experiences. The second group is for military blog authors to post info about their blogs to give them exposure and to give them another way to let us know of their work."

Join the Facebook group Your Military now and take part in these discussions if they apply to you.
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Phyllis Zimbler Miller is the author of MRS. LIEUTENANT: A SHARON GOLD NOVEL and the co-author of the Jewish holiday book SEASONS FOR CELEBRATION. She also blogs as a National Internet Business Examiner and at Operation Support Jews in the Military and Fiction Marketing, and she is the co-host of the BlogTalkRadio show Your Military Life.

Her company Miller Mosaic LLC builds call-to-action websites that get people to say yes to your brand, book or business. Her newest project is the book/website project In Support of Our Troops.

Help Bataan Memorial Death March Raise Funds for Homes for Our Troops

On Facebook I got a message from Goli Motar about a project to raise funds to have a home built through Homes for Our Troops for badly wounded SGT David Battle. Read Goli's Facebook message and then click on the link provided below to donate funds.

Subject: Homes for Our Troops

Dear friends and family,

In March, our team will be heading to White Sands, New Mexico, to participate in the Bataan Memorial Death March, a 26.2 mile march through the high desert terrain of the White Sands Missile Range.

Our goal is to raise awareness of the difficulties facing severely wounded service men and women upon their return to the United States from combat.

SGT David Battle, a resident of Baltimore, Maryland, was severely wounded while serving in Iraq during combat operations on December 18, 2007.

Homes for Our Troops, a charitable organization that provides specially adapted homes for wounded soldiers, is building SGT David Battle a home in Baltimore, Maryland. All donations we raise during the march will go to building this home for SGT Battle and his family.

Our team currently consists of six members -- five members of the military and one civilian:

CPT Adam Tiffen
CPT Brian Borakove
CPT Peter Goff
1LT Jarred Fishman
2LT Jason Bariatti
and Yochi Dreazen, our hardcore civilian friend!

Our collective goal is to raise $5,000. Please give what you can, and be kind enough to forward this along to others so that they might participate.

As we train for the march, we will be posting periodic updates and photographs showing our progress. Please feel free to contact us and offer your encouragement and support!

Team BATTLE

Donate now!
_____

Phyllis Zimbler Miller is the author of MRS. LIEUTENANT: A SHARON GOLD NOVEL and the co-author of the Jewish holiday book SEASONS FOR CELEBRATION. She also blogs at PZ the Do-Gooder Scrooge and Operation Support Jews in the Military, and she is the co-host of the BlogTalkRadio show Your Military Life. Her company Miller Mosaic LLC builds call-to-action websites for book authors and small businesses.

Her Husband Is Among the First Boots on the Ground

Trish Forant of eMailOurMilitary is sponsoring on her blog a series of guest posts about supporting the troops.

I want to share with you the October 28th guest post by Erin Nash, who blogs at www.becauseifeellikewriting.blogspot.com and whose husband is "a special operations Soldier and is always among the first boots on the ground wherever needed in the world."

Go on over to http://snipurl.com/emomguestpost to read a soldier's wife's thoughts about supporting our troops.

And, remember, I'm sponsoring an Honor a Veteran event on Facebook at http://snipurl.com/mrslieutenant and Trish is sponsoring a holiday program at www.emailourmilitary.com. If you're able, please participate in both projects.

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Why Support Our Troops? eMailOurMilitary Asks This Question

Trish Forant of eMailOurMilitary in her blog at http://snipurl.com/4mzj5 writes a terrific post explaining why supporting our troops is NOT supporting the war. She reminds us of the other work our troops do (my note: such as patrolling the streets of New Orleans after Katrina hit) and asks that other bloggers answer the question “Why support the troops?”

Here’s my response:

Why do I support the troops? The answer is a direct line from the Vietnam War until today. Let me explain:

Growing up in Elgin, Illinois, in the 50s and 60s I didn’t know many young men serving in the military forces. Of course, most fathers I knew had served in the military during World War II, but that was to be expected.

I clearly remember two boys a few years older than I, sons of my parents’ friends, who were drafted and served in Vietnam. But no one I knew volunteered to serve.

And then I met my to-be future husband at Michigan State University, and he was in ROTC. He had volunteered to be a U.S. army officer.

Because we got married before he went on active duty, I was introduced to the world of the military. And as Jews stationed in Munich, Germany, we particularly appreciated being remembered at holiday time by the Jewish Welfare board. I learned first-hand how important it is to know that there are people who care about military personnel serving their country.

Thus it was natural that, when I was the co-author of the 1992 Jewish holiday book SEASONS FOR CELEBRATION (written with Rabbi Karen L. Fox), I included in the book a request for donations to the Jewish Welfare Board “in support for our women and men serving abroad.”

It was equally natural that, when my book MRS. LIEUTENANT: A SHARON GOLD NOVEL came out in April of this year, I included on the website (www.mrslieutenant.com) information about organizations, including eMOM, that help support military personnel and their families. And this is why I frequently write posts about such organizations for my blog.



Recently I was thrilled to participate with eMailOurMilitary and Nancy Sutherland of www.directsalesmarketingqueen.com on Operation Soldier Care, and I’m currently sponsoring the Facebook event Honor a Veteran at http://snipurl.com/mrslieutenant. Please visit the page to honor a veteran you know or admire.

Having experienced what it’s like to be part of the U.S. military, I feel strongly that all Americans should do their part to both support military personnel today and to honor those veterans who have come before.

I believe that eMailOurMilitary is doing a particularly important service by demonstrating to deployed military personnel that people care. And I’m personally in email contact with a National Guard infantryman in Iraq whose blog is on my blogroll.

November 11th is Veterans Day – may we all remember with gratitude the men and women who have served and are serving our country.

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Warriors in Transition: America’s Heroes at Work

This morning I was interviewed on the blogtalkradio show Southwest-Blend’s Champagne Sundays (http://snipurl.com/oct19blogtalkradio. Because the Facebook group page MRS. LIEUTENANT: A SHARON GOLD NOVEL is sponsoring the event Honor a Veteran (http://snipurl.com/mrslieutenant), we talked about supporting our military troops regardless of our political affiliation.

And then this evening I watched the October 5th episode of Lifetime’s ARMY WIVES. (Yes, I’m a little behind.) In this episode there was a mention of warriors in transition – military personnel who because of injuries have to transition to civilian life.

I did a Google search for the term "warriors in transition" and discovered that there is now the site America’s Heroes at Work (www.americasheroesatwork.gov/):

Supporting the Employment Success of Returning
Service Members with TBI & PTSD

Welcome to America's Heroes at Work -- a U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) project that focuses on the employment challenges of returning service members living with Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) and/or Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD).

Designed for employers and the workforce development system, this Web site is your link to information and tools to help returning service members affected by TBI and/or PTSD succeed in the workplace -- particularly service members returning from Iraq and Afghanistan.

And I wanted to bring this site to people’s attention because the site provides help for employers who want to recruit, hire and retain veteran employees.

If you’re an employer, I hope you’ll check out this website. And regardless of whether you’re an employer, I hope you’ll support our troops.

You can check out my website at www.mrslieutenant.com for organizations that support military personnel and their families, or check out www.emailourmilitary.com, especially now during its holiday program.

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I'll Be on Southwest-Blend BlogTalkRadio

This Sunday, October 19, on Southwest-Blend's Champagne Sundays Variety Radio Show at http://snipurl.com/oct19blogtalkradio I'll be one of the featured authors.

The show is two hours (11 a.m. to 1 p.m. PACIFIC time), and I'm scheduled to call in at 11:15. I'm assuming that I'll be one of the first authors interviewed. We'll be talking about MRS. LIEUTENANT: A SHARON GOLD NOVEL and my Facebook event Honor a Veteran (http://snipurl.com/mrslieutenant).

If you can't catch the show live, it will be available afterwards. Cheers!

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World War II Medic John Savery Awarded Bronze Star for Battlefield Surgery

Below as a guest post is what Loretta Savery shared for the Facebook event Honor a Veteran at http://snipurl.com/mrslieutenant. I found this so moving that I wanted to share it here. (The photo above is of John Savery in front of Notre Dame in Paris in 1945.)

My father John Savery was a newlywed from Queens, New York, when he was drafted right after Pearl Harbor. In basic training, the new recruits were awarded weekends off for excellence on the firing range. My dad was a great shot and was able to get off many weekends to visit his new wife.

In basic training, my dad gave a lot of thought to battle and recognized that he couldn't kill another human being; it went against everything he had been taught and that he believed was a part of his faith. He knew he had a duty to his country, so rather than apply for conscientious objector status -- which he told me he never considered -- he volunteered to be a medic.

My naive young dad believed that both sides would abide by the Geneva Convention and wouldn't shoot at a medic or a Red Cross Medical tent. Instead, he was a sitting duck as the Germans tried to knock off the medical teams so that the American soldiers had no aid. Medics did not carry weapons and had no way to defend themselves.

My sisters and I are very proud of our dad, who served in Patton's Army in the invasion of North Africa, the invasion of Sicily, and battles throughout Italy and France. His battalion was never relieved and sent home; he served in Europe from mid-1942 until the end of the war.

My dad had to amputate a man's leg on the field of battle, with fighting going on around them, to save a man's life. Mind you -- my dad had only a high school education. The surgeon near him said, "you've seen me do it; I'll talk you through it, but the man I'm with needs me and if you don't amputate that soldier's leg -- he'll die". My dad was awarded the Bronze Star for that successful surgery.

My mom's and my dad's ashes are in the columbarium at Arlington National Cemetery, a fitting tribute to a couple who sacrificed a lot for the country they loved.

Army Veterans: Three Generations

The above photo is of my father-in-law Martin Miller on the left during World War II and my husband Mitchell Miller on the right in 1970 when he was training at Ft. Holabird, Maryland, as an intelligence officer during the Vietnam War.

My husband has a WWI poster that England used to encourage Canadian Jews to serve. Here's the poster's wording:

THE JEWS THE WORLD OVER LOVE LIBERTY
HAVE FOUGHT FOR IT & WILL FIGHT FOR IT

BRITAIN EXPECTS EVERY SON OF ISRAEL TO DO HIS DUTY

ENLIST WITH THE INFANTRY REINFORCEMENTS FOR OVERSEAS

Under the Command of Capt. Freedman
Headquarters
786 St. Lawrence Boulevard
Montreal

The poster art includes cameos of:
Rt. Hon. Herbert Samuel
Viscount Reading
Rt. Hon. Edwin S. Montagu

And a cartoon figure is saying: You have cut my bonds and set me free -- now let me help you set others free.

My husband’s father’s father Jacob Miller, who had only recently come to America from somewhere in Eastern Europe (and whose last name was probably Menduke or Meduke), went from Philadelphia to Canada to join the British army in WWI before the U.S. entered the war. He was gassed in the war and never really recovered.

I posted the above photo and the above description as part of the Honor a Veteran event being hosted by the Facebook group Mrs. Lieutenant: A Sharon Gold Novel. Go to http://snipurl.com/mrslieutenant to learn about the event and to see a photo of the WWI poster described above.

Share this event with your friends -- let's Honor a Veteran!

P.S. eMailOurMilitary just announced its holiday love program for military personnel -- see http://snipurl.com/4bqyy.

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Honor a Veteran Facebook Event

Honor A Veteran event is being hosted by the Facebook group MRS. LIEUTENANT: A SHARON GOLD NOVEL in recognition of Veterans Day (November 11) -- see http://snipurl.com/mrslieutenant.

Honor a veteran you know or admire in any of the following ways on the group's Facebook page:

On the wall:
Post a brief description of a veteran

On the photos:
Post a photo of a veteran with a caption

On the video:
Post a video of a veteran

And to thank you for honoring a veteran, five submitters (as chosen by random.org) will each receive a signed copy of MRS. LIEUTENANT (www.mrslieutenant.com), a Mary Kay microdermabrasion set ($55 value) donated by Nancy Sutherland of www.directsalesmarketingqueen.com, and a YourMilitary coffee mug from Nancy Brown of www.yourmilitary.com.

And to support military personnel today, go to www.emailourmilitary.com

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Veterans Day Event: I'm Getting Ready to Launch

Veterans Day is in a month on November 11th. In recognition of this day, I'm about to launch a Facebook Veterans Day event that will start this coming week.

I'm hoping that lots of people will participate in this online event. And to encourage participants, I'm rounding up prizes for five participants (to be chosen by random.org). In addition to five copies of MRS. LIEUTENANT: A SHARON GOLD NOVEL, I've already got five Mary Kay microdermabrasion sets (each a $55 value) donated by Nancy Sutherland of www.directsalesmarketingqueen.com.

If you or anyone you know would like to donate five prizes for this event, let me know now. Leave a comment here or email me through www.mrslieutenant.com. If I know before Sunday morning, I'll add the info in the initial event announcement. Otherwise I'll add the info in subsequent announcements.

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Vietnam War: An Unexpected Email Brings Back Memories

I received the following email today from my junior high and high school friend Karen Clemens (now Karen Kernan). She wrote so beautifully about what we experienced at the time of the Vietnam War that I asked her permission to post this. She's now a marketing communications writer and her website is www.karenkernan.com. She’s on Facebook as Karen Kernan.

After reading the entire book, which I did very quickly, I had trouble sleeping. It brought back so many memories and gut reactions to those days. We did not keep in touch, and it was fascinating to me to see the journey you took.

I noted the mention of the diary in the book and wondered if you did indeed keep one, because the point of view seemed not to be influenced by the future that followed. What I mean is that the author did not seem to be one looking back to a distant past, with insights and wisdom of time. So it was a very fresh, undiluted return to those days when we did not know what would happen next.

It reminded me of when I was doing original research for a book I wrote on my husband’s ancestor who was one of the few Democratic senators in the U.S. Congress during the Civil War. The newspaper accounts written at the time were by people who did not know what the outcome of the war would be, and the tension in them was so raw in comparison to the later memoirs and history books.

So I did not sleep easily, going back into the time within my own body when the war was so distressing and uncertain, and my own young husband’s lottery number was low [17] and would be called up once he finished graduate school. But your book brought me back and showed an alternate path that might have been my own, and I think that is what caused the discomfort.

I felt a shift take place in me, and was forced to see the more terrifying and complex reality of what might have been had the war not ended in time. I felt the old helplessness in face of the enormity of history. And it did more to connect me to the families of those who are serving now, and facing the same terror of losing a loved one, than anything I have read or seen of the war in Iraq and Afghanistan.

And I see how, having had this experience, you are forever changed.

You book, your experience, changed me as well.

(Perhaps this addresses the “benefit of reading this book” challenge you posted on your website.)

Not that it makes me in favor of the war we began so stupidly, but it makes me aware of the longer war that has been waged throughout history and everywhere, in the hearts of wives, lovers, and families behind the front lines.

Many thanks for writing it!

P.S. Also, I did read your “welcome home” blog, and what struck me was that the events of one’s youth send us off in a certain direction. We never return to the juncture and re-direct. Your life will always be connected to the lives and emotions of soldiers and their families. You helped me make a connection where there had been none.

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Easy Way to Support Our Troops: Introduce Trish, Nancy and Me to a Company Interested in a Social Media Promotion

I’m taking my own advice and networking through this blog to find a possible connection for a fundraising project that I want to do to help www.emailourmilitary.com.

Here’s the story: Trish Forant of eMailOurMilitary and Nancy Sutherland, sales director of May Kay, and I conducted a successful fundraising campaign for Operation Soldier Care (see http://snipurl.com/oscsuccess) using primarily social media such as Twitter and Facebook and our own blogs.

Now eMailOurMilitary is getting ready for its holiday project for deployed troops. How to help raise funds for this project?

Why not have Trish, Nancy and me recreate our successful Operation Soldier Care social media fundraising campaign for a company that wants a promotion to help expand awareness of its products or brand? In fact, I’ve just written a proposal as to how this would work for a cable tv network. But the overall promotion plan could work for any type of company.

If you’re reading this blog post, I’d appreciate it if you would put on your thinking cap. Let me know if you can make an introduction for us to someone at a company who might be interested in this proposal. For example, it could be a military-related insurance company such as USAA or a new magazine or new website that wants exposure in social media and on blogs.

And if your introduction is the one that succeeds in getting a promotion partner for us, I’ll be happy to send you an autographed copy of MRS. LIEUTENANT: A SHARON GOLD NOVEL.

Helping to find a company interested in this fundraising project is an easy way to support our troops. (And, of course, we’ll thank you in all our blogs.)

You can email me through my website www.mrslieutenant.com.

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