New Issue of USO’s Magazine “On Patrol” Focuses on “Invisible Wounds of War”

The Summer/Fall 2011 issue of USO’s magazine “On Patrol” features articles about the “invisible wounds of war.”

You can read the articles in the digital version of this issue. To find the contents of the issue, click on the third icon from the left on the top of your screen and then click on any of the article titles.

Once you’ve clicked on the article title, you’ll have the first page of the article on your screen. To advance the article, click on the single > to the right of the page number at the top of your screen.

I found the article “Through the Lens of Stacy Pearsall” by Elaine Sanders particularly moving because it is one woman’s story of unrecognized PTSD.

Here’s the intro blurb of the article from the magazine:

As an Air Force photographer, Stacy Pearsall served two deployments in Iraq where she recorded a visual history of what was happening around her. She went on patrols, covered school openings, and was injured twice. It took a friend to recognize her post traumatic stress and encourage her to seek help. [boldface mine]

Read Stacy Pearsall’s story now and then reach out to people you know who may be unknowingly suffering from PTSD and encourage them to get help.

If you want to know more about PTSD, read this PTSD information now.

And if you want to better understand the stresses that can cause PTSD in military personnel (PTSD can result from any trauma), read Theodore Knell’s compelling memoir “From the Corners of a Wounded Mind.”

His book is a mix of narrative and poetry, and his poetry is incredible – capturing the pain of a soldier’s experiences without hitting you over the head.
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Phyllis Zimbler Miller is the author of the novel MRS. LIEUTENANT and the eBook novel LT. COMMANDER MOLLIE SANDERS. Phyllis is the co-founder of the marketing consulting company Miller Mosaic LLC, which works with clients to attract more business. Read her posts at the company's social media marketing blog.

Robin Williams Urges 2010 Tax-Deductible Gift to USO to Support Our Deployed Troops

Here's an email from Robin Williams that the USO has asked to be shared with as many people as possible:

I'm writing today with a renewed sense of commitment to our troops serving in Afghanistan, Iraq and around the world. I've just come back from a tour with the USO that has once again inspired me to do everything I can for those brave men and women -- men and women of all ages and all nationalities doing some extraordinary things for us and our country.

And let me tell you, they truly deserve it. They deserve to have someone come over there and say "you rock -- you're the best." And, especially as they spend the holiday season thousands of miles away from their loved ones, they deserve to have all of us keep them at home in our hearts.

Make your At Home In Our Hearts gift today and help the USO bring support and comfort to our troops all around the world.

The USO's At Home In Our Hearts campaign is about bringing a touch of home to our troops and our wounded warriors all around the world. And it's all made possible thanks to the support of passionate Americans like yourself.

With your gift today, you and the USO can help our troops make a holiday phone call back home for free, help bring all the things that remind them of home to the front lines thanks to USO2GO and give them some much-needed comfort and a place to relax at USO centers right there in the war zone.

I've seen firsthand how much these services mean to our troops and I can't thank you enough for your past support of the USO. I hope you will lend your generosity once again as part of the USO's At Home In Our Hearts campaign.

Please make your gift today and keep our troops At Home In Our Hearts.

Thanks again for all you do for our troops. And thanks for joining with me and the USO in this critical campaign.

Robin Williams

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Phyllis Zimbler Miller is the author of the novel MRS. LIEUTENANT and her social media marketing company Miller Mosaic Power Marketing works with clients to use social media to attract more business. Read her social media marketing blog.

USO Asks for Donations for "At Home in Our Hearts" Holiday Campaign

Here is an email from the USO:

Imagine for a moment you're far away from your loved ones at this special time of year. You might know when you will be home again, but that date is so distant it's hard to picture. You're cold, tired and really miss the simple things -- like talking to your kids on the phone.

That's what it is like for our troops spending this holiday season in Afghanistan, Iraq and at outposts around the world.

But through the USO's At Home In Our Hearts holiday campaign, supporters like you have the chance to give our troops something really special: the opportunity to make a phone call home.

Whether it's the sound of your daughter's voice, hearing your son talk about his football game, or the opportunity to tell your parents you're alright -- when you're deployed during the holidays, it's a phone call you'll treasure.

Will you join me in giving our troops the chance to phone home for the holidays?

Give our troops a phone call home this holiday: make your tax-deductible donation today.

Operation Phone Home goes the extra mile to connect our troops with their families, and it's a vital part of the USO's At Home In Our Hearts campaign. At centers across the world, staff and volunteers are going all-out to give our troops invaluable moments with their families that bridge the miles.

There's nothing we can ever really do to thank our troops enough for the sacrifices they make. But we owe it to them to try and right now that means helping them make personal connections with loved ones to brighten their holiday.

Every dollar you give to "Operation Phone Home" can provide twenty minutes of talk time for our troops. With your help, we can bring them all a few minutes of holiday warmth with family.

You can make sure that this holiday, home is just a phone call away for our troops.

No matter where they're stationed or deployed, our troops are spending this time of year At Home In Our Hearts. Please help them bridge the distance by making a special gift today.

Thanks for all you do,

Kelli Seely
USO Chief Development Officer
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Phyllis Zimbler Miller is the author of the novel MRS. LIEUTENANT and her social media marketing company Miller Mosaic Power Marketing works with clients to use social media to attract more business. Read her social media marketing blog.

USO Holiday Campaign: Phone Cards to Call Home

Since the USO launched Operation Phone Home in 2003, over 2 million phone cards have been distributed. And a $10 phone card lasts for 30 minutes.

Go to the USO site now to donate online and also to learn other ways that you can help our troops stationed around the world.
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Phyllis Zimbler Miller is the author of the novel MRS. LIEUTENANT and the co-author of the Jewish holiday book SEASONS FOR CELEBRATION. Her newest project is www.FilmsThatSupportOurTroops.com.

Phyllis' company MillerMosaicLLC.com does power marketing that combines traditional marketing principles and Internet marketing strategies to put power in your hands.

USO Program Brings Deployed Parents Home to Their Children

USO's United Through Reading program:

In 62 locations around the globe, the USO's United Through Reading volunteers make DVDs of GIs reading children's books – like "Goodnight Moon" or "The Cat In The Hat" – aloud. The DVD and the book are then mailed to the kids back home to show them that mommy or daddy, though far away, is in fact OK.

In less than three years, the United Through Reading program has exploded. Over 50,000 recordings have been made this year, and 100,000 are projected for 2010. Your donation will help the USO provide the cameras (many are wearing out from overuse)... the books… the DVDs and mailers... even the boxes of tissues that must be placed in every recording location.

Visit the USO site now to donate to this program.
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Phyllis Zimbler Miller is the author of the novel MRS. LIEUTENANT and the co-author of the Jewish holiday book SEASONS FOR CELEBRATION. Her newest project is www.FilmsThatSupportOurTroops.com.

Phyllis' company MillerMosaicLLC.com does power marketing that combines traditional marketing principles and Internet marketing strategies to put power in your hands.

Support USO Project to Help Soldiers Phone Home

I was contacted by @GISUPPORTER on Twitter and asked to get the word out about this program. Here's information from the USO website:

The USO - through Operation Phone Home® -- buys and hands out thousands of pre-paid phone cards to our men and women in uniform.

For our soldiers at the Front, there’s no magic like the music of your child's voice on a Holiday morning... no warmth like the familiar sound of "Happy Birthday" sung by your parents or siblings... and no relief as complete as the chance to chat with a friend when you're really down.

Your $15 donation provides a GI in Iraq with 45 minutes of prepaid calls to the US. A $20 donation buys 60 prepaid minutes. A $100 donation: 300 minutes. Please give as generously as you can, today! Tomorrow could be too late.

DONATE NOW.
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Phyllis Zimbler Miller is the author of the novel MRS. LIEUTENANT and the co-author of the Jewish holiday book SEASONS FOR CELEBRATION. She is also an Internet business consultant and the co-host of the BlogTalkRadio show YourMilitaryLife.com.

Phyllis' company provides Internet marketing training as well as social media marketing to promote your business more effectively.

USO Magazine Features Article on Special Ops Mission Six-Part Series

My husband just received the second edition of the USO's new magazine ON PATROL. After reading the issue, he handed it to me to look for potential interviewees for the BlogTalkRadio show YourMilitaryLife.com that I co-host with Nancy Brown of YourMilitary.com.

The article that most interested me is by Wil Willis, former Army Ranger and Air Force Pararescueman, who is now the host of the Military Channel's new six-part series "Special Ops Mission" that premieres July 30th.

According to the article, the series "will provide an inside view of skilled military operators using their tactical abilities in a realistic environment. This [inside view] previously had only been possible for the elite few who undertake actual covert military operations."

I'd like to link to the entire article. But for some reason the summer edition, which has this article, is not yet available online, although the spring edition is available.

Meanwhile, I'm going to look for a contact to Wil Willis because Nancy and I would love to have him on our show.
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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 newest military-related project is the book/website project In Support of Our Troops.

Phyllis' company Miller Mosaic LLC provides internet marketing information to help people promote their brand, book or business. On July 1st the company is launching the Miller Mosaic Internet Marketing Program.

Help the Marines Provide Toys for Tots

I’m pleased to announce that Andrew Lubin is now a weekly contributor to this blog, and we’re aiming for Tuesday as his regular slot.

As I noted for his two previous guest posts, Andrew is the author of the award-winning book “Charlie Battery; A Marine Artillery Unit in Iraq”, and as an embedded journalist has spent 12 of the last 30 months in Iraq, Afghanistan, GTMO, and Beirut writing on our Marines and soldiers. You can learn more about him from his website.

2003 -- Reader’s Digest names Marine Corps Toys for Tots Foundation America's "Best Children’s Charity"

There are few charities that have accomplished as much as Toys for Tots, and it all started with a Raggedy Ann doll in 1947 Los Angeles.

Diane Hendricks handcrafted the doll and asked her husband Bill to give it to an organization delivering Christmas toys to needy children. To Diane and Bill’s surprise, there was no such group. So after Diane informed Bill that he needed to start one … Major Bill Hendricks, US Marine Corps Reserves, enlisted his fellow reservists. They collected and distributed 5,000 toys that year.

The program was so successful that the Marine Corps promptly adopted Toys for Tots and in 1948 made it a national program. The reservists ran their early campaigns in every city or town in America that had a Marine Reserve Center with the announced goal to “bring the joy of Christmas to America's needy children.”

While Major Hendricks was a Marine reservist on weekends, his day job was that of director of public relations for Warner Brothers Studio, and he used his Warner Brother connections to advance the Toys for Tots program.

In 1948 Walt Disney himself designed the logo (still used today), along with the poster used in the initial national campaign, and later Nat "King" Cole, Peggy Lee, and Vic Damone recorded the Toys for Tots theme.

The Hollywood connections continued, with Frank Sinatra, Bob Hope, John Wayne, Tim Allen, Kenny Rogers, Clint Eastwood, and Billy Ray Cyrus as only a few of the long list of celebrities who have given their time and talent to promote Toys for Tots since 1948.

Organized as a 501(C)(3) tax-deductible public charity, thousands of America’s corporations and dozens of thousands of individuals donate money, toys, and time annually. First Lady Nancy Reagan served as the national spokesperson in 1983, as did First Lady Barbara Bush in 1992.

Even in 1990, as Marine reservists were being mobilized for Operation Desert Shield/Desert Storm, Hollywood and corporate America stepped in to assist. Merv Griffin’s popular “Wheel of Fortune” TV show teamed with Pizza Hut for a three-week promotion of Toys for Tots that raised in excess of $3 million – and the deploying Marines still distributed 7.9 million toys.

The number of toys donated is staggering, as is the number of children who receive them:
• 1995: 8.1 million toys collected and distributed to 4.2 million children
• 1997: 10 million toys distributed to 4.7 million children
• 1999: 13.7 million toys for 5.9 million children
• 2000: 15.8 million toys for 6.3 million children
• 2003: 15.1 million toys for 6.6 million children
• 2004: 19 million toys for 7.5 million children
• 2006: 19.2 million toys for 7.6 million children

And remembering that the Marine reservists were called up in 2001 to fight in Afghanistan and later Iraq, all of this has been accomplished with 35% of the reservists deployed.

These are the most difficult economic times in memory – which makes it even more difficult to be a child. Take a few minutes this week and donate a wrapped new toy to your local Toys for Tots barrel. Or even better; visit ToysforTots.org and donate $ 20-30 via Paypal.

Keep faith with the Marines fighting overseas; it’s the right thing to do.

Semper Fi

Read my PZ the Do-Gooder Scrooge blog post about the USO and “coming home.”

Read Nancy Miller’s blog post about all the guests interviewed to date on our new BlogTalkRadio show Your Military Life.

Please Help the USO Provide for Deployed Personnel and Their Families: Donate Now

I received an email solicitation from the USO (United Service Organizations) that I find so compelling that I'm going to share it almost in its entirety here. (Boldface is mine.)

A few days from now, families in small towns and big cities all across the nation will gather together for that "most American" of holidays - the day we emulate our Pilgrim fathers and give thanks for all that we hold dear.

At the same time, halfway around the world, 170,000 brave young men and women will demonstrate their gratitude in another way: by putting their lives at risk to defend everything America stands for.

As we join our loved ones around the table to feast on turkey and all the trimmings, our troops overseas will grab an MRE and head out to patrol crowded streets and back alleys where insurgents continue to lurk.

As we watch the giant balloons of the Macy's parade usher in the holiday season, they'll spend Thanksgiving morning in harm's way: a "place" where rounding any corner can mean a deadly ambush... where stopping any car or passerby can trigger an explosion and sudden death.

As we cheer on our high school football heroes or watch the pros on TV, they'll face combat of a different nature - ducking live rounds and remaining alert for the sudden rush of an incoming rocket-propelled grenade.

Today, the deepening economic crisis and post-election political developments continue to dominate our front pages: so much so, that some Americans may even have forgotten about the brave and women who are doing their job overseas, but counting the days till it's their turn to share the home-town celebrations with their loved ones and friends.

However, the USO hasn't forgotten; we've already geared up to provide extra services to our troops... not just for the holiday season, but throughout the weeks and months ahead. With American troops spread all over the globe...

* We must recruit more stars to man our Holiday Entertainment Tours to combat zones... not just to entertain, but also to shake hands with our GIs and say face-to-face, "Thanks! We're here for you. You're the real star!"

* We need to buy more pre-paid phone cards, so our troops can call home for free whenever they get a chance, even from a pay phone in Baghdad.

* We must staff up and supply our overseas Centers and Mobile Canteens; the Holiday season is the loneliest time to be at the Front, so they'll have to stay open extra hours to provide our guys and gals in uniform with a hot cup of coffee, a warm smile, and a chance... even if just for a few moments... to escape from the war and enjoy a taste of home.

Meeting these special challenges, on top of all the everyday services we provide to our troops and their families, will take a huge effort, cost a lot of money, and stretch our resources to the limit. Many people are surprised to learn that the USO is not a government agency; in fact, we rely on individual citizens who want to support the troops, and who always seem to stand behind us at the times we need them most.

Now is one of those times. Please send your tax-deductible donation today, to help the USO make certain that every Soldier, Sailor, Airman, Marine, and Coast Guardsman around the world knows that the folks back home are thinking of them this holiday season, and that we honor their dedication, their heroism, and their sacrifice.

Donate now

USO Supporting the Troops: Every Wife Dreads ...

I have to admit that the first thought that comes to my mind when I think of the USO is scenes of USO-sponsored dances in World War II films. So I found the email from the USO asking for a donation particularly moving as it included the text of a letter from a wife whose husband was deployed to Iraq:

Every wife dreads the day we have to put our husbands "back on the plane." Yesterday I thought I would be all alone in this huge airport ... that I would be left standing with my six-year old son, crying and watching my husband, yet again, walk away from me.

I was wrong. Your USO volunteers were wonderful.

They took the time to talk to my husband and tell him that they were proud of him ... that they wished him well ... and to come home soon. They also took the time to play with my son, and one lady gave him a stuffed bear which he slept with last night.

And when it came time for my husband to walk away from me, I suddenly found myself surrounded by volunteers. They didn't have to stand there with me and help me through my toughest moment ... but they did. I cannot thank you enough for all that you have done, and all that you do. PLEASE keep up the wonderful work.

After reading this wife's letter, I went to the website at www.uso.org and read this introduction:

The USO is a private, nonprofit organization whose mission is to support the troops by providing morale, welfare and recreation-type services to our men and women in uniform. The original intent of Congress — and enduring style of USO delivery — is to represent the American people by extending a touch of home to the military.

The USO currently operates more than 130 centers worldwide, including 10 mobile canteens located in the continental United States and overseas. Overseas centers are located in Germany, Italy, the United Arab Emirates, Japan, Qatar, Korea, Iraq, Afghanistan, Guam, and Kuwait. Service members and their families visit USO centers more than 5.3 million times each year. The USO is the way the American public supports the troops.

There are many ways to support the troops. Those of you who regularly read this blog know that I particularly support www.emailourmilitary.com. Yet it's also important to know about other organizations that support the troops.

In this coming holiday season, support our troops through whichever organizations you choose. Just support them!

UPDATE: Just after I posted the above, I opened today's issue of Daily Variety and saw a full-page USO ad that read:

The morale you raise the most may just be your own. Experience the greatest audience in the world on a USO Celebrity Tour. Call Bernie Rone at 703-908-6480.

I'd forgotten that this is something else the USO does. And if you're a celebrity performer -- here's another way to support the troops.

And, oh yes, the tagline for the USO ad is: Until Every One Comes Home

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