Show Gratitude to Our Troops: Support Reach Out and Read's Military Initiative

Thanks to Penny Sansevieri's www.amarketingexpert.com ezine, I learned about Reach Out and Read's military initiative.

To support the program you can donate a book or sponsor a child -- one of the 90,000 children on 44 U.S. military bases served by the program:

"In addition to promoting school readiness, Reach Out and Read also helps build routines and strengthens bonds, which are especially important for military families who are tested by separation and deployment."

Go here now to say thanks to our troops by supporting this program.
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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.

Military Cookbook Project Seeking Recipes Favored by Our Military Men and Women

Kate Gabriele contacted Nancy Brown of YourMilitary.com – my co-host on our BlogTalkRadio show YourMilitaryLife.com – about Kate’s military cookbook project. The email from Kate about this project was so interesting that I got her permission to reproduce part of it here.

I am Kate Gabriele, a chef at a small restaurant in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, and I've been working on a personal project called the "Military Cookbook Project."

I am seeking recipes from men and women who have served or are serving now in the military and what meals they missed most from home while they were away – a story of why it was so special and picture of their smiling face in uniform or civilian clothes.

How the project came to be:

While on a business trip home from Milwaukee my flight was delayed in Philadelphia. As I was waiting to go home I spoke to a soldier named Joe Serna on his way back to Afghanistan.

We started talking about food, and I asked him what he missed most. He missed his Grandma Serna's tomatillas. And he sent me the recipe and his photo, which I still have.

That stirred something in me. Why not compile a cross-section of America's military and create an heirloom or keepsake book with stories, recipes and pictures of our fabulous heroes?

We are losing our WWII vets very quickly. I want those stories, I want their pictures – it's important. I truly believe this with all my heart. What better way to pay tribute to those that served and all those whose hearts are with them back here while they fight for freedom and protect us?

Both of my uncles served. Uncle Phil was in Airborne and jumped in Germany. My other uncle, Uncle Angelo, served as an MP in New Mexico while they were developing the atomic bomb. My dad was going to join the OSI but due to a medical condition wasn't permitted to join.

Both my dad and Uncle Angelo went on to work for Boeing near Philadelphia and helped build the Chinook helicopters for the Vietnam War. And Uncle Phil later went into law enforcement to become a police officer.

Check out the website www.militarycookbookproject.com and let me know if you could lend a helping hand. This is a grassroots project and there isn't any commercial sponsors connected to it. It's my sister Felicia and myself working on this.

Please contact me anytime if you have any questions or have an idea how I can effectively spread the word about this important project. Maybe you know of someone who might want to contribute by submitting a recipe, story and photo.

Every recipe, special story and photo counts ... just like every one of our military personnel out there right this very minute.

Submit a recipe here.
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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.

High School Students Want to Study with Jews in Uniform

I was so touched by the email that I got from high school student Shira Telushkin about wanting to participate with Jews in uniform for the Jewish holiday of Shavuot that I published Shira's email on the blog at OperationSupportJewsintheMilitary.com.

It's worth taking the time to read Shira's guest post to see what high school students can offer to do if motivated to support military personnel.

In my Feb. 15th Mrs. Lieutenant blog post Proposal to Add U.S. Military Unit to Elementary School Curriculum I proposed the following:

Teaching about the U.S. military and its branches today be part of 5th or 6th grade required curriculum throughout the U.S. -- just as learning U.S. history is a required school subject at some point in a student's school career.

Imagine if this proposal had been in effect when Shira Telushkin was in 5th or 6th grade so that she wouldn't have to write now "none of us has ever had serious exposure to the U.S. Army."

What would it take for my proposal to get serious consideration in the halls of national educational policy?

Senior Airman Natalie Lopez: Growing Up a Daddy’s Girl

The previous guest post was by Emma Lopez, who is the mother of Natalie Lopez, a senior airman in the U.S. Air Force’s security forces. The photo above is of Natalie atop a Humvee in Afghanistan. Now here’s Natalie’s story:

Growing up a daddy’s girl, I was intrigued with my dad’s stories as a Marine in Vietnam. I wanted to be like him, but I respected his wishes and did not join the Marine Corps. Then in 2006 I joined the Air Force.

Graduating from high school with three years of Air Force ROTC under my belt, I knew a little about the military. I have always felt that God placed me here to help him change the world, and I felt that by joining the military I could do just that.

I, like many other women in the military, have faced challenges in my career, and one of these was that of others doubting my work. I’ve had a chain of command that trusted in me and as a result I was very successful.

On the other side, I’ve had a chain of command that seemed to doubt me, and it is very frustrating trying to stay consistently motivated. These are the times I have to stop and remind myself that I must focus and prove that I am capable of being the best at what I do.

Although the hardest part of my job is being away from my loved ones, having to make split-second decisions is crucial. The level of responsibility that the Air Force places on me as a young military member in this career field is important, whether it be in a deployed environment, where it’s life or death, or in stateside security forces where the wrong choice also results in consequences.

Other than just learning how to face challenges, I have learned to keep things in perspective and committed. I’ve always been taught that, once I commit myself, I must follow through. I don’t think I really got it until I joined the military.

As part of my job, I’m constantly thinking about the benefits of the Air Force for young females and Latinas, and I think the most important message to get across is the one that I have repeatedly told myself. I can get skills that I didn’t know I had, and then make use of those back in civilian work. I can go back to the community and be a teacher, go to law school, become a policeman or fireman. I don’t have to decide on the rest of my life; I have joined the United States Air Force.

One thing I am certain to have acquired from military life is leadership. There is a lot of focus on leadership development. I’m trained to be a leader through leadership study and getting “hands-on” training on a daily basis due to the nature of the military rank structure, which allows an opportunity to lead. As you move up in rank, you continue to refine and develop your leadership style.

Being a veteran of both Enduring Freedom and Iraqi Freedom, I believe that there is nothing that can hold individuals back except themselves. The harder you work, the more you will get. Don’t wait for praise. Work until you are satisfied with yourself.

Ultimately, I believe that God has given me the strength to overcome the challenges in not only my career but in my personal life. He has also placed great people in my path that have helped me along my journey.

For the females and Latinas who are entering the workforce, my advice is to “surround yourself with friends and mentors that will provide help and guidance along the way.”

Emma Lopez Shares About Being the Mother of a Soldier: A Mother’s Life Changes

Emma Lopez, who has her own blog A Mom of a Daughter Soldier, talks about being the mother of a soldier – Natalie Lopez, who is shown above at sniper school. Natalie’s guest post will appear here next.

I have never been to war, but I have sent a child. Twice.

My husband is a Marine, a Vietnam veteran. My son is in the Army. My daughter is in the Air Force Security.

I received many encouraging words from moms when I mention that watching a child go to war is the most heartbreaking event a parent can endure. I spent my child’s growing up years making sure she knew right from wrong and, hopefully, I have taught her life’s values.

I guess the feelings are the same for those left behind when it is a wife or a husband that leaves. Yet, I can assure you that the intensity is different. It’s a feeling that only mothers can identify with.

We, as parents, smile bravely as our own soldiers leave, and we tell ourselves, “Be strong, we’ll find the strength.” The truth is we find only distractions from our pain. We go through our daily routines, and we attempt to maintain some serenity, but life has changed for us.

I think about my daughter all day in everything I do. When I eat, I wonder what she is eating. Is she eating a hot meal or a cold meal? I shop to send items my daughter needs.

I put together a care package, and I stand in long lines at the post office to mail it. As I wait my turn, I talk about her to anyone who listens. The pictures are pulled out, and everyone wants a glimpse of one of our heroes. I pray for her safety, and all those soldiers overseas.

I learn to use computers, cell phones, webcams, and other available technology in order to stay in touch with her. I listen for my computer to make that distinct sound (a ring, ring) which announces that my daughter is online. I hear my phone make that special sound my daughter programmed into the cell phone so I would know it is she on the other end.

Standing in line, people around me smile when I explain, “It’s my daughter. She’s calling from Iraq.” Many times, people tell me, “Thank your daughter for me.”

Let the soldiers know you care. Don’t hesitate to shake the hand of soldiers when you see them walking down the street, taking a subway, or riding a bus. They will feel grateful for that one small gesture -- their sacrifices noticed, their efforts rewarded.

I thank you!! ALL U.S. MILITARY SOLDIERS!!!

“God Bless America.”

An Active Duty Military Personnel Describes What PTSD Means to Him

In response to my July 27^th post about expiation for combat killing in connection with an ongoing discussion of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) – see http://tinyurl.com/55zq2z – I heard from another active duty military personnel:

I spent the mainstay of my early military career as a paratrooper. Mechanized infantry wasn't an option for me, because I hated being closed in, much the same reasons why I avoided life as a submariner.

What I didn't know was the amount of time I would spend crowded "in the harness" within a plane, one guy on top another.

Fifteen years later, I still get the willies when my wife sits next to me on the couch and the kids crowd in on the other side. I get short of breath and feel like the walls are closing in on me.

It's even worse now when we crowd in a Stryker [armored personnel carrier]. If all I had to do was throw some birdies on the altar to shed this claustrophobia ... well, prepare my sin offering! Other experiences may trigger nightmares here and there, but nothing so much as the times spent waiting for that little green light [jump signal] of relief to come on.

It was the repeated exposure to the same cringe-inducing experience that did me in. I imagine it's much the same with many cases of PTSD.

The flesh-eating bacteria of impatience coupled with the routine, possibly broken up only by the roadside bomb or occasional sniping, perhaps with the accompanying heartfelt trauma ... and the resumption of impatience with routine and monotony...

How does one expiate that? Guilt seems like only one-third of the entire spectrum of associated trauma.

I do know two fellows, both decorated vets of 3rd ID's initial invasion in Iraq [3^rd Infantry Division]. Both saw heavy fighting, one even went twice. The first spiraled downhill with heavy drinking, losing rank and jobs, more than likely his family, while the second builds positive relationships and succeeds.

The first is an avowed atheist, the second a moderately religious man. He had a community to turn to that said "what you have done, what you have been through, means something to us." Perhaps that part is more important, vis-a-vis the parades you mentioned, than the sacrificial device.

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U.S. Military Personnel Trained as Jewish Lay Leaders in Iraq

The article about Jewish military personnel in Iraq training as lay leaders caught my eye on www.jewsingreen.com – an online resource for Jews in the U.S. military.

I clicked on the link to the July 10^th article in the Jewish Daily Forward by Richard Tenorio titled “American Soldiers in Iraq Enlist in a Different Kind of Service.”

Here’s the beginning of the article:

A Jewish chapel at the Al Asad airbase in western Iraq was the site of an unusual Jewish gathering that began on July 4.

Seven members of the American military had flown in from across Iraq for a precedent-setting training for Jewish leaders in that country. Iraq does not have much in the way of an indigenous Jewish population anymore, but the American military has brought scores of Jews to the region, most of them with little spiritual guidance.

To supplement the lack of rabbis in Iraq, one of the few Jewish chaplains in the country, Rabbi Jon Cutler, came up with the idea of training ordinary Jewish servicemen and -women to be lay leaders for other soldiers.

The complete article can be read at http://www.forward.com/articles/13753/

And what especially caught my eye was this comment on JewsinGreen.com in connection with this posted article:

So glad to see organized training like this. Maybe this can spread to other bases, not just in-theater spots.

Why was this article of so much interest to me? Because in May of 1971 my husband Mitch became the lay leader of the U.S. Army Jewish community in Munich, Germany, when the orthodox Jewish rabbi who served as the Jewish chaplain in Munich completed his three-year rotation.

Mitch had a Reform Judaism upbringing and didn’t, at that point, know very much. He was given no training. But he did have the support of a Department of the Army civilian lawyer, Philip Bernstein (z’l), who had retired in Munich and who was a very knowledgeable Jew with a beautiful singing voice. Many of my letters home to my family describe when either Mr. Bernstein or Mitch led Friday night services.

The idea of lay leaders actually being trained – Mitch just winged it – is a terrific one. And I hope that, indeed, Jewish lay leader training does “spread to other bases, not just in-theater spots.”

Life After Active Military Duty

The front-page of the March 25^th Wall Street Journal has this news blurb:

“Returning veterans earn less than civilians and have a harder time finding work, a government report concluded.”

An hour after reading this news item I received a message on MySpace from “Jay.” He told me about a website www.afteryourservice.com to help former military personnel earn good pay in civilian jobs.

I’m not endorsing this website because I don’t know enough to do so.

What I am saying is that this is a very important topic – civilian employers frequently do not adequately value the skills and talents that ex-military personnel have learned in the military. And this leads to the lowered earning power and harder time finding work.

One reason for this may be because civilian employers have never been in the military themselves. Thus these prospective employers have no idea what skills and talents are learned. And putting “Reconnaissance Marine” on your resume probably doesn’t mean a great deal to people who have no experience with the military.

I have another blog – www.flippingburgersandbeyond.com – in which I discuss career considerations for young people and making your own luck. While national programs to help ex-military personnel enter civilian life are needed, I also believe that ex-military personnel must learn how to leverage their service skills for the civilian workforce.

A Reconnaissance Marine, for example, must figure out – by himself/herself or with help from others – how to translate military skills into civilian work skills. Here’s a partial list of military skills that are very important in business:

Teamwork

Cooperation

Initiative

Preparation

People can be taught civilian skills such as marketing or bookkeeping much easier than people can be taught teamwork, cooperation, initiative and preparation. These four skills are best learned while actually doing them – and these skills are practiced every single day in a person’s military career.

I will return to this subject sometime in the future. I have the letters I wrote home to my parents while my husband and I were stationed in Munich, Germany. In the letters I complained that my husband was losing valuable years out of the workforce. And my mother wrote me very encouraging letters about all the skills and knowledge my husband was gaining that others were not.

It’s important to focus on all these important “business” skills that military personnel utilize every single day. These skills can be great assets to any prospective employer.