Lexxi Saal Wants to Share Her Song Thanking Our Troops on Memorial Day

This is a video from April 2009 of 12-year-old Lexxi Saal singing a song she wrote as a tribute to the men and women serving in the U.S. Armed Forces who are risking their lives every day to protect us and keep us safe.

Lexxi wrote and sang this song for the film MENTAL VALOR being produced by Anita Sugimura Holsapple.

Here's the message that Anita sent out through Facebook:

This morning I received an email from Lexxi and her mother Elaine asking if I knew anyone who would be willing to have her perform for Memorial Day. They are not seeking any compensation, just a desire to say thank you to all our men and women in uniform.

If you would like to be put in touch with Lexxi, email Anita at anita@mentalvalor.com
___

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.

Our Veterans Need Help with PTSD

I've been talking with someone about his proposed project to help make Americans aware of PTSD as well as to raise funds to treat military personnel for this terrifying condition.

It's too early to talk about the project, but I do want to share a news story about one veteran's own experiences with PTSD and how he is now helping others.

And after you have read the story, if you know anyone who needs help, put PTSD in the search box on this blog and you'll see all my posts about PTSD. You can share any of the posts with others.

Plus you can go to www.FilmsThatSupportOurTroops.com and get free PTSD info.

Read this news story now of Andrew Pogany's struggle with PTSD. The story may lead you to help someone you love who is unknowingly suffering from PTSD.
___

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.

Delaware Town to Hold Welcome Home Parade for Vietnam War Veterans

Thanks to Debbie Burak (http://twitter.com/VeteranAid) tweeting regarding this event I learned about a Delaware town's plans to honor Vietnam veterans. According to an article at whyy.org:

In the face of the slight Vietnam Veterans faced decades ago, [Karan] Lazar took action. Because of her efforts, the town of Harrington, Delaware will be holding a welcome home parade called ‘Welcome Home Again: Walk of Heroes’” for Vietnam veterans May 8th.

Read the whole article now — and perhaps your town will also decide to honor Vietnam veterans.
___

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.

Battlefield Medicine Advances

The April 3rd Wall Street Journal front-page article by Alan Cullison datelined Kandahar, Afghanistan, announced "On Distant Battlefields, Survival Odds Rise Sharply."

The article offers interesting information such as the following:

One of the most important innovations is a reemphasis on one of the oldest medical implements on the battlefield: the tourniquet. It was frowned upon in previous years because doctors feared it could cause long-term limb damage. Servicemen are now issued a Combat Action Tourniquet, dubbed CAT, made by Composite Resources, of Rock Hill, S.C.

Two CATs are now issued to every soldier. They are easy to use because each tourniquet has a black plastic lever that tightens it. Marines often go on foot patrols with tourniquets loosely strapped high on their thighs, so they can begin cranking right away if a foot is blown off.

The military's nerve center for innovations is the Joint Theater Trauma System, set up by the Defense Department in San Antonio, Texas. It analyzes statistics on battlefield injuries to see what treatments are working. A research article from the trauma center was one reason tourniquets were issued en masse in October 2008, after a study suggested that mortality rates could be reduced dramatically if soldiers could strap on a tourniquet before arriving at the hospital.

For more information on the advances from the battlefields, read the entire article now.
___

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.

30 Days Through Afghanistan

U.S. Air Force Tech. Sgts. Ken Raimondi and Nathan Gallahan, broadcast and photojournalists with NATO's International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) Joint Command Public Affairs, traveled across Afghanistan for their project "30 Days Through Afghanistan."

This journey covered ISAF's five regional commands in Afghanistan, and they vlogged and blogged daily for 35 straight days.

Read about their trip at http://30days.isaf.nato.int/
___

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.

Militants in Afghanistan Build Bigger and Bigger Roadside Bombs

The March 20th Wall Street Journal article by Yochi J. Dreazen describes the same IED problem that I discussed in my previous blog post. See post "DODLive Bloggers Roundtable Hears from Lt. Gen. Michael L. Oates on IEDs"

In fact, Army Lt. General Michael Oates, new director of the Joint Improvised Explosive Device Defeat Organization (JIEDDO), is quoted in the Journal article.

What especially upset me after reading the article (besides the problem of the IEDs) is the lack of response I got from Gen. Oates' staff. Here's what happened:

He said in the DODLive Bloggers Roundtable that his four-year-old organization charged with finding solutions to IEDs wanted to hear from people outside the usual military channels who might have new ideas about dealing with this horrendous problem.

Yet, when I went to his org's website -- the URL of which I had to ask for on the call as it wasn't automatically provided -- the home page is so filled with links to press releases and news stories that it's very hard to have any idea at all that this org actually wants help. (Check out www.jieddo.dod.mil to see if you agree with me.)

Because this problem of IEDs is so horrendous, I offered to advise JIEDDO on how to have a home page that makes it very clear that the org is looking for civilian help on this problem. (A website review is one of the services that my Internet marketing company does.)

My DODLive contact said she would forward this offer to Gen. Oates' PAO (Public Affairs Officer) -- and in over a week I have heard nothing.

Thus reading this story in the March 20th Journal really upset me because I am convinced that there are civilian engineers and other civilians who could help with this problem IF THEY KNEW THEIR HELP IS NEEDED.

But how are they going to know that their help is needed? Certainly not by going to www.jieddo.dod.mil

What do you think? Am I right to be really, really upset at this lack of follow-through on the part of the staff of JIEDDO?
___

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.

DODLive Bloggers Roundtable Hears From Lt. Gen. Michael L. Oates on IEDs

U.S. Army Lt. General Michael L. Oates, new director of the Joint Improvised Explosive Device Defeat Organization (JIEDDO), answered questions for the DODLive Bloggers Roundtable today. I participated in the roundtable and was impressed by the efforts of the JIEDDO, an organization that is only four years old.

While the threat of improvised explosive devices (IEDs) is declining in Iraq, the threat is increasing in Afghanistan, where the less sophisticated bomb making than in Iraq focuses on using two types of fertilizer.

Lt. General Oates explained that fighting IEDs in Afghanistan is a very local challenge – knowing all the players -- and that the Taliban direct their fighters on the placement of the IEDs to prevent U.S. troops from interacting with the local population.

The general also spoke about how open JIEDDO is to outside suggestions and to outside bids for its projects. Thus when it was my turn to ask a question, I asked for a single link that would make it easy for people to connect with JIEDDO in order to offer their help or ideas.

While I was assured that on the JIEDDO site -- at www.jieddo.dod.mil -- it is easy to find things, I checked this site out and it is, in my opinion, very difficult to navigate.

Because I had been told there was a bid link on the site's home page, I did serach for and finally locate the bid portal. But, again, once you get to the bid portal the site continues to be difficult to navigate.

As a former Mrs. Lieutenant I understand about the U.S. Army's tendency to over-write rather than simplify. But, as Lt. General Oates said, IEDs are a "matter of life and death."

Thus my suggestion to JIEDDO is: Make the entire website -- and especially the bid portal -- much more user friendly.

In civilian speak: Get rid of all the excess information on the home page and, using the breadcrunbs concept for websites, lead people step-by-step through a clear navigation path to what they should do and what they can do to help save the lives of our men and women serving in Afghanistan and Iraq.
___

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.