Frustrated by Having to Register to VOTE Every Time You Move? Tell Us All About It!

Frustrated by Having to Register to VOTE Every Time You Move?  Tell Us All About It!

Blue Star Families wants to identify the special challenges that military members and their families face when struggling to vote and fully participate in our government.  Help us by completing the BSF Voter Registration survey.  We are interested in knowing:

• How often you have had to register to vote?
• What kinds of problems you have had voting – either in person or via absentee?
• Why aren’t you registered to vote?

We want to share our military family stories with key policy makers and we need your help.

It will take fewer than 10 minutes for you to complete the online survey.  PLEASE DO IT TODAY!

A Hero’s Journey Home

Killed in action the week before, the body of Sergeant First Class John C. Beale was returned to Falcon Field in Peachtree City , Georgia , just south of Atlanta , on June 11, 2009 . The Henry County Police Department escorted the procession to the funeral home in McDonough , Georgia.  A simple notice in local papers indicated the road route to be taken and the approximate time.

The link below is a short travelogue of that day’s remarkable and painful journey.

Sergeant First Class John Beale

Gold Star Mother Raises Money for Postage for Troops

by Jan Zabel

BSF Parent Programming Coordinator

Military families in Hernando County Florida are banging their drums in support of a Marine Gold Star Mother, Dee Mills.  Dee is a very special mother, working daily to raise funds to pay for postage for packages  going to our troops.  Local organizations in the surrounding area know that Dee will be there to help them when postage is needed.

Dee’s son, Marine Sgt. Lea Mills. was killed in action in Iraq in 2006.  Dee knew that her son Lea would not want his brothers and sisters in arms forgotten.  In lieu of flowers she requested friends and family to send money to her new organization “Lea’s Prayers and Postage.”  As of today, she has raised over $100,000.00 for postage for packages for our troops.  Many of these packages are mailed out from the post office named after Sgt. Lea Mills.

Today you have the opportunity to help Dee Mills continue her work.  Please vote daily for Dee in the Energizer Hall of Fame contest.

As a Blue Star Mother I had the heartbreaking honour of presenting Dee with the Gold Star Banner on November 11th, 2007, at the VFW Post 9236 at Hernando Beach, Florida.  Today, I am asking my Blue Star Families to stand beside me and vote for this outstanding mother. Please take a moment to vote for Dee today, and also read the write up from The St. Petersburg Times.

Nominating Dee was easy, now I need your help to get those votes.  Together we can help other servicemen and women receive another package from home.

Vote for Dee.

Great Washington Post Article: “A Soldier’s Wife” by Georgie Hanlin

A beautifully written op-ed, A Soldier’s Wife, appeared in the Washington Post on Independence Day.  It’s about love, honor and military service – perfect for the holiday.

Washington Post
July 4, 2009, Pg. 17

A Soldier’s Wife

By Georgie Hanlin

My childhood friend of 31 years visited my home on base, in Quantico, a few months after I gave birth to my first baby. As we took a leisurely stroll one evening through the lingering humidity of early September, I explained to her how different military life is from the world in which we grew up in San Francisco. We passed rows of colorful houses on the tree-lined, manicured blocks and gazed at the playgrounds around the neighborhood, ready to welcome the children of the officers who live there. American flags hung from virtually every front door. The occasional “My daddy fights for your freedom” bumper sticker adorned some vehicles. As we looped around the bend toward my house, my friend turned to me and asked, “How do you accept what your husband does for a living?”

Read more of “A Soldier’s Wife” on the Washington Post online….

Happy Independence Day!

I loved this video one of our veterans coordinators, Jim White, sent me. It’s set to Johnny Cash’s Ragged Old Flag.

Happy Independence Day.