HAPPY THANKSGIVING TO ALL OUR HEROES!!!

Homes for Heroes wishes all our Heroes, here and abroad a most Happy and safe Thanksgiving!!

The first Thanksgiving was a true celebration of self reliance, respect for ones community and faith in ones God. Well today that belief is a little watered down and not too much thought is given to how much our country and it citizens had to sacrifice in order for us to take the day off and spend it with loved ones. There are those that still stand guard ensuring that we celebrate in peace. I wish to post this blog in dedication to those that stand guard while the rest of us gather and give thanks that we are blessed. Well as the old saying goes, God does work in mysterious ways. And I think we should be damned thankful for our heroes that stand vigil for us.

Take for example the law enforcement officer who is called to a domestic call on Thanksgiving day. He has to walk into a house with crying kids, a black-eyed spouse and the other drunk and sort through the mess and maybe even have to take a dad or mom to jail. Or the firefighter who has to hold the crying child while the ambulance takes mom and dad to the hospital while their home is burning. Or the soldier that has to go on patrol hunting down the Taliban, knowing there could be an IED just waiting for them and wishing that he could see his child’s first Thanksgiving half a globe away. Or the Paramedic that shows up to a car accident and see the bodies all over the rode, some can be fixed others not. These people all volunteered for this to keep Thanksgiving and all days safe for us. And for them to witness and deal with the worst humanity can do is something I am very thankful for. They take care of those things every day then go home and try and put those images out of their heads so their families and friends can live relatively happy and safe.

What is in ones mind to volunteer for that kind of stress? Is it the pay? It seems that in our society, the Police, Firefighters, First Responders and our Military are always at the low end of government pay scales. But they are the ones that have to put up not only with polished politicians and their policies, but also a public that does not always appreciate what they are doing.

This Thanksgiving I would like all of you to sit for a moment and think about those in uniform that are not with their loved ones on this day. Think of what they are doing and seeing on a day we gather, feast and watch football. We all know we are thankful for the things that bless our family and health, and please have in your prayers a word to those who provide a safe environment for which you can create those blessings.

May God Bless you and keep you safe this Thanksgiving, in the year of our Lord, 2008.

Semper Fi

Homes for Heroes in congress, Pookies, buying and Mount Washington

Yes ladies and gentleman, Homes for Heroes is in congressional news. Not really, but the name of senate rule S.1084 is the Homes for Heroes Act. It will provide housing for low income and homeless vets. Please let your law makers know that us vets would appreciate passage of this bill for our brethren who have fallen on hard times. I wonder if they got that name from some where, we did have a big name Senator (once a Presidential candidate) call about the program a little while back……

Housing market news/opinion from radio talk show host Hugh Hewitt. It seems the government is now going to buy up loans held by Fannie and Freddie to free up some of their money. That in turn will allow them to go back to loaning out money. That means that now is starting to be a good time to be looking for great deals on homes. The more homes are bought the more stable the market will become. Pricing will stop dropping and inventory will get back to a more manageable level. So contact your Homes for Heroes affiliate and start buying!

Here is something out of the past, the Pookie. Any one remember the Pookie? I do and seeing the photo brought back the memory of me trying to build a model of one with left over model parts. Still not sure what it is? Another hint then, the name has nothing to do with Japanese cartoons. Still nothing? Well click on the link and have a look for yourself. Go ahead, I’ll wait……………………. Now isn’t that the strangest thing you ever saw? It does kind of tell you what kind of kid I was back in the day. I thought that was the coolest thing put together for its purpose.

I still haven’t seen any stories to top mine yet. And I put some pretty lame ones out there. I have got better stories than just Monkeys and drinking. There is the one where a bunch of us jar heads thought we would take our military training and put it to the test. 12 of us decided to climb Mount Washington in New Hampshire. Well, you’ll have to wait and see who ended up naked in a sleeping bag with another naked Marine! It is not what you think, read the link, the first paragraph should explain how the Marine mind works.

Get busy y’all! Give me something to work with.

Semper fi.

In their Boots, the French and monkeys!?!

While doing my daily perusing of blogs I saw that one blogger mentioned a site that was part of the inspiration of Homes for Heroes Foundation. This site is dedicated to the average G.I. Joe coming home and having to deal with this new reality of transitioning back to home. In Their Boots should be a weekly visit for all of us who appreciate what our Heroes must endure after honorably serving their country. These are the people that HFHF hopes to reach and add to the already growing number of groups that are helping our Heroes transition from the daily stress of conflict to the life we all take for granted. Homes for Heroes Foundation also is there for our Police, Firefighter and First Responders that can also find themselves in situations that they did not ask for while performing their duties for our communities. If you spend any time at In Their Boots you will be proud of how these people cope. I often wonder how they can keep up the faith while facing the crap of every day life. Who has time to figure out bennies, when you have to figure out how you are going to get a wider door to get your wheel chair through on a government income, let alone finding a new job. Please visit and become impressed with our countries finest.

Another site that caught my attention was BlackFive. He had an article that was written by a French soldier (which by the way France is now an all volunteer force) with his impression of American Soldiers. I have lived in France for two years and this soldiers article was the French people that have lived with and became good friends with today. I have received some grief in the past from my family and friends because I have a different take on the French citizens. They have more in common with us than the press and the stereotypes would have you believe. What this letter states is something I lived many times while sitting in my backyard in Cornebarrieu with several neighbors sampling the best the French have to offer in Wine, Bourbon, and Cognac. They too have to fight their press and stereotypes of Americans as arrogant bullies wearing cowboy boots and hats. But all of the people I met in France had a huge gratitude towards us Americans and are very glad we are in this world. Enough said, read the article and you will see that the French are a very good people. Also you will see that the stereotype the French have is pretty close to the truth!! Ha! Read and you will know what I am talking about.

Now I know you have been waiting for my second story regarding stones and monkeys. Well, if you see this creature while wondering the roads and paths of Subic Bay, Philippines, DO NOT, I repeat, DO NOT decide to throw a stone, rock, banana, peanut or anything at them. They take great offense and will reciprocate with all the vim and vigor that a monkey can give. I know because I was victim of that vim and vigor. I was sent on advance party to the Philippines to get things ready for our squadrons arrival. I got to spend Christmas eve there all by my self (that’s another story) so after leaving the chow hall I thought I should celebrate Christmas eve with a drink at the E-Club. Well a short cut to the club was behind the chow hall. As I was passing the dumpsters, they were crawling with monkeys. Well the monkeys started to screech at me and I took offense to that. So being the superior human I thought a well aimed stone at the metal dumpster would 1) scare and scatter them back into the jungle and 2) prove to the animal kingdom that us humans are very much superior to furry creatures. So the stone left my hand and clanged into the metal dumpster with the exact loud ring I had anticipated. After a second and a couple of dodges later I found out that the monkeys did not scatter back into the jungle where they belonged but had regrouped and went on the offensive. There must have been 15 to 20 monkeys throwing anything they could get their little furry paws on at me. And to my dismay very accurate little furry paws. So the humiliated Sergeant had to flee the garbage eating monkeys with a very hard learned lesson. Hungry monkeys can and will win against an arrogant stone throwing Marine.

Well I have more to say but it will have to wait until next blog. I have my notes and will keep them on my white board. I still hold hope that someone out there has a better story than garbage flinging monkeys. Let’s hear those stories, because I have tons.

FREE HUNTING LICENSE AND TAX EXEMPTIONS!!

We start our second entry with the highly anticipated story of my promotion to Sergeant. Once the stripes were “pinned” on, my buddies thought it appropriate to stay intoxicated for 48 hours. During this time they worked in shifts not allowing me to pass out, fall asleep or become sober. It is harder than you think to stay drunk that long. I was in Iwakuni Japan and during one of the nights the jar heads managed to talk one of the bar owners in town to let us stay the night. They locked up the booze except for what we bought, then turned down the lights and locked us in. Theres not much else I remember except the hang over lasted about 4 days and I went through a whole lot of aspirin.

I know not much of a story but I bet there are not too many of you who can claim to be drunk for 48 hours straight and live to tell about it! Or will I prove to be naive in the world of binge drinking?

Found out some cool things for you vets living in Minnesota. In the last couple of sessions the MN legislation has passed some laws that I think you should take a look at. One BIG items is that if you have been on active duty in the last 24 months, your
hunting and fishing licenses are FREE!! Also if you don’t have a Hunting Safety Certificate, the DNR does not make you go through the course. I suppose they figure you know how to hunt safely.

Okay here is some thing else I thought was cool. The state of MN passed legislation that if you are a disabled vet, starting for the tax year 2008, you have an exemption on homestead property taxes!! It is good to see that politicians can sometimes get stuff done right.

Matters pertaining to Police. I was bouncing around blogs and came across
“The Chiefs Corner” and the Chief was talking about a new software service from the guys at “Omega Group”. It is called “Crimemapping” and it will send the user alerts when a crime is reported within a selected distance of your home. It is not every where in the states but I think all Police Departments should consider this as part of their community service. I would definitely sign up. Make sure to push this on your local PD.

The Homes For Heroes Foundation is starting to brainstorm on ideas on how to get the word out. We would welcome all ideas and opinions. Since we are just starting out and we are of limited manpower, anyone who has been there already I sure would appreciate some advice. You know, to keep us from reinventing the wheel?!

Next in the series of untold stories, “Don’t throw stones at Monkeys!!”

But then who can top getting promoted? Hope to hear some stories soon.

HOMES FOR HEROES FOUNDATION IS CREATED

Hello all,

Homes for Heroes (HFH) has started to get enough interest in their non profit organization so I am here to start letting the word get out. HFH is really excited about the direction their company is moving. It started out as a way to help our local heroes get some help getting into homes and now is starting to go beyond that by doing more than just putting heroes into homes. We have started to help existing home owners with needs beyond ownership. This all happened by chance and we are glad that we have been blessed with this opportunity. Originally HFH was connecting heroes with realtor’s and mortgage brokers providing discounts that were paid back to the buyer and or seller. But we were receiving other calls, example, one soldier home from Iraq that has a lot of third degree burns was looking for some help in getting an awning built in his back yard so he could watch his kids as they swam in the pool. At first we stated that we did not provide this type of assistance, but as we received more of these calls and the emotional trauma of seeing how much these soldiers had given we could not let this go on. Homes for Heroes Foundation (HFHF) was created as a non profit so we could start getting these heroes some assistance that they deserve. HFHF did find a contractor that was willing to help out (free of charge)and one less worry for a soldier that is recuperating at home.

So we are now going to dedicate this blog into a site that will not only document our successes it will also be a site for commentary on those heroes that patrol the streets in Chicago, put out the fires in California as well as our brethren that are wearing the uniforms of our fighting forces.

I have spent 12 years in the Marine Corps and got out just after Desert Storm and my family is sick of all the stories that I have repeated over the years. This new blogging craze will let me share some of those stories (the ones at least I don’t mind my wife reading) with you readers. I also want to hear from others all those stories that are starting to wear thin with your friends and family.

Next blog will have one of those stories about the time I got promoted to Sergeant…….

One last thing, time is running out for one charity, Operation Christmas Tree, they have a goal of sending 7000 Christmas trees to our troops this year, currently they are around 2000. $25 bucks gets a tree to one of our soldiers overseas. Last date to get an order in is November 26, so if you can help some of our soldier get a little bit of home over Christmas.

Thank you for your read and patience and hope to hear from you soon.