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WASHINGTON D.C. (May 16, 2008) - For the 38 grassroots groups
who took up a temporary home in the Pentagon's center courtyard
today, the mission was clear: show support for the troops and share
information about just how they do that.
The groups were gathered for the 4th Annual America Supports You
Salute to Our Military Men and Women.
"It's wonderful to have these organizations here today, to have
people get exposure and show the goodness coming out," said Kelly
Meyer, project coordinator for Operation Iraqi Children. "A lot of
it isn't shown on the news. This is one way, one day, that we get
that chance [to show the goodness]."
Meyer's organization provides school supplies to troops to pass
out to Iraqi and Afghan children. "We want it to be a soldier
helping a child," he said. "It basically makes a peace bridge.
"[The servicemembers] are not just somebody invading your town,
occupying your country," Meyer added. "These are people who are
actually trying to better your future."
Actor Gary Sinise, who founded the organization with Lauren
Hillenbrand, author of "Seabiscuit," also was on hand with his "Lt.
Dan Band" to perform for servicemembers and Pentagon employees.
While Operation Iraqi Child is busy making sure children in Iraq
and Afghanistan have what they need to learn, the Red Nose
Institute is busy making sure they, and the adults around them,
have a good laugh.
The institute provides servicemembers with red foam clown noses,
guaranteed to at least evoke a smile, Cheryl Herrington, one of the
founders, said. "I'm a psychiatric nurse, and mental health is so
important," she said. "Anything we can do to cheer them up,
anything we can do to let them know we care and we're thinking
about them."
If the noses can make a few kids smile along the way, then all
the better, she said.
Today, however, was about making sure as many people as possible
know how to do that and learning new tricks of the non-profit trade
from other grassroots groups on site. "Getting to talk to them and
see how they do things, share ideas and just brainstorm together
has helped a lot already," Herrington said.
Marine Master Sgt. Matt Torres, postal affairs chief at Marine
Headquarters agreed, adding that servicemembers need and appreciate
the support represented at the Pentagon today.
Torres was at the Pentagon representing "Motomail." The free
program allows loved ones at home to send e-mail to deployed
servicemembers, which are then printed so they can be read again
and again. The Marine Corps is the only service currently using
this program.
"They need to know that America's behind them," he said. "Having
been there myself, you don't realize that until you see the
Motomails coming and you see the care packages coming from the
support groups."
The knowledge that someone is helping take care of things on the
home front provides deployed servicemembers with peace of mind,
said Torres, who served in Al Asad Air Base in Iraq in 2006.
"When you're over there, insurance will expire, Mom and Dad
still need taking care of, the kids still go to school," Torres
said. "If [deployed troops] have that peace of mind that somebody
back home is taking care of their affairs, we're going to win the
war."
For their part, members of the grassroots groups said they are
just here to help support the troops.
"I'm very honored to be here," said Joy Westenberg, program
manager for Project Evergreen, which provides lawn care for
families of deployed servicemembers, as she fought back tears.
"Today, it's just to get the word out that we're here to help."
The groups represented at the Pentagon today are just 38 of the
nearly 400 that support America Supports You, a Defense Department
program connecting citizens and companies with servicemembers and
their families serving at home and abroad.
Editor's Note: Military families can also avail
themselves of the Defense Department's America Supports You
program, which highlights home-front groups across the nation that
are providing a variety of services and support to troops and their
families. A listing of these groups and information about their
efforts is available at www.AmericaSupportsYou.mil.
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