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WASHINGTON, D.C. (June 4, 2008) - For deployed servicemembers
and their loved ones, maintaining close family ties takes more than
the occasional phone call or e-mail.
It happens through a free, personalized and password-protected
Web site.
It happens through a free, personalized and password-protected
Web site.
"Deployments are hard on families. When you're away and you're
in harm's way, … it's a lonely place," said Terry Gniffke, who
founded "Websites for Heroes" with Mike Sawtell. "You miss home,
and the greatest thing is to be connected in some way. 'Websites
for Heroes' allows that to happen."
Each site allows for unlimited photo uploads and can support two
hours of streaming video so parents can see what the family is
doing back home. Among other features, it also provides a message
board and kids' calendar, which helps Mom or Dad stay actively
involved in their child's life.
"They can be proactive in communicating, 'Hey, how was your
English test?'" Gniffke said. "[That way], their son or daughter
feels like Dad's still connected or Mom's still connected to their
life.
"You've got all these elements that make for a great interactive
social network for the family to communicate," he added.
Websites for Heroes keeps military families connected, whether
they're deployed overseas or across the country, and it does so at
no cost to the family. Each personalized, password-protected family
Web site -- there are currently 1,200 -- is sponsored at a cost of
$99 a year. The individual sites Websites for Heroes offers
military families are sponsored by individuals and, in some cases,
by corporations, including Gateway.
While the sponsorships are one-time donations, Gniffke said, he
hopes donors will realize the benefit to the families and make it
an ongoing part of their support for the troops.
"This is a mission for me," he said. "This is near and dear to
my heart."
Gniffke knows from experience just how important something like
Websites for Heroes can be. The former Marine served in Vietnam,
and he said he remembers waiting up to three weeks for a single
letter from home. As tough as that was on him, he said, it was
tougher on his family when his base got hit and the letter he wrote
to let them know he was all right hadn't arrived before there was
another attack.
"It's tough on the home front, and it's tough on the other
side," he said. "What a difference [Websites for Heroes] would have
made."
Gniffke didn't have that luxury in Vietnam, but he and Mike
Sawtell are going to make sure the gap between home and the front
lines is much smaller for this generation of servicemembers.
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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