In My Own Words

The title is not in reference to my life, rather to the lives of a couple of our previously adopted Warriors – one still in the Army, the other settling into civilian life after serving multiple deployments. The young man still serving recently returned to Ft. Carson after his fourth (or fifth…I tend to lose track with so many we’ve supported) deployment. His marriage has fallen apart, and his 7-year-old daughter has just undergone heart valve replacement surgery. Just how much is too much before a person has enough to deal with? I keep him and his family in my prayers, as that is all I can do. As long as God is in control, things will work out. That doesn’t keep my heart from hurting for our Warrior and his family; how could a person possibly NOT care.

The other Warrior, now a civilian, also came home to a broken marriage. He has three children, and shares custody with his ex-wife. Recently, his ex-wife’s boyfriend was drinking and driving with our Warrior’s 8-year-old son in the vehicle, lost control, and demolished the vehicle. The seat belt caused a laceration from the child’s belly button around to his back. He has been in pediatric ICU since the accident, finally moving to a regular room on the pediatric floor today. His injuries were such that a part of his small intestine and part of his colon had to be removed, and due to the risk of infection, the surgeons left his incision open in order to keep an eye on things internally and keep it clean. Hopefully in a week or two they will be able to close it up. The plan is to go back in two or three months from now and repair the damage so he won’t have to wear a colostomy bag for the rest of his life. Many prayers are being said for the little guy and for his Dad.

The hospital he’s in isn’t near his home, so Dad is staying with him, and an aunt is keeping the other two young’uns until their brother and Dad can return home. Friends and family members are planning on having a fund-raiser in September to help with medical bills and living expenses. I would love to be there and help out, but they are in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, so it’s not like I can drive across town and attend. I was wracking my brain trying to figure out how I could help, and it came to mind that if I could get one of my sister’s flag quilts, they could raffle it off to raise funds.

I contacted Peggy on facebook and asked if there was any possibility she could get a flag quilt made in time for the fund raiser; I knew it was a long shot – a lot of work goes into them, and she’s got a lot going on in her corner of the world right now. She replied that she couldn’t make any promises, though she would love to help. I have one of her flag quilts, so I told her not to worry, I will donate mine to the cause. She said if I did that, she would make me another one when she finally finds the time. That works for me, so I am going to put the quilt in the mail tomorrow for Randy’s sister to raffle. I think it would be easy to sell chances for $5 apiece…tell me what you think:

The Flag Quilt for the raffle

Maybe I will hang one of the flags I have gotten from our Warriors in the place where this was hanging. You never know what I may decide. :~) You can bet you’ll see a picture of the end results, whichever way I decide to go. I am moving into a new office, after all. The Hero’s Wall of Fame will be the first thing I put together in my new space. Without the flag quilt, my options are open. I’m already leaning toward the very first flag flown over Iraq for me; it’s a 3′x5′ and I can already picture in my head how it will all go together. After it was flown over Iraq, I flew it on our flag pole for a week.  Perhaps some time on the wall is the next logical step…

There’s a wounded Warrior, Sgt. Jamie Jarboe, with a page on facebook “Prayers for Sgt. Jamie Jarboe.” In April, Jamie was hit in the neck by a sniper’s bullet in Afghanistan, and he is paralyzed from the chest down. He’s still in the hospital and will be for some time. His wife, Melissa, had posted a request for supporters to please share pictures of the fireworks they were attending, and tell where they were, since they were not going to be able to go out and see fireworks for themselves this year. We attended the fireworks in Ashland City on July 2 at the end of Summerfest, and I recorded them with our Canon G6 digital camera. I posted the video (nearly 20 minutes long) on YouTube, and put a link to it on Jamie’s page. Melissa commented on it “Jamie said thank you… There’s alot of us that won’t get a chance to see them and we appreciated this so much!! Even the family n children talking in background was music to our ears!!! Much love!!!” That made my heart smile. :~) It’s the little things that so many of us take for granted, that mean a lot to some.

Thanks for reading my ramblings, if indeed you do. I have a feeling since my friend Maddog passed away, my blog goes pretty much unread. That’s okay, though. I’ll keep writing, and he’ll be reading from above, I’m sure. He just won’t be able to comment.

A poem by my friend, Rod Keckler, a Vietnam Veteran who writes a lot of wonderful poetry reflecting on his experiences in ‘Nam and his life since then. This one really touched my heart, so I got his permission to share it here.

Right Or Wrong

This is not the question to be asking

Do you love those who are in uniform

Those young men and women

Who believe it is their right

To be taking that stand

In foreign lands

For our way of life

Would you believe in them enough

To no matter what others say

Stand up for them here

As they are standing

Up for us over there

We all should be fighting

For each one of them back here

To see that when they do come back

There is a place

For each of them here

To be honored to have

Come back home knowing

That no matter what happens

That they each have

A home to come back to

Where they truly belong

Knowing that they were never wrong

For having the heart to believe in their rights

Written By

R.C.Keckler

06/23/11

Click the link below to view the video tribute to my friend James Steven “Maddog” Bogie

You Were Loved

J. Steve "Maddog" Bogie

This is a dear friend, troop supporter extraordinaire, Vietnam Veteran, who passed away June 9th. “Maddog” had a heart of gold, and the world will not be quite the same without him. I already find myself checking for his latest e-mail, then have to remind myself that the one I received May 19th telling me he was going to have “a couple of minor surgeries” soon and asking for prayers for a quick recovery, is the last e-mail I will ever receive from him. Heaven has a new angel; Godspeed, Maddog – you were a “stomped-down good’un,” and I know you are in a better place. Say “Hey!” to Nafe for me; you sure brightened his days before he passed, with your cards & letters of encouragement.

James Steven Bogie “Steve” “Mad Dog”
(January 11, 1945 – June 9, 2011)

“He who dwells in the shelter of the most high will rest in the shadows of the Almighty.” Psalm 91:1. James Steven “Steve” “Mad Dog” Bogie died Thursday, June 9, 2011, at the age of 66, surrounded by his loving family. He was a retired operator at Georgia Pacific. Visiting will all be at Charlet Funeral Home Inc., Zachary, on Sunday June 12, from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. and Monday from 8:30 a.m. until service time at 10 a.m., conducted by Pastor Jonathan Samuel. Burial will be in Port Hudson National Cemetery, Zachary. He is survived by his mother, Ann Bogie, of Zachary; sister, Jean Ann Bogie Thompson and husband James Mitchell, of Baker; brothers, Jack B. Bogie, of Zachary and Thomas E. Bogie and wife Shirley, of Baton Rouge; three nieces, Melissa T. Sutton and husband David, of Slaughter, Neila T. Polk and husband Jason, of Walker and Joy Bogie, of Zachary; and two nephews, Marcus Thompson, of Baton Rouge and Joshua Thompson, of Baker. He is also survived by three great-nieces, MacKenzie Thompson, Isla Polk and Ashlynn Rome; and two great-nephews, Jacob Thompson and Noah Sutton. He was preceded in death by his father, David T. Bogie. Pallbearers will be Marcus Thompson, Joshua Thompson, David Sutton, Jason Polk, Jacob Thompson and James Mitchell. Honorary pallbearers are Jack Bogie, Thomas Bogie, Noah Sutton, Isla Polk and Ashlynn Rome and MacKenzie Thompson. He was the past editor and publisher of the Bossier City Newspaper, an English teacher at Saigon University in Vietnam, a member of VFW post 4224 in Baker, anysolider.com, Patriot Guard Riders and supported Jessica’s Hope Project. He served three separate tours in Vietnam. He was very heavily involved with sending care packages overseas to U.S. troops and took care of children in the burn unit in Afghanistan Children’s Burn Center and Iraq Burn Center.

Click on the link below for a beautiful tribute to our fallen Heroes. Awesome, perfect for Memorial Day

Please Play Taps for Me

This is Andrew Bailey's Banner

I have been remiss in my duties re: keeping my blog up to date. Hopefully I don’t overlook anything as I write this entry, because there have been a lot of blessings in my life since my last post.

In the month since I last wrote, our (s)hero Bonnie in Afghanistan has contributed enormously to the “soldier stash,” allowing 12 care packages (so far – still have some stuff left, but ran out of postage) to be sent to troops in Iraq and Afghanistan. People tend to forget we still have troops in Iraq since the draw-down of troops began, but they’re still there. Not only are they still there, but as the FOBs are shut down, they no longer have a PX available to purchase things and many count on care packages from supporters more than ever before to keep them supplied with basic hygiene gear, snacks, and comfort items.

Anyway, as I started out saying before I went off on a tangent – Bonnie went on an on-line shopping spree once again and had the goodies sent to me. Boot socks, white ankle socks for PT, hand sanitizer, toothpaste, razors, shaving gel, 2-in-1 shampoo, Gold Bond powder, Gold Bond lotion, Eucarin lotion, Always Ultra-Thin pads for our female troops, and a huge assortment of pocket-friendly snack items including peanuts, cashews, Austin cracker/cookie assortment, Nabisco cookie/cracker assortment, gum, fruit & grain bars. Then she sent 42 12-stick packs of assorted Crystal Light drink mixes for water bottles, followed by 4 boxes of K-cups for one of our troops who has a Keurig coffee machine and was requesting coffee and hot cocoa K-cups for it.

I went on a shopping spree then and bought tooth brushes, tampons, panty-liners and Always feminine wipes to round out the female specific care packages. Before I got started packing boxes, a donation came in the form of a $50 check from my friend Joe Keller in Montana, just in the nick of time to help with postage. I had sent out an e-mail to my co-workers requesting drink mixes and freezer pops, which I got a good response to, then I spent a lot of time evenings and weekends getting boxes packed, notes written to include in the boxes, customs forms filled out, and securely taping each and every box. I had some large boxes to fill, 12″x10″x10″, so I didn’t send them priority mail, but parcel post. Most of them cost less to send than the large FRB.

When you send parcel post to an APO/FPO address, the clerk writes “SAM” on all sides of the box, which in this case stands for “Space Available Mail.” I couldn’t help myself…when Pam wrote “SAM” on the first four boxes I brought in, I told her that was an odd thing to write on a package going to deployed troops, as “SAM” is the acronym for “Surface to Air Missile.” She looked at me funny and said “It is?” I said “Yep, it is. Why would I make that up?” She replied “Well, you would know that. I’ve always thought it only meant Space Available Mail. I guess I learn something new every day.” Now when I bring boxes in to mail, Pam and Lisa will ask “Surface to Air Missile, or priority?” I’ve created a Frankenstein….LOL!!

My friend Pam Netzel Tajak in Michigan got a donation from her local Kiwanis of 14 cases of salted in the shell peanuts. She contacted me and asked if I could use some, and when I said yes, she sent 2 cases to me. Each case has 50 individual serving size bags of peanuts – perfect to tuck into care packages. The day I got them, I was putting finishing touches on 4 boxes, and the peanuts were just the thing I needed to fill in a few blank spaces. Then my friend Michelle Mangeno-Gallipo in Ohio made a $25 donation to help with postage, so I was able to get all four boxes sent off at once instead of trying to decide whose would have to wait until payday. I love it when a plan comes together…

One of our adopted troops who happens to be our daughter-in-law’s cousin, sent me a message on facebook yesterday asking how he could make a donation to help with care packages. His message said “I just wanted to say thank you for what you do for our troops. Also I would like to donate some money to help you continue to do what you do, so give me an address where I can send you some money. Lol. Thanks again you are a true morale booster for our troops and a thank you just isn’t enough to show you the appreciation that we all feel. But all the same from the bottom of my heart thank you!!” I sent him our address, and told him he could also go to my website and click the “Donate” link at the bottom of the page if he would rather go through PayPal. A couple of hours later I got an e-mail notification from PayPal that I had just received a $300 donation from Andrew Bailey.

Now, I had just about run out of funds in the soldier account; was down to $6 and some change. I’ve got more stuff to send, I just didn’t have any money to send it. It’s an amazement to me how it seems to always work out that just as I’m down to the last few bucks, someone comes along and surprises me with their generosity. I see God’s hand in that, truth be told. I feel called to support our Warriors, and He always comes through so I can continue my mission. Now I’m going to be able to get some ingredients for cookies so I can send some to my “cookie monsters” in Afghanistan, order some “cool ties” to help keep our troops cool, and have funds left over to help send care packages for the next month or so.

I’ve got to get breakfast eaten and get ready for church, so I’ll sign off now. Thank you for reading my ramblings; I get long-winded at times, I know, but when I’ve got good news, I just have to share it.

CPT Patrick D. McGrail wrote a book dealing with deployment of a parent. Please click this link As Close As the Moon and check out the story behind the book. There is a link to purchase if you are interested. I know it’s a book I want to own, so I’ve already ordered my copy!

You may ask “What does making memories with the Grandkids have to do with supporting our troops?” Well, if you read on, you will see just exactly what I mean.

We have several Warriors who enjoy homemade cookies. I haven’t had the wherewithal to send much lately, nor to bake cookies in any quantity at all. I put out an “all call” via e-mail at work this week, as there is a Marine who works for the Board of Ed who is currently deployed to Afghanistan, for whom we’ve gotten together to make a couple of care packages. He’s one of the troops I’m wanting to send some homemade cookies to; therefore I don’t feel so bad asking for a little assistance from my co-workers.  In my e-mail I asked if anybody would like to bake some cookies to include, or donate ingredients for me to make cookies, or help with postage. I got one anonymous donation of $20, left on my desk while I was at lunch. In the next couple of days I got $20 donations from two co-workers, a promise to bake some cookies from another, and cookie ingredients from still another. I used one of the $20 donations to buy flour, shortening, sugar, chocolate chips, butterscotch chips, and a lb. of butter and made plans to bake as many cookies as possible this weekend.

Shawn and Jini needed a sitter for Friday because they both had to work from 4:00 until closing time, so I got Jeremy and Ana to help with the cookie project. One of our Soldiers loves peanut butter cookies; they happen to be his favorite. So of course, I had to make some of those.  I gave Jeremy and Ana each a fork and showed them how to smash down the cookie dough and make the criss-cross pattern that peanut butter cookies are known for, and that became their job. Jack came in the kitchen and made the comment that I wasn’t just making cookies, I was making memories – how true! He grabbed the camera and took a few shots of us working on the cookies. I posted the pics on facebook and sent a message to the troops we’re sending cookies to, so they could see the “Keebler elves” helping make treats for our troops. After the peanut butter, we made snickerdoodles and gingersnaps; the kids’ jobs helping with those were to be my taste-testers, which they both did very well. Naturally, they had to taste the dough as well as the finished product.

Making memories with the grandkids

The whole time we were working, Ana was asking questions. She wanted to know if they were her soldiers too, and if I was going to take the cookies to them, could she come with me. She asked if soldiers had kids, and if so, do their kids have toys and bikes and pets. She wondered if the soldiers shared their cookies with the bad guys, would they stop hurting people and be nice so our soldiers could come home. She wanted to know why the bad guys were so mean, and why don’t our soldiers make them be good. Every answer I came up with prompted yet another question. When we were done making the cookies, she asked if I would put a picture in the boxes of her and Jeremy helping me so our soldiers would know they helped. She’s a regular little Chatty Cathy…LOL!! I suppose I can print out some 3×5 or 4×6 copies of the pictures PaPa took and include them with a note in each package of goodies I send. Here are a couple of pictures of our project:

Jeremy making criss-cross patterns on peanut butter cookies

Ana making the criss-cross pattern on peanut butter cookies

Today the weather was cold, wet, and miserable, so I spent the entire day completing the cookie project. I made two batches of peanut butter no-bake cookies, and double batches each of chocolate chip oatmeal, chocolate & butterscotch chip oatmeal, and raisin & walnut oatmeal. I was on my own today, but somehow I managed to get the job done. I have packaged them in quart-size Ziploc bags and now am ready to get boxes packed, addressed, and ready to go in the mail on Monday. I hope the troops enjoy eating the cookies as much as the kids and I enjoyed making them!