This is the destroyer U.S.S. McGowan. My Papa served on this ship during the Korean War. Gave up a football scholarship to Clemson to serve his country. Married my Nana in a civil ceremony just before he left. She paid for the license, and she never let him forget it.
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1) The British filled the moat of the Tower of London with 888,246 ceramic poppies to honor the soldiers they lost during WWI. It’s spectacular.
2) This article explains the difference between Veterans’ Day and Memorial Day, and why we shouldn’t confuse them.
3) The CEO of Starbucks wants America to remember that Veterans’ Day is not just a weekend sale. He’s also encouraging more companies to get into the business of hiring veterans. Given the high unemployment rate for recent veterans, and the growing number of vets who need jobs, let’s hope people are listening.
4) Lastly, I’m going to plug for a few of my favorite veterans’ charities. Thanking a veteran for his/her service means more than a handshake, it means picking up the slack for those who came home.
Fisher House provides no cost housing to military families while a loved one is receiving medical treatment far from home, you can donate cash or frequent flier miles. IAVA fights for the veterans of Iraq and Afghanistan by lobbying our government to care for the unique needs these vets face. Wounded Warrior Project takes care of vets who suffer from physical and emotional trauma with counseling, community and family support, and transitioning back to school and work.
If money isn’t something you can give, I encourage you to find another way to donate your time. One way that my former co-workers give back is by greeting arriving Honor Flights at Reagan and Dulles. There are events almost every week. You can get a gate pass from D.C. honor flight and show your support for veterans visiting D.C..
9 comments
TheLoop says:
My gratitude to your grandfather for his service to the country. And thank you for sharing the list of charities – I hadn’t come across Fisher House and am going to look into how I can support it.
Wanda says:
Thanks for posting this,I recently attended a Veterans On Wall Street (“VOWS”) symposium and learned about the Fisher House and the wonderful things they do for service persons. It was also great to know that the CEO of Starbucks was not alone in seeing the value in hiring Vets. Thank you for supporting Veterans Causes.
KA says:
Belle, what happened to links? They used to open up in a separate window but no more. 🙁
Belle says:
I don’t know, I’ll see.
Emily says:
What a wonderful and appropriate post for today! The Fisher family has another charity, Intrepid Fallen Heroes Fund, that is currently building clinics to treat traumatic brain injuries (https://www.fallenheroesfund.org/Intrepid-Spirit-Centers.aspx). Their continuous support and commitment to helping soldiers and their families is incredible. Thank you for sharing today. I always appreciate your fashion commentary, but I love that you also include content you obviously care about.
YouSaucyMinx says:
Thank you for this post. I was getting frustrated with the endless ‘Veterans Day sale roundups!” on every blog…there’s a reason we celebrate this day, and it isn’t 40% off cashmere.
Min Donner says:
Thank you for this post. I live outside the US currently, and being away from the regular advertising and only seeing these things through the blogs that I read, the conflation of ‘ceremonial day off’ and ‘sale’ in the US has struck me like never before. Be it Memorial Day or Veterans Day, or now Thanksgiving (because Black Friday and whatever the e-commerce Monday is aren’t enough), the push seems to be to associate what used to be national days of remembrance or honor or family are now being touted as shopping days. I guess I can understand that as people are working more and feeling more stressed financially, they are susceptible to any opportunity to get shopping/errands done on a day off, and at a discount, but I think it cheapens us as a society and detracts from the intent of these holidays.
Allison says:
my husband is AD Navy… and my best friend ( her hubby is also Navy) delivered a 27 week premie at FT Lewis. During that time i went to stay with her at the Fisher House. they are amazing. My husband at my urging contributes to them every year during the Combined Federal Campaign. Without them Im not sure my BFF’s little girl would have made it.. as they took a lot of the ” everyday” stress away. will support them for life.
Avan says:
Thank you giving this day the importance that it deserves
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