America Supports You E-Newsletter 12/04/07

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December 4, 2007

E-Newsletter Volume CXXXIX

Washington, D.C.

Kathy Cox, Wal-Mart Foundation manager, talks with Army Cpl. Adam Poppenhouse at the kick-off of “Operation: Deck the Walls,” Wal-Mart’s new program to bring holiday cheer to recovering military families at Fisher Houses in the United States and Germany. Photo by Linda Hosek.

Fort Hood, Tex.

Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates meets with Army spouses during a November 27th visit.

Indianapolis, Ind.

Members of ASY homefront group Quilts of Valor Foundation’s Columbus, Ind. chapter, recently awarded certificates of appreciation, with quilts they made for injured servicemembers.

New on the ASY Team
America Supports You is proud to welcome four new homefront organizations to the team this week!
Bryan McDonough Military Heroes Foundation, located in St. Paul, Minn., supports wounded servicemembers and their families as well as the families of fallen servicemembers.
Operation Stars & Stripes, Inc., in Marietta, Ga., supports military personnel and their families through care packages, letters and professional development opportunities.
Project EverGreen Foundation, Inc., based in New Prague, Minn., connects participating landscape maintenance professionals with families of deployed servicemembers.
Project TLC: Serving Those Who Serve, in Landstuhl, Germany,provides comfort items to injured and deployed servicemembers. ASY from Coast to Coast and Across the Ocean
America Supports You corporate supporter Wal-Mart is giving thanksto our servicemembers and their families this holiday season, donating $350,000 to ASY homefront group Fisher House through its Operation Deck the Walls, a new program to bring holiday cheer to military families at 38 Fisher House facilities in the United States and Germany. Each house will recieve $5,000 for a spending spree. The total also includes $60,000 for decorations at all of the houses and $100,000 to build a new Fisher House at Fort Bragg, N.C. Kate Deyermond, the manager of the three Fisher House facilities at Walter Reed Army Medical Center, will use the donations from Wal-Mart to buy presents and necessities for military families who stay at Fisher House while their loved ones recover from combat injuries or illnesses. “We’ll make a list of the needs of the residents -- anything from diapers to linens,” Deyermond said at the kick-off of Operation Deck the Walls. “Wal-Mart is a true champion of our military,” said Ken Fisher, Fisher House president. “It’s a wonderful way to heal,” commented Army Cpl. Adam Poppenhouse, who lost his leg from an improvised explosive device in Iraq last December and has lived in a Fisher House for months. “It’s very humbling. It means a lot to me and my family.” Read More
Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates recently spread the ASY spirit, meeting with servicemembers and their families at Fort Hood, Texas to present Purple Hearts and listen to their concerns. Gates began his morning by joining soldiers for breakfast at the Eagle’s Nest, a 4th Infantry Division dining facility. Gates discussed Army issues with the soldiers. The secretary also met with 30 Army spouses representing the 4th Infantry Division, 1st Cavalry Division, 13th Sustainment Command and 3rd Armored Cavalry Regiment to hear their issues and concerns, and answer questions. “Every question posed, he had already considered,” said Sheree Weller, the wife of Capt. Shane Weller, a pilot with 1st Aviation Combat Brigade, 1st Cavalry Division. “I felt he was listening.” At the ceremony, Gates presented 12 Purple Hearts to division soldiers and certificates to the volunteers. Read More

Several Indiana representatives from ASY homefront organization Quilts of Valor Foundation recently received certificates of appreciation from the Indiana adjutant general for their commitment to honoring servicemembers. Maj. Gen. R. Martin Umbarger and Command Sgt. Maj. James Brown of the Indiana National Guard presented the awards at Joint Forces Headquarters. The foundation’s mission is to cover all physically or psychologically wounded servicemembers with special wartime quilts. Sgt. Tony Maddox, injured in Iraq by an improvised explosive device while deployed with the 1313th Engineer Company, received his quilt in August 2007 during the unit’s homecoming at Camp Atterbury Joint Maneuver Training Center in Edinburgh, Ind. Maddox was present at the November ceremony, thanking the women who made his quilt. “I think it’s great these ladies are there to help soldiers like me,” Maddox said. “It is our way of honoring our injured servicemembers with an “eternal hug” of a custom-made quilt,” said Joyce Jones, a Quilts of Valor Foundation volunteer. Read More

Communities and organizations nationwide are showing their America Supports You spirit, reaching out to a Texas family in need. Army Spc. John A. Johnson sustained traumatic brain injury in August after he experienced his fifth improvised-explosive-device blast in Iraq. The final blast landed him at Brooke Army Medical Center in San Antonio for treatment. Two months later, when he was being discharged, his wife and three children left El Paso and headed east to meet him. On the way, the Johnson family vehicle crashed and rolled. Two-year-old Logan and 5-year-old Ashley perished in the accident. Tyler, age 9, was critically injured with brain injuries and he later died. Johnson’s wife, Monalisa, was in the intensive-care unit of an adjacent facility, Parkland Hospital, with back injuries. Supportive military and civilian communities quickly went into action, providing widespread support for the devastated family. Groups poured their hearts into covering the spectrum of the grieving family’s needs, providing airline tickets, prepared meals, funds, hotel rooms and cars. Numerous ASY homefront groups have contributed to providing comfort to the family including, The Fisher House Foundation, Operation Homefront, Operation Comfort and Soldiers’ Angels. PGA Tour, an ASY corporate supporter has raised $95,000 for the family and American Airlines donated tickets. Many other organizations have helped the family as well. "If this tragedy had happened before we had the America Supports You program in place, we wouldn't have been able to energize the community to provide the support required," said Allison Barber, deputy assistant secretary of defense for internal communications and public liaison, and ASY architect. "Now, even though we can't make everything right for the family, at least we can help connect them to as much assistance as humanly possible." Read More

Featured on the ASY Web Site Last Week:
Adopt A US Soldier
“In the last two years and eight months, we have grown to 16,000 registered supporters. … Many schools, synagogues, churches, companies and organizations are counted as one in our system, and yet the supporters are many more…. It's a very important reality that many countries support and are appreciative of the U.S. soldier.”
- Ann Johnson, Founder, Adopt A US Soldier
ASY In the News
Country Hound (Tenn.) reported on ASY’s CD for the Troops, available for anyone with a valid military identification card to download at no cost from the Army and Air Force Exchange Service Web site (www.aafes.com).

Southwest Nebraska News ran a piece mentioning the work ASY does and how the program can be used as resource during the holiday season for those determining how to help the troops.
The News & Observer (N.C.) covered the efforts of Congressman Roscoe Bartlett (R-MD) and ASY homefront group Armed Forces Foundation (AFF) in bringing holiday cheer to servicemembers.
ASY Homefront Organization of the Week:
Cell Phones For Soldiers was started in April, 2004 by 13-year-old BrittanyBergquist and her 12-year-old brother Robbie of Norwell, Massachusetts after hearing a disturbing news report about a local soldier who ran up a massive phone bill calling home from Iraq. The organization provides soldiers with prepaid calling cards, satellite phones, video phones and Voice over Internet Protocal (VoIP) communications. In April, ASY corporate supporter AT&T announced that it would support Robbie and Brittany Bergquist, making the commitment of donating 10,000 prepaid calling cards worth nearly $270,000 to the homefront group and designating Cingular stores in Boston, New York City, Philadelphia and Washington, D.C. as drop-off points for anyone who would like to donate their used cell phone to the group. With recent appearances on The View and Wake Up With Whoopi, Brittany and Robbie are making quite a splash. For more information, check out: http://www.cellphonesforsoldiers.com/

From the Troops:
“Greetings from Iraq! Thanks to all of you for your constant, uplifting support for us. I can't begin to tell you how much the care packages you send help us out and give us that big boost of morale that we all need when things start to get heavy out here. We appreciate all of you.”
-SPC Beverly Binas, Army, Woodbury, N.J.

“Thank you all for your support. If you did not stand behind us then we would be doing this for nothing. Thank you.”
- SPC/US Army, Anthony Rubado, Hermon, N.Y.

Our troops deserve to be applauded, and so do you!

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