EUGENE M. CONNOR POST 193

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AFFILIATED WEB SITES

Our Post welcomes your input. Forward your comments, opinions, ideas on how to improve our Website. Send us your photos, notices of special events, your fundraisers and other items of interest that enhance the quality of life for the citizens of our Community.  For our E-mail address, click "CONTACT US" button.

Our Post, at its sole discretion, will publish your submitted contributions we feel are merited. Express yourself.  Become an active member of our community. 

The following are examples of worthy affiliated web sites.

Identity Theft Protection Services

Below is a resource we think would be useful to the Veterans in our community. As you may be aware of already, older Vets and retirees are becoming increasingly popular targets for identity thieves.

The headaches, stress, and monetary losses that come with being a victim can be life altering for families. One way identity theft can be prevented is by enrolling in an identity theft protection service that will prevent identity theft from ever occurring. Not only do identity theft services notify you of suspicious activity, they also go as far as to monitor every bit of sensitive information including bank info, credit card info, social security numbers, and even addresses and names. Because of this and because the options for choosing an identity theft protection service can get complicated, this site was dedicated

to develop a completely free resource that will help guide vets, retirees, and their families in choosing an identity theft protection service that best suits their needs. The guide is filled with in-depth reviews, detailed comparisons, and expert ratings.


You can see the guide here: http://www.reviews.com/identity-theft-protection-services/.

 

CELL PHONES FOR SOLDIERS -

http://www.cellphonesforsoldiers.com/about.html

Cell Phones for Soldiers hopes to turn old cell phones into more than 12 million minutes of prepaid calling cards for U.S. troops stationed overseas in 2008. To do so, Cell Phones for Soldiers expects to collect 15,000 cell phones each month through a network of more than 3,000 collection sites across the country.

The phones are sent to ReCellular, which pays Cell Phones for Soldiers for each donated phone – enough to provide an hour of talk time to soldiers abroad.

“Americans will replace an estimated 130 million cell phones this year,” says Mike Newman, vice president of ReCellular, “with the majority of phones either discarded or stuffed in a drawer.  Most people don’t realize that the small sacrifice of donating their unwanted phones can have a tremendous benefit for a worthy cause like Cell Phones for Soldiers.”

Cell Phones for Soldiers was founded by teenagers Robbie and Brittany Bergquist from Norwell, Mass., with $21 of their own money. Since then, the registered 501c3 non-profit organization has raised almost $1 million in donations and distributed more than 400,000 prepaid calling cards to soldiers serving overseas.

“Cell Phones for Soldiers started as a small way to show our family’s appreciation for the men and women who have sacrificed the day-to-day contact with their own families to serve in the U.S. armed forces,” says the teens’ father, Bob Bergquist. “Over the past few years, we have been overwhelmed by the generosity of others. But, we have also seen the need to support our troops continue to grow as more troops are sent overseas for longer assignments.”

Through increased fundraising efforts, the Bergquist family hopes to raise more than $9 million in the next five years to fund new programs, such as providing video phones with prepaid service to allow soldiers abroad to see their families on a regular basis.

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CHILDREN'S ORGAN TRANSPLANT ASSN.
www.cota.org
E-mail:
cota@ccota.org
1.800.366.2682

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JOINT POW/MIA ACCOUNTING COMMAND (JPAC)            
www.jpac.pacom.mil
E-mail:
publicaffairs@jpac.pacom.mil
1.808.499.1936

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A 'YOU TUBE" Link Titled 'REMEMBER ME'

http://www.youtube.com/v/ervaMPt4Ha0&autoplay

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A great link for anything military, news, reports, military gear, finding old military buddies, etc.

http://www.military.com/ 

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You could have heard a pin drop


When in England, at a fairly large conference, Colin Powell was asked by
the Archbishop of Canterbury if our plans for Iraq were just an example 
of empire building' by George Bush.

He answered by saying, 'Over the years, the United
States has sent many of its fine young men and women 
into great peril to fight for freedom beyond our borders. 
The only amount of land we have ever asked for in return 
is enough to bury those that did not return.' 
You could have heard a pin drop.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

There was a conference in France where a number of
international engineers were taking part, including French 
and American. During a break, one of the French engineers 
came back into the room saying 'Have you heard the latest
dumb stunt Bush has done? He has sent an aircraft
carrier to Indonesia to help the tsunami victims. What 
does he intended to do, bomb them?'
A Boeing engineer stood up and replied quietly: 'Our
carriers have three hospitals on board that can treat several 
hundred people; they are nuclear powered and can supply 
emergency electrical power to shore facilities; they
have three cafeterias with the capacity to feed 3,000
people three meals a day, they can produce several 
thousand gallons of fresh water from sea water each 
day, and they carry half a dozen helicopters for use in
transporting victims and injured to and from their flight 
deck. We have eleven such ships; how many does
France have?'

You could have heard a pin drop.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

A U.S. Navy Admiral was attending a naval conference
that included Admirals from the U.S., English, Canadian, 
Australian and French Navies. At a cocktail reception, 
he found himself standing with a large group of Officers 
that included personnel from most of those countries.
Everyone was chatting away in English as they sipped
their drinks but a French admiral suddenly complained that, 
whereas Europeans learn many languages, Americans learn 
only English.' He then asked, 'Why is it that we always have 
to speak English in these conferences rather than speaking
French?'
Without hesitating, the American Admiral replied 'Maybe
it's because the Brits, Canadians, Aussies and Americans 
arranged it so you wouldn't have to speak German.'

You could have heard a pin drop.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
AND THIS STORY FITS RIGHT IN WITH THE ABOVE...

Robert Whiting, an elderly gentleman of 83, arrived in
Paris by plane. At French Customs, he took a few minutes to locate his passport in his carry on.
'You have been to France before, monsieur?' the customs officer 
aske sarcastically.
Mr. Whiting admitted that he had been to France previously 
Then you should know enough to have your passport ready.'
The American said, "'The last time I was here, I didn't have to
show it. 
"Impossible. Americans always have to show your passports 
on arrival in France!'
The American senior gave the Frenchman a long hard
look. Then he quietly explained, "'Well, when I came ashore 
at Omaha Beach on D-Day in 1944 to help liberate this country,
I couldn't find a single Frenchmen to show a passport to.'

You could have heard a pin drop. 
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
    On Jeopardy the other night, the final question was How many steps does the guard take during his walk across the tomb of the Unknowns ------ All three missed it --- 



Tomb of the Unknown Soldier

1. How many steps does the guard take during his walk across the tomb of the Unknowns and why?

21 steps. It alludes to the twenty-one gun salute, which is the

highest honor given any military or foreign dignitary.


2. How long does he hesitate after his about face to begin his return walk and why?


21 seconds for the same reason as answer number 1.


3. Why are his gloves wet?

His gloves are moistened to prevent his losing his grip on the

rifle.


4. Does he carry his rifle on the same shoulder all the time and if not, why not?


He carries the rifle on the shoulder away from the tomb.

After his march across the path, he executes an about face

and moves the rifle to the outside shoulder.


5. How often are the guards changed?


Guards are changed every thirty minutes,

twenty-four hours a day, 365 days a year.
 

6. What are the physical traits of the guard limited to?

For a person to apply for guard duty at the tomb, he must be between 5' 10" and 6' 2" tall and his waist size cannot exceed 30." Other requirements of the Guard: They must commit 2 years of life to guard the tomb, live in a barracks under the tomb, and cannot drink any alcohol on or off duty for the rest of their lives. They cannot swear in public for the rest of their lives and cannot disgrace the uniform {fighting} or the tomb in any way. After two years, the guard is given a wreath pin that is worn on their lapel signifying they served as guard of the tomb.. There are only 400 presently worn. The guard must obey these rules for the rest of their lives or give up the wreath pin.

The shoes are specially made with very thick soles to keep the heat and cold from their feet. There are metal heel plates that extend to the top of the shoe in order to make the loud click as they come to a halt..  There are no wrinkles, folds or lint on the uniform. Guards dress for duty in front of a full-length mirror.

The first six months of duty a guard cannot talk to anyone, nor watch TV. All off duty time is spent studying the 175 notable people laid to rest in Arlington National Cemetery .. A guard must memorize who they are and where they are interred. Among the notables are: President Taft, Joe E. Lewis {the boxer} and Medal of Honor winner Audie Murphy, {the most decorated soldier of WWII} of Hollywood fame.

Every guard spends five hours a day getting his uniforms ready for
guard duty.


ETERNAL REST GRANT THEM O LORD, AND LET PERPETUAL LIGHT SHINE UPON THEM.

In 2003 as Hurricane Isabelle was approaching Washington , DC , our
US Senate/House took 2 days off with anticipation of the storm.  On the ABC evening news, it was reported that because of the dangers from the hurricane, the military members assigned the duty of guarding the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier were given permission to suspend the assignment. They respectfully declined the offer, "No way, Sir!" Soaked to the skin, m arching in the pelting rain of a tropical storm, they said that guarding the Tomb was not just an assignment, it was the highest honor that can be afforded to a service person. The tomb has been patrolled continuously, 24/7, since 1930.



God Bless and keep them.