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Support Our Marines! |
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Team Marine Parents™
Show your support of our Marines and their families at home! Participate in one of the MarineParents.com Outreach Programs today! Our Marines need YOU! |
| Support for You:
a Place to
Connect & Share™ |
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| Learning Center:
Operations Security |
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NOTE: When communicating online, your Marine's privacy is as important as Operations Security. Please respect YOUR Marine's privacy! |
| Learning Center:
About Deployment |
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(from your Marine, with the USMC, and with other families)
(tips, tricks and money savers for mailing to YOUR Marine)
(bills, taxes, legal issues, injuries, notification from the Marine Corps)
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Learning Center:
About Homecoming |
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(Tip: While in our store, check in your Marine's unit store for more homecoming shirts!) |
| Learning Center:
Bootcamp |
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| Unit Chat Nights |
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Unit Chat Night Schedule:
Sunday: 1/4
2nd & 4th Sunday: deployed MAWS Monday: 2/5, 2/6 and 26th MEU, 15th MEU
Wednesday: 2/1, 3/8, 2/9
Thursday: 1/3, 1st LAR, 1/12
Friday: 1/1, 13th MEU
For additional information about the Chat Room and Unit Chat Nights for your Marine's Unit, please see:
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| Local Support Groups in Your Area |
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NEWEST SUPPORT
Latrobe, PA
(Westmoreland)
For a list of all support groups in our database or to find one in your area, see:
If you are interested in starting a local support group in your area, please visit the "Support Groups" section of our website:
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| Marine Corps Spirit
T-shirts, Gifts & More |
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Show your Marine Corps spirit and pride! Proceeds from sales support MarineParents.com, an IRS approved 501(c)(3) public charity.
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| Sign Up for the Newsletter |
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Dear Marine Families,
If this is the first edition of the MarineParents.com Newsletter you have received, WELCOME! If you are a returning reader we are glad you have joined us.
We're in the midst of planning what will certainly be our best ever conference, adding Captain Dale Dye (author of Platoon and actor in many highly acclaimed movies including Platoon and Saving Private Ryan) as our keynote speaker and Colonel Simcock as a presenter for our families to learn about the famous Mojave Viper training that takes place in the high desert near Twentynine Palms, California. [read more]
We're making progress slowly but surely with moving the corporate office; the architect has asked us to make a contingency plan in case we don't get finished by June 1. That was a little daunting to hear yesterday, but as our Marines have taught us, we will adapt and overcome as necessary. [read more]
Part 2 of the MarineParents.com survey is now available online and we hope you'll take a moment to fill that out. It's quick and easy and will help us plan how best to support you and your needs. [read more]
These side-bar activities don't stop us from fullfilling our mission of supporting our Marines and YOU, the family members. In the last week we've served 140 meals to Purple Heart Marines and their families at both Balboa and Bethesda. In just over a week, we'll be shipping thousands of boxes of Girl Scout Cookies to Marines in Iraq and Afghanistan. Thank you to all of the volunteers that help make that happen and to each of you that contribute your dollars to assure the funding of these important works! |
| Marine Parents Survey: Part II |
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| How are we doing? How can we improve?
 We've developed a three-part survey for visitors of MarineParents.com web sites and services. Your participation is important to us and we value your input. Your responses will help us to improve services and information offered to you from MarineParents.com.
The link below is Part II of the three-part survey. Each survey is from 12-22 questions and should take no longer than 5-10 minutes to complete. Participation in the survey is voluntary. No personally identifying information will be asked or collected during the survey.
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| 2009 National Conference |
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| Captain Dale Dye, Keynote Saturday
 We're taking reservations now for the 5th Marine Parents conference and this will truly be our best ever! We're adding outstanding speakers and guests each week. Register now as seating is limited and you won't want to miss our keynote speaker, Captain Dale Dye.
 Captain Dye is a retired Marine, author, actor and film consultant. Among his most famous achievements, he is author of the New York Times bestseller Platoon and has played characters in countless films, including Platoon and Saving Private Ryan. As a Marine, his list of achievements and medals are extraordinary, including three Purple Hearts and a Bronze Star. Captain Dye will be our keynote speaker for the benefit dinner on Saturday, April 18, 2009.
 Colonel Richard M. Simcock II will present a Saturday session on the famous Marine Corps Mojave Viper training. This is the session you've been asking for, with footage and explanations of the training your Marine accomplishes prior to deployments. You've heard it from your Marine, and now you'll learn first-hand what it's all about. Our lineup of speakers and breakout sessions, along with the online registration form, is now available on the web site at www.MarineConference.com/2009
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| We need HELP: The Big Move |
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| Support the Organization that Supports You
We continue to need your help to get the office moved! We've made fantastic progress and we're well on our way.
 Marine Parents has grown beyond what anyone could imagine--from a one-woman show run out of my home in 2003 to a nonprofit corporation with staff, hundreds of volunteers and 27 web sites on 7 different servers for all of our outreach projects. The corporate office includes offices, a warehouse and packing area, meeting areas and a classroom. Without the corporate office and staff to do the work behind the scenes, this organization would not exist. We have to move from our current space and we need your help with donations to develop the only structure we could afford; it's a warehouse which needs to be transformed into an office. Please support the organization that supports you; we need your donation today so we continue to have an office space and continue to provide services to you and our Marines.
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| Without T-Shirt Sales... |
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We simply would not exist.
You've seen our designs and you're buying our product and we want to say THANK YOU for supporting us! It's a fact, that without our T-shirt sales, we simply would not have enough funds to exist as an organization.
Our growth means our expenses have grown as well, but unlike other online stores that are for profit, your purchase from our stores goes back to MarineParents.com so we can continue to staff our office, provide web sites and message boards, train our volunteers, and support YOU and YOUR MARINE.
We've got new designs for Recruit Graduation and we've got brand new designs for all Marine Families. Click the images below to view new designs.
Why purchase from other companies when your buck can go back to the organization that supports you and our Marines? Click here to shop... |
| Humanitarian Aid in Africa |
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| Marines Deliver School Supplies
 Devil dogs with Marine Advisor Team and the Liberian Security Sector Reform lent a helping hand to soldiers with the Armed Forces of Liberia to deliver school supplies to the United Methodist School System in Monrovia, Liberia.
The donation consisted of approximately 165 desks and 319 boxes containing school bags and school kits. The United Methodist School System received these items as a donation from a stateside organization and had it delivered through the U.S. Navy's Project Handclasp program.
This program, created in 1962, allows the U.S. Navy to collect donations from the private sector, transport them in their empty cargo space, and distribute them at ports of call. Project Handclasp gives a mode of transport and also gives U.S. Sailors and Marines the ability to foster positive relationships with citizens all around the world.
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| The Way We Get By |
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| Maine Troop Greeters Documentary
 Inside a small airport in central Maine, a group of senior citizens are making history by using handshakes and hugs to play a critical role in the Iraq war. The Way We Get By is an inspirational story about how these handshakes can change a person's life. Since March 2003, nearly one million soldiers and marines from across the country have been greeted at the Bangor International Airport. With each flight, 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, these volunteers have been there to send them off and welcome them home.
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| Deployment Calling Cards |
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For Combat Deployed Marines: Which Cards Work Overseas?
 Assurance that your Marine can call home while deployed to Iraq, Afghanistan or Kuwait is a critical component to your peace of mind during combat deployments.
There are two types of calling cards that will work from Afghanistan, Iraq and Kuwait. Your Marine's location will dictate which card to use. We recommend obtaining one of each.
AT&T Global Calling Card
The first is the AT&T Global calling card that can only be purchased through the military AAFES exhanges. We have a link on our web site that you can purchase directly from AAFES without needing a military I.D.
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| Recommended Reading |
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| From the Founder of MarineParents.com
 I picked up this book one night and read it in full, in one sitting, cover to cover.
The book was beyond my expectations. I finally "get it". I finally understand that our sons and daughters will all have a tough time returning to civilian life--they don't have to have PTSD (Post Traumatic Stress Disorder) or COS (Combat Operational Stress) to have concerns about returning home and adjusting back to a civilian lifestyle. And I understand why now. That knowledge and understanding will help me help other families, and most importantly, help me to help my son.
Once a Warrior: Wired for Life should be required reading for military personnel, from the privates to the commanding officers, and for every family member. Buy the book, read it, pass it on, and encourage others to do the same. Share the knowledge you will learn from it. This is the best way I know to support our troops.
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| "Black Friday" |
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Recruits Meet Drill Instructors
 There is a slang term used for the first Friday after arriving in bootcamp: "Black Friday". This is the first time recruits are introduced to their drill instructors.
Indeed, this is one of the defining moments in the recruit's training. Marines hold their DIs and SDI (Drill Instructors and Senior Drill Instructor) in the highest esteem and with intense respect.
How do recruits move from "Black Friday" to holding their DIs in the highest esteem in 13 weeks? The drill instructor creed says it all. These are not just words; this is the mindset of every Marine drill instructor. The drill instructors sacrifice much to live by this creed and they make sure every recruit EARNS the title of "United States Marine".
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| Marine Nominated for Award |
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| We Need Your Vote for Colonel Bogdanos
 Colonel Matthew Bogdanos has been nominated for the "Gabby Award" in the category of Arts and Culture for his work preserving and recovering antiquities in the Iraq Museum in 2003. Colonel Bogdanos was our keynote speaker at the 2008 Conference in Washington DC and works hard to support our organization.
I'd like to encourage you to vote for Colonel Bogdanos for this award so we can all stand proud that one of our own, a Marine, can be recognized for his good work. Click here to vote... | |
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