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MarineParents.com Newsletter
a Place to Connect & Share 
In This Issue
Deployment Learning Center
The Post-9/11 GI Bill 2.0
Interactive PTSD Resource Launched
The National Resource Directory
Chat with Dr. Cantrell
EGA Store Featured Items
EGA Store Supporter Spotlight
Order Free Marine Parents Brochures!
Support for You:
a Place to
Connect & Share™
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
The Marine Parents EGA Store
Text and Image
Learning Center:
Operational Security
Operational Security

NOTE: When communicating online, your Marine's privacy is as important as Operational Security. Please respect YOUR Marine's privacy!

Learning Center:
About Deployment
 
 
 
 
 
 
Learning Center:
About Homecoming
 
 
 
 
 
 
Tip: While in our store, check in your Marine's unit store for more homecoming shirts!
Unit Chat Nights
Unit Chat Night Schedule:
 
Monday: 3/9, 1/2, 3/5, 2/6 
Tuesday: 1st LAR, 26th MEU
Wednesday: 1/8, 3/3
Thursday: 2/9
Sunday: 2/1
 
For additional information about the Chat Room and Unit Chat Nights for your Marine's Unit, please see:
 
           MarineParents.com Chat Gif 
Local Support Groups in Your Area
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:
Support Our Marines!
Show your support of our Marines and their families! Participate in one of the Marine Parents outreach programs today! Our Marines need YOU! 
 
The Care Package Project, and Outreach Program of Marine Parents.com
 
 
Purple Heart Hero Support™ an Outreach Program of Marine Parents.com
 
 
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February 9, 2011
Greetings 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.
 
Help us spread the word about Marine Parents and its outreach programs! Our glossy, informational brochures are free, and available from the EGA Store. Just add a few on to your store purchase, or order them separately because shipping is FREE! Pass them on to other Marine families, recruit families and friends! Click here to order brochures.
 
In this newsletter you will find a few incredible resources for troops and families concerned with combat recovery and warrior transitioning, in addition to a summary of increased benefits established by the new Post-9/11 GI Bill. 
 
Don't forget to support our outreach programs by shopping at the Marine Parents EGA Store! 100% of proceeds go back to benefit the Marines, so if you haven't taken at look at our huge selection of Marine Corps gear yet, click here!
 
Thank you for continuing to show your support for our dedicated troops! 
The Post-9/11 GI Bill 2.0
The Benefits vs. the Trade-Offs 
 
 
[Photo courtesy of Defense Media Network]
The Post-9/11 GI Bill 2.0
On January 4, 2011, President Obama signed into law the Post-9/11 Veterans Educational Assistance Improvements Act, otherwise known as the Post-9/11 GI Bill 2.0. This law contains several new provisions to help expand the benefits and coverage established under the original Post-9/11 GI Bill, which didn't cover all veterans equally.
 
The new GI Bill increases the number of veterans eligible to receive benefits such as coverage of education programs and licensure, certification or placement tests, textbook stipends and living/housing allowances. Some of the new law's provisions even include coverage for spouses of veterans and service members.
 
Click here to read more...  
DoD Launches Virtual PTSD Site
Resource for Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder
 
 
The T2 Virtual PTSD ExperienceThe Department of Defense (DoD) recently launched an interactive PTSD simulation developed by the National Center for Telehealth and Technology (T2). The simulation, called the "Virtual PTSD Experience," allows combat veterans dealing with PTSD and their families to learn about the causes and symptoms of PTSD and the resources that are available to them.
 
 
Click here to learn more.   
National Resource Directory
Linking Wounded Warriors and Resources 
 
 
[Photo courtesy of National Resource Directory]
The National Resource Directory
A website created by the Defense, Labor and Veterans Affairs departments is proving to be an excellent starting point for wounded warriors, service members, veterans and their families seeking information and assistance. It aims to support the recovery, rehabilitation and community reintegration of service members.
 
The online directory, called the National Resource Directory, offers thousands of state, local and national resources for a vast amount of topics: employment, benefits and compensation, education and training, health and housing, among others.
  
Click here to keep reading... 
Chat With Dr. Bridget Cantrell, PhD
Learn More About PTSD From an Expert!
 
 

Chat Nights With Dr. Bridget CantrellBridget Cantrell, Ph.D., will be participating in Marine Parents' monthly online discussion Thursday, February 24th at 8 p.m. CT in the Marine Parents chat room.

 

Dr. Cantrell has written several books on combat recovery, and she will be discussing post-traumatic stress disorder and warrior transitioning.

 

Military members and their families who are interested in knowing more about issues related to PTSD and combat recovery are encouraged to participate in the chat.

  

 

EGA Store Featured Items
Three Books on PTSD by Dr. Bridget Cantrell 
 
 
Set of Three PTSD Books by Dr. Bridget CantrellSave $11 when you purchase all three of Dr. Cantrell's books on post-traumatic stress disorder and warrior transitioning. The set includes Down Range to Iraq and Back (critically-acclaimed), Once A Warrior Wired For Life and Souls Under Siege.
 
These are a must-read for all military families!
 
$38.85 for all three
 
Click here to purchase!

Family Wearing EGA Store T-Shirts

 

Marine Parents EGA Store Supporter Spotlight

We love seeing Marine friends and family supporting the Marines by wearing an item they purchased from the Marine Parents EGA Store. Here is a photo and note we received
from a supporter:  
 
Wear Red Friday! Click here to purchase Red Friday gear!Here are a few of us with our Red Friday shirts on with our Marine while home pre-deployment. I love wearing my shirt every Friday. I bought one for my mother and four sisters and we started a trend, others are asking where to purchase them.
 
Thanks, Kimme Huser
  
Thanks for your support Kimme and family! To learn more about submitting your own photo and to view our photo gallery click here.
 
100% of proceeds from EGA Store sales are used to support the outreach programs of Marine Parents. Click here to shop our Marine Corps gear!
 
Click here to purchase the Red Friday shirts in the photo!
FREE Marine Parents Brochures!
You Can Help Us Spread the Word! 
 
 
Order free Marine Parents, Recruit Parents and outreach program brochures!Free Marine Parents, Recruit Parents and outreach program brochures can now be ordered through our EGA Store!
 
If you would like to learn more about our organization and its outreach programs, or if you want to help us raise awareness of community troop support, please order the number of brochures you think you will need and pass them out to friends and family. We know there are Marine and recruit families out there who may not know about us, and we'd like to reach out to them!
 
For your convenience, shipping of these brochures is also free!
 
Click here to order Marine Parents brochures!
DONATE with every swipe of your card!

We hope this week's edition of our email newsletter has been useful for you and your family. If there are topics you would like us to address, or if you have other suggestions for the newsletter, please contact us.

The banner used at the top of this newsletter is a February 2011 USMC photo by MC3 Adam M. Bennett of Marines assigned to the 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit maritime raid force checking their weapons during a call-away drill in the hangar bay of the forward-deployed amphibious assault ship USS Essex (LHD 2).  Click here to read additional credits.  
 
MarineParents.com, Inc. is a 501(c)(3) public charity. MarineParents.com, Inc. was founded in January, 2003 in response to parents' needs to find information and to have a Place to Connect & Share™ with one another during deployments. Our free online services and connections have expanded to support and educate Marine moms & dads, spouses, families and friends. We've helped over 130,000 Marine and recruit families during bootcamp, training, active duty and deployments. We've shipped thousands of care packages overseas to our Marines in Iraq and Afghanistan, sent thousands of prayers and letters to injured Marines and served hundreds of meals to Wounded Warriors and their families on both the East and West coasts. You've found a Place to Connect & Share™. 
 

God Bless and Semper Fidelis,
 

Tracy Della Vecchia
Founder and Executive Director
MarineParents.com, Inc.
 
Neither the United States Marine Corps nor any other component of the Department of Defense has approved, endorsed, or authorized this service.