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MarineParents.com Newsletter
a Place to Connect & Share 
In This Issue
Deployment Learning Center
Information on Operational Security
Marine Benefit Concert
2011 Girl Scout Cookie Campaign
Team Marine Parents™ Events
Memorial Built for Fallen Heroes
Homecoming Flags
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: 3rd LAR, 3/5, 3/9 
Tuesday: 1st LAR, 26th MEU
Wednesday: 1/8, 2/8, 2/3
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
 
 
Team Marine Parents, an Outreach Program of Marine Parents.com
 
 
Visit Our Sponsors
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March 31, 2011
Dear Brittany,
 
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.
 
Yesterday was Welcome Home Vietnam Veterans Day. We would like to say thank you to the thousands of men and women who fought and died in the war as well as honor all of our veterans who have sacrificed so much.
 
In this newsletter you'll information on operational security as well as an opportunity to plan a special surprise homecoming for your Marine and your family. In addition, there are several troop-support activies we need your help with.
 
A month ago, we asked for your help in collecting hygiene items for our deployed Marines, and you exceeded our goal! We requested 1200 toothbrushes and packages of baby wipes, and you collected 1788 toothbrushes and 1216 packages of  baby wipes! Congratulations, and thank you all for your support in collecting these essentials. 
 
Help us ship cookies to the Marines!If you didn't get a chance to help us with the hygiene campaign, you can still contribute to our next pack day by donating shipping funds to send 14,400 boxes of Girl Scout Cookies overseas! See article below for more information or click here to donate.
  
Thank you for continuing to  support our troops! 
Operational Security (OpSec)
What It Is and How It Affects You 
 
Operational SecurityAs a family member of the military community, you are a vital player in our success and we could not do our job without your support. You may not know it, but you also play a crucial role in ensuring your loved ones' safety just by what you know of the military's day-to-day operations. You can protect your loved ones by protecting the information that you know. This is known in the military as, "Operational Security", or OPSEC.
 
Click here to keep reading.... 
Benefit Concert for Cpl. Todd Nicely
St. Louis, Missouri, May 27, 2011
 
More Information on Attending the Benefit ConcertOn Friday, May 27, 2011, in St. Louis, Missouri, the Stephen Siller Tunnel to Towers Foundation, in conjunction with the St. Louis area fire departments and New York fire department, is holding a benefit concert to raise money to build quadriplegic Marine Cpl. Todd Nicely a "smart" home.

Gary Sinise, star of CSI: NY and Forrest Gump, and Lt. Dan Band will be performing!

Click here to keep reading.

April 2011 Cookie Campaign 
Help Ship 14,400 boxes of Girl Scout Cookies! 
 
2011 Girl Scout Cookie Campaign
It's that time of the year again! We're shipping Girl Scout Cookies® to Marines stationed in combat zones on our April 30th pack day, and we need your help with shipping costs. These cookies are not only a special treat for our troops, but they are also a comforting reminder of home.
 
Our goal is to raise the full amount it's going to cost for us to ship 1200 flat rate boxes of 14,400 boxes of cookies, about $15,000, by April 30.
 
To help us reach our goal, click here
For more information on our Cookie Campaign, click here.
For more information on our April 30th pack day, click here
Team Marine Parents™ Update
Upcoming Events and Participants
 
Join Team Marine Parents!Thank you to those of you who have committed to running or walking for Marine Parents at your next athletic event.
 
We'd like to recognize Sharon Robino-West for her goal of raising $1000 for Purple Heart Hero Support™ by participating in the 2011 Marine Corps Marathon. Good luck Sharon!
 
Click here to visit Sharon's donation page.  
 
Upcoming Team Marine Parents™ events include:
  
April 16, 2011- Camp Pendleton Races (Camp Pendleton, CA): Devil Dog Duathlon and 5k run
 
May 7, 2011- LCpl. Leon B. Deraps Memorial Walk/Run/Ride (Jamestown, MO)
 
Marine Parents staff will be participating in the Leon B. Deraps Memorial Walk/Run/Ride is support of the Deraps family, who never misses a Care Package Project™ Pack Day. We plan to raise $500 for the memorial fund. 
 
Click here to visit the staff's donation page.
Memorial Dedicated to Fallen
Family and Friends Spotlight 
 
Northwood Gratitude and Honor Memorial
In 2003, a group of neighbors in Irvine, CA came together to erect a temporary memorial for fallen heroes of the Afghanistan and Iraq wars. Several public ceremonies were held at the memorial from May to July 2003. The memorial was then taken down, rebuilt for a ceremony on September 11th, and dismantled again.
 
Finally, in 2010 the group of neighbors joined with the city of Irvine in assembling a permanent version of the nation's only memorial dedicated exclusively to listing the names of each fallen hero from the Afghanistand Iraq wars. The memorial was dedicated on November 14, 2010, and since then the goal of the group of neighbors has been to spread the word about the memorial so that Gold Star families can visit it.  
 
Click here to keep reading....  
DoD Career Transition Toolkit
Helping Service Members Make the Transition
 
DoD Online Career Transition ToolkitYesterday the Department of Defense announced the release of an online toolkit, the Career Decision Toolkit, designed to assist service members in making decisions related to their education or career path as they transition to civilian life. 
 
Click here to learn more.... 
Create a Special Homecoming Event
"Coming Home" Show Looking for Families 
 
Click here to view past episodes!If you attended our 2006 conference in San Diego, you may remember Elena Miliaresis. She has been working with military families since 2006, and she does amazing work. She is currently working on a show called "Coming Home" that airs on Lifetime. The show is about creating surprise reuinions for troops and their families, and she wants your help!
 
She is looking to get in touch with units coming home in April whose families are willing to have the homecomings filmed for the show.
 
If you are interested in creating a special surprise reunion for your family, you can contact Elena by emailing her at Elena@WhileTimeStandsStill.com.
 
Click here to view past episodes of "Coming Home."
EGA Store Featured Items
Homecoming Flags with Your Unit Crest 
 
2-1 Homecoming Car Flag
Celebrate your Marine's homecoming with these "Welcome Home" car flags!
 
We currently have units 2/1, 3/5, 5/11, 1 MEF, 3/1, 3/3, 3/25 and VMA 211 listed in our EGA Store, but we can put ANY unit crest on a flag, just tell us which one!  
 
 
5-11 Homecoming Car Flag
 
 
only $13.95!
 
Click here to view all of our car flags. 
Click here to view all of our homecoming gear.
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 March 2011 USMC photo by Sergeant Ricardo A. Gomez a CH-53E Super Stallion, with Marine Heavy Helicopter Squadron 461, taking off for a tactical recovery of aircraft and personnel mission, in eastern Afghanistan, March 20. The Marines involved with the mission were awarded commendatory medals for their extraordinary efforts.  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.
 
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