Happy Mothers Day!
This Sunday, moms across the country will be treated to breakfast in bed, homemade cards, bouquets of flowers and fancy dinners in restaurants. But for military mothers who are serving and those mothers who have sons and daughters fighting wars overseas, Mother’s Day won’t be all roses.
The term "Military Mothers" describes two distinct groups of women. On the one hand, it describes mothers whose sons and daughters are members of the military. On the other, it describes mothers who are themselves members of the military.
Though many military mothers have grown used to their children’s absences on Mother’s Day and other special occasions, it doesn’t make those times any easier especially for moms whose sons and daughters are in the line of fire in Iraq or Afghanistan.
Mothers whose children are in the military and deployed to military bases around the world or serving in a war zone far from home, live with daily fear and worry for the lives of those to whom they gave birth, and nurtured into the fine young men and women they are. They worry that those children may return home with missing limbs or with PTSD, and may not be the same person who deployed, or that they may return in a flag-draped casket.
And mothers, who must leave their children behind to go to a war zone far from home, live with daily fear for their own lives because they worry about the possibility that their children may have to grow up without a mother. And they worry about the impact their absence will have on little psyches, and whether that impact will be lasting.
And to the mothers who still wait for news that their POW/MIA is coming home, we bow our heads..
We assure you, all groups are heroes.
And we'd like to wish them, and all the other mothers out there, a Happy Mother's Day!
15+ OPSEC Rules for Military Families and Friends
In the military, OPSEC stands for Operational Security. There are rules and guidelines for OPSEC that pertain to services members and their families and friends. In this day and age with social media, there are a lot of bad guys out there looking for information to deter the safety and missions of our nation’s military.
WHAT IS OPSEC?OPSEC protects US operations – planned, in progress, and those completed. OPSEC is keeping potential adversaries from discovering critical information about the Department of Defense. The military needs to accomplish the mission quickly and successfully. Success relies on secrecy, surprise, and private information. Enemies want this critical information, and they are not just after the military member to get it. They also look to military families and friends.Unfortunately, OPSEC can’t be summed up in a brief list of rules and regulations and be expected to cover every possible situation. There are some general rules and guidelines to follow for military family members and friends.
RULES OF OPSEC
Do not post detailed information about the mission of assigned units.
Do not post details on locations and times of unit deployments.
Do not list your service member's specific job on social media.
Do not post where your service member is stationed/ported.
Do not post about personnel transactions that occur in large numbers (Example: pay information, powers of attorney, wills, deployment information).
Do not post details on locations and times of unit trainings.
Do not post unit/service member itineraries
Do not post references to trends in unit morale or personnel problems.
Do not post details concerning security procedures, response time, tactics.
Do not post details Personal Identifying Information (PII)
Do not post exact redeployment dates
Do not reveal camp locations, including nearby cities. After the deployment is officially announced by Military officials, you may discuss locations that have been released, normally on the Country level.
Do not discuss convoy routes (“we travelled through ‘such-and-such’ on our way to X”)
Do not discuss equipment or lack thereof, to include training equipment
Avoid the use of count-up or count-down tickers for the same reason as rule #1, if you do decide to use one, make sure only YOU and those you trust are able to see it.Be very careful if posting pictures of your loved one. Avoid images that show significant landmarks near their base of operations, and black out last names and unit affiliations.
Do not, EVER, post information about casualties (coalition or enemy) before the official release of the information.
Do not pass on rumors (“I heard they’re coming home early”, etc)
SOCIAL MEDIA
You may want to limit your posts to friends-only. Defaults can change on Facebook with no real notice, and suddenly you’re posting to the Public. If your FRG has a facebook group, ask the leader if it’s secret, closed, or public. What you post to a group may appear on other people’s timelines as well.
Photos
If you must post photos, consider cropping or blurring some details on pictures.
Geotagging
Make sure your location services setting is turned off, if you don’t want your or your spouse to be reporting where their location is.
Social media is not going away any time soon. More and more issues arise with social media and consequences hit much harder and much faster (with consequently less time to “undo” a mistake).
These OPSEC rules aren’t meant to limit your free speech or restrict your liberties- that’s exactly what our men and women in uniform fight to protect. They are put into place to help ensure the safety and security of our nation’s military.
If you have any questions, contact your (or your sponsor’s) unit OPSEC manager.
Thank you jd [@] semidelicatebalance [.] com
A Holiday Prayer for Military Families
Remember those at home while their loved ones are deployed during this holiday season.
by Edie Melson
Sometimes it’s easier to think of the military troops who are deployed during the holiday season but not their families. Today, let’s remember those families and lift them up in prayer to the One who can provide the comfort they need:
Dear Lord,
I’m praying for all those who have a loved one on deployment around the globe. I know this time of year can be a challenge, even if the deployment isn’t necessarily in a war zone. Being separated from those we care about is always hard.
I’m asking that you give these families a special peace this holiday season. Give them lots of opportunities to spend time in communication with their loved ones—through whatever means available. Thank you for all the different ways we have now to communicate around the world. Make sure packages and letter arrive in a timely fashion. Keep the digital and telephone lines clear and free from static.
Fill the days with activities to take their minds from the emptiness they feel. Surround them with friends and family who understand their struggles and can support them in ways that provide just what they need. Put people in their lives to be Your hands and feet during this stressful holiday season.
Remind them of the blessings that still surround them. Don’t let them withdraw. Instead help them to take part in the joy of this season.
Most of all, give them tangible proof that You are there with them and with their loved one. Remind them of Your great love and all the ways You watch over the entire family, those at home and deployed.
Amen.
He heals the brokenhearted and bins up their wounds. (Psalm 147:3, NASB)
Prayer of Thanksgiving
Today we bow our heads to give thanks
Thanks to our Creator whose wisdom and strength is infinite.
Thanks to the winds, for cleansing tired and weary souls,
Thanks to the waters for life sustaining.
Thanks to the Mother Earth as we lay her weary head to rest for
another season.
Thanks to the Father Sun for warming our souls on the long cold days.
Thanks to the fires that life is reborn anew.
Yes Creator today we give thanks for all of your little miracles
we take so much for granted each day.
I thank you Creator for my warrior son,
Whose proud stance and carriage has
Carried him through many dark days,
And even darker nights.
He knows the Warriors Creed and
Knows the life he lives was chosen
Long ago for him.
I thank you Creator for the many hands
Each one holding a star blue or gold, to be enfolded
In this blanket not yet made
Each star is a prayer yet unanswered
They that share the knitting of a new blanket
In life they are the ones keeping the home fires lit
They are -
The mothers who stand beside, their child
Who are so far away, but so very near
The wives who stand beside their husbands
Who are so far away but so very near
The daughters who stand beside their
Mothers and grandmothers waiting for mommy or daddy to come home.
The husbands and fathers who stand waiting for their loved one
To come home.
Creator this day we give thanks
For prayers not yet answered.
Keep all of our family near and far strong –
know in our weakest moments
we are the strongest, know in the darkest moments
we are the light to guide them home.
Yes Creator this is a day of thanks
For all that has come before
And all that will come after.
Each little moment we give thanks To you.
Keep our warriors strong,
Keep our warriors safe
Until all our hands and voices
Once again join together
Singing praise of Thanksgiving
Lynn VanCoonis 2007
Proud NH Blue Star Mother
The Heroes Christmas Tree
The Blue Star Mothers of NH are once again hosting Heroes Christmas Trees around the state. What started as one tree here in Laconia in 2006 has grown to trees all over the state.
Stars of gold, black, and blue adorn the trees bearing the names of United States service members past and present. Blank stars are available for those who would like to add the name of someone currently serving or a past veteran to the tree.
Blue Star Mothers sponsor local trees and decorate them for display in local business, Town Halls and schools. Recently, the Hero Tree has been found in faraway places such as Afghanistan and South Korea. Our troops have expressed their appreciation for the honor of being remembered in this way during the holiday season. For more information where Heroes Christmas Trees are being hosted, check our website: www.bluestarmothersofnh.org.
May God bless our sons and daughters this holiday season, those who are now serving and our veterans, our Blue Stars; they stand for hope and pride.
May God bless those we will hold forever in our hearts, our Gold Stars, for their sacrifice to the cause of liberty and freedom.
May God bless those for whom we are still waiting for their return, our Black Stars; they represent our POW/MIA’s. (6 Vietnam POW’s).
Blue Star Mothers of NH
bluestarmothersofnh@yahoo.com
What does it mean to be a military parent?
It means we sat with the recruiter listening to every word uttered to our child. With a catch in our heart, we either signed papers to allow our 17-year-old child to enlist or watched as our new young adult signed on the dotted line, over and over, the paperwork never seeming to end. Some of us may have had tears in our eyes, others may have smiled from ear to ear. Each of us knows that the life of our son or daughter would forever be altered.
We express our pride and gratitude for having a child in this tumulus world willing to do what only 1% of the entire U.S. population will ever do, put on the uniform of the United States military to uphold all we hold dear.
We watch with a catch in our throat and an ache in our heart as the recruiter drives away with our beloved child, or we sit at MEPS with pride swelling in our breast as they raise their right hand and utter the oath “I “state your name”, do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against ALL enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; and that I will obey the orders of the President of the United States and the orders of the officers appointed over me, according to regulations and the Uniform Code of Military Justice. So help me God.”
We put them on buses and planes and send them off to mysterious lands in Great Lakes, IL; Parris Island or San Diego, CA; Fort Benning, GA, Fort Jackson, South Carolina, or Fort Leonard Wood, MO; Cape May, N.J. or maybe Lackland AFB, TX.
We’ll look for groups of people who understand what it’s like to send your child off to the military, join facebook pages for support, peruse the official military pages for a glimpse of our child. We’ll wait for that phone call home, depending on branch and base, but they are pretty standard, “I’ve arrived safely, please do not send food or bulky items, I will contact you in 7-10 days via a letter with my new mailing address, thank you for your support, Goodbye for now.” Next, comes the “letter” the very first one – it’s scripted with barely any information but it’s precious to us. Then we receive the dreaded BOX that thing that contains everything civilian our child had with them on arrival and we wait.
We wait, we worry, their time can range from 7-12 weeks depending on the branch. They may or may not call, they’ll likely write. They may be sad, they may cry, and our hearts will break. Then comes that magic moment when they make it through the crucible, the reaper; battle stations; or victory forge. This call tells us that you’ve now become A Marine, A Sailor, A Soldier, a Coast Guardsman, or an Airman.
After the long weeks, we watch with pride as you march across the parade deck with others who’ve achieved the same goal and the first hug is nearly like a rebirth. Then we send you off to your MOS, A School, or AFSC school where you’ll learn your trade. Another graduation and you join the fleet. You may be stateside or overseas but you’ve now become a new person.
Even those of us that served are still mystified by being a military parent. We attempt to learn all we can, we become motto and wear everything that signifies our service members branch of service, with pride.
There’s a strange new thing called the “green dot” that becomes a mainstay for parents whose military member is serving overseas. We wait for phone calls or letters, we worry, but we also feel a unique pride in knowing that our child is the best of the best. He or she is a member of the United States Military, the most amazing military in the world.
Smart enemies fear us, dumb enemies try us, we hear the news, we know what ISIS, the Taliban, and that little turd in North Korea are up to and we worry – but we also remind ourselves and others that our child is the crème d’ la crème. Our child is a Marine, a Sailor, a Soldier, a Coast Guardsman, or an Airman. We know our child is trained and ready for whatever comes at him or her.
We rest well at night knowing that should the enemy force our hand our government will release the “Teufel Hunde – Devil Dogs” the Marines a name given by the Germans – “The Bloody Bucket – US Army” – “The Blue or Grey Ghost – U.S. Navy” – each of these nicknames reminds us of the fury of the American military member when protecting all the homeland holds dear.
We are proud of our kids, we know they worked hard to earn the title they bear. We know that while we worry they stand ever ready, ever watchful. We know that the branches tease each other about who’s the best, but we also know that when the crap hits the fan there is no other force in the world that compares to the United States Military Forces.
Every night we say a prayer for our service member and every single military member out there, regardless of branch, regardless of job specialty, regardless of rank. We all weep together when a son or daughter is lost, when another mother, father, wife, husband, child, or family earns the classification “Gold Star.” We sleep well at night knowing that our sons and daughters are ever ready to defend the homeland. We know the terms Oohrah, Hooyah, hooah, and realize they are terms of motivation.
Sleep well America – and know that your United States Military has your back. Know that the military parents support their sons and daughters who’ve written the "check payable to the United States of America for the cost of up to and including my life." These are kids, every single one of them, who’ve volunteered to serve during a time of war.
**Dawn Schwarz-Gay
When I See a Blue Star Banner
I am the very proud mother of Petty Officer Adam Stevenson and Petty Officer Erik Stevenson who are serving in the United States Navy and attached to the aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln in the capacity of electrical technicians and working in the ship’s nuclear-powered reactor department.
To say that I am proud mother is actually the biggest understatement I could make. My heart swells to think of my twin sons serving our country in such an important occupation -- knowing that they work side-by-side with other “power professionals” in defense of our great nation is indeed an honor and a privilege for this mother.
Our family displays a Blue Star Banner in our front window. This banner or service flag has been a nationally recognized symbol of the American military family for nearly one hundred years. Is there a better way to display my love and pride for these sons than by hanging a Blue Star Banner in my front window for all the world to see?
At first thought my answer would be “No, there is no better way”. Naturally, I am very grateful for my two-starred banner and gaze at it fondly every single day, thinking of my sons and the sacrifice of our family to have two loved ones in active duty at this time.
But today I know there actually is a better way, an even more effective way to show this feeling of military family pride...
When the Blue Star Banner was first designed and used in America in 1917 during World War I, our society was still very neighborhood-oriented, there were relatively few cars in the villages and folks on the blocks all knew each other. Horse-drawn carriages and wagons were still the common mode of transportation in rural and suburban areas, although cars were becoming more and more important and affordable to the general public.
In 2014, almost one hundred years later, America is mobile. Many of us spend more time in our cars and SUVs that we spend in our homes. We are families on the road -- driving to shopping places, recreation places, workplaces and general gathering places. Commutes and traveling make up a large portion of every single day.
The military family has hung their Blue Star Banner in their front window or on their front door, but they probably aren’t home right now…
How wonderful it would be if we could take that beautiful American symbol of family pride and love on the road with us! What if wherever we travel, our banner traveled with us!
A Blue Star Banner license plate would be the new perfect way to show the world how proud we are to be a military family in the great state of Illinois.
Natalie Stevenson
Proud Mother
For the Love of the Blue Star Mothers
For the past 77 years, Blue Star Mothers of America have gathered. They serve behind the scenes while their children serve America on the front lines all around the world. They support one another, share each other’s burdens, comfort and listen. They pack care boxes to send overseas to the troops. They throw baby showers for young military moms and families. They raise money to buy wreaths to lay atop the graves of our fallen warriors at Arlington National Cemetery and other places of rest. They have round table discussions about PTSD and the risk of veteran suicides. They work through the stresses of the deployment cycle and hold each other tightly if the most terrible news comes to their doorstep.
From the first recorded and official meeting of the Blue Star Mothers in Flint, Michigan, the call has gone out across America to join hands and work together for the common good of military families and our nation. The need for support was great in 1942, and a shocking three hundred mothers showed up at the Durant Hotel in response to a notice in the Flint News Advertiser. With World War II raging around the globe, these mothers knew better than anyone else how critical it was to mobilize in support of their fighting sons and daughters serving in all branches of the Armed Forces.
During those dark days of the War, Blue Star Mothers worked together in hospitals, schools, churches and train stations to pack and ship packages to the troops, roll bandages, organize community recycling programs, and write letters together. They hung their Blue Star Banners in their front windows with pride in country, pride in family.
The moms in 1945 with their official uniforms.
Today a fresh generation of mothers hang banners and fly American flags. They still volunteer and support the troops and military families across our great land. They provide support for active duty service personnel, promote patriotism, assist Veterans organizations, and are available to assist in homeland volunteer efforts to help our country remain strong.
Blue Star Mothers of NH
Nearly every state has chapters of this good organization — check their website to find a group near you or Blue Star Mothers of NH . If there is no organized chapter near you, then by all means, find four other moms and start one!
Like the children they have raised, they are brave and resilient. Love for the United States of America runs deep within their veins. They still pray for each other and the sons and daughters who are deployed far and away.
May God bless the Blue Star Mothers.
Becoming a Military Parent
On behalf of the Blue Star Mother’s of America, it is with great honor that we welcome you into the journey of being a military parent!
We are there with you as you cross the bridge to becoming a Blue Star Mother and Father to support you in any way we can.
We are a support group, whose members consist of Mothers, Fathers, Spouses, Siblings, Grandparents, Extended Family and Friends of someone who has or has had a loved one in the military. We support each other, our military and veterans.
Since WWI mothers have hung “Blue Star Flags” in their windows while their children served in the armed forces especially during conflicts or wars.
To be a Blue Mother or Father is an Honor only your child can give to you. The Blue Star stands for hope and pride.
Becoming a military parent continues the life long journey … of hope and pride. As when your child was born, you were filled with that hope and pride as well as excitement, anxiety, fear and great joy. As you step into the walk of being a military parent that journey continues and once again life changes. You find yourself noticing even more the patriotic symbols all around you, flying your United States flag with a different kind of pride. Thus “Supporting Our Troops” in a way you have probably never before.
Life changes, as your child will hold him or herself to a higher standard, you too will find it changes your life. Forever supporting your child in a different way with even more hope and pride for serving our country to keep our land free.
May you and your child be blessed while this journey of life unfolds!
Remember: “To be a Blue Star Mother or Father is an Honor only your child can give to you!”
Written by: Jean T. Duane
National 2nd Vice President ~ 2007
