Posted on 08/03/2007 6:05:23 PM PDT by SandRat
WASHINGTON, Aug. 3, 2007 A troop-support group in California is working to connect military parents and their children one dog tag at a time.
Back in 2004, I heard a story about a Marine who sent his kids a package from Iraq, she said. The kids were so excited to get something from Dad. It didnt seem to matter that the box contained only adhesive bandages and sunscreen, the only things he had access to, she said. The kids didnt care; it came from Dad, she added. I tried to think of something we could send parents that (servicemembers) could easily send their children, Sliepka said. The tags are the perfect thing. Theyre easy to send; they lift the morale of the unit when they receive them; and the child has something to hang on to when their parent is gone. Each tag indicates whether its from Mom or Dad, the parents branch of service, and the year and the country in which the parent is serving. They can even be engraved in Spanish, Sliepka said. Those interested in receiving a tag to send to a child back home can make that request through the Dog Tags for Kids Web site. There is no charge to the military or their families. Donations are used to purchase the blank tag, chain, bag and postage, Sliepka said. Engraving, packaging, Web site monitoring is all done by about 20 volunteers. This project doesnt have any paid staff, she added. Every 40 cents can provide another smile, so why would we spend it on anything else? Since the groups start, more than 250,000 dog tags have been sent to Iraq, Kuwait and Afghanistan for servicemembers to send to their children back home. Though the dog tags are intended for any servicemember serving in those countries to send to their children, Sliepka said theyre especially important for children of Guardsmen and reservists. We tend to forget that with the amount of Guard and reserve members serving, their children are often the only ones in their school with a parent who is deployed, she said. Dog Tags for Kids has recently become a supporter of America Supports You, the Defense Department program connecting citizens and corporations with military personnel and their families serving at home and abroad. Sliepka said she hopes more servicemembers will learn about Dog Tags for Kids through this affiliation. More exposure for this project means we may be able to empower more parents with a way to reach out to their children even though they are halfway across the world, she said. |
Related Sites: Dog Tags for Kids America Supports You |
Connecting families
I’d give my right arm for my dog tags (lost them in a move years ago).
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