America Supports You: Americans Can Text ‘Thanks’ to Troops
"WASHINGTON, Nov. 16, 2007 – For those seeking a quick way to show appreciation for the troops' service far from home this holiday season, look no further than “Giving Thanks,” a new initiative from the Defense Department’s America Supports You program. (Video)
America Supports You connects citizens and corporations with military personnel and their families serving at home and abroad.
“This is a simple way to connect our citizens to our soldiers using modern technology,” Allison Barber, deputy assistant secretary of defense for internal communications and public liaison, said of the text messaging program.
The program, which already has received nearly 4,000 messages, officially kicks off at 6 a.m. EST Nov. 17 and concludes at midnight PST Nov. 22. Between those times, people wishing to express gratitude to the troops for their service can text a brief message to 89279. Each text message sent will receive a response from an active-duty servicemember in return.
Major mobile wireless providers, including AT&T, Verizon, Sprint Nextel, and T-Mobile, will provide access to the Giving Thanks text messaging program.
“We know that thousands of families will be sitting down for Thanksgiving dinner and thinking about loved ones who are far away from home serving their country,” Barber said. “We are counting on other American families to take a moment during their holiday celebration to think of those families and their family members who are serving and say, ‘Thanks.’
“The reassurance that others are thinking about them will mean a lot to our troops,” Barber added.
Those who send a message during the six days of the Giving Thanks program also will be directed to the America Supports You Web site. There, they’ll find a sampling of messages from the public and a running tally of how many messages have been received. They’ll also be able to read messages from the troops.
Some servicemembers in Iraq and Afghanistan already have sent messages thanking the public for the support. Angie, an airman serving in Iraq, wrote: “Your support means so much, especially during the holidays. God Bless.”
Troops of Combined Security Transition Command Afghanistan also wrote to express their appreciation for the continued support they receive: “To all the great Americans who go out of their way to support all the Soldiers of the Combined Security Transition Command in Afghanistan -- Thank You.”
In an effort to reach the Hispanic community, which is represented in large numbers in the armed services, America Supports You is working with Interlex, an advertising, marketing and public relations firm with multicultural capabilities.
“What we are doing is complementing the general market efforts to mobilize the Hispanic community to become involved in America Supports You,” said Rolando Rodriguez, Interlex’s managing director for public relations and community-based outreach. “Obviously that’s important because many Hispanics do consume different press than the general market would.”
The firm’s goal is to inform Hispanic communities that many Hispanic youth are serving in the military. “There (also) are a number of Hispanic families that (will be) impacted during the holidays because (the servicemembers) are not sitting at the table with them, so it’s important to show their appreciation,” Rodriguez said.
MTV Tr3s, an American Spanish-language network launched in September 2006, is one way the firm hopes to reach America’s Hispanic community. The network reaches 30 million homes and 6.5 million Hispanic households across the country, Rodriguez said.
“MTV Tr3s has Mi TRL, (and) what they’re going to do is … live reads on their video countdown, which is their signature program,” he said. “They’re going to talk about, ‘Hey, support this initiative.’”
Mi TRL also will run a banner at the bottom of the screen promoting the text messaging program. In addition, the program will air a full screen of information on how to thank troops.
Interlex USA also is working to involve Hispanic celebrities to let the Hispanic community know that thanking a servicemember for their sacrifices this holiday season is as easy as sending a text message.
“When we talk about text messaging, Hispanics … out-pace all groups,” Rodriguez said, adding the text messaging group tends to be younger, much like MTV Tr3s viewers, who range from 12-34.
He added that his team is working to get the message out to Hispanic communities in New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, Miami and Dallas through Spanish-language media outlets, as well as entertainment and sporting venues. These are the same types of venues that will carry information about the America Supports You Giving Thanks program to the general market, officials said.
Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates, a distinguished Eagle Scout, addresses the audience during the Boy Scouts of America 39th Annual Citizen of the Year award ((which he received)) reception and dinner in Washington, D.C., Nov. 15, 2007. Defense Dept. photo by Cherie A. Thurlby
U.S. Marine Corps Sgt. Danny L. Herrman, a flightline crew chief with Marine Medium Tiltrotor Squadron 263, watches out the back of a MV-22B Osprey aircraft while taxiing on the flightline of Al Asad Air Base, Iraq, Nov. 10, 2007. U.S. Marine Corps photo by Cpl. Sheila M. Brooks
ATLANTIC SUNSET - The sun begins to set behind two F/A-18 Super Hornet aircraft aboard the Nimitz-class nuclear-powered aircraft carrier USS Harry S. Truman (CVN 75) while under way in the Atlantic Ocean Nov. 13, 2007. U.S. Navy photo by Petty Officer Seaman Kevin T. Murray Jr.
TRUCK OFF LOAD - U.S. Navy sailors from USS Juneau off load two seven-ton trucks Nov. 15, 2007, during a joint training exercise with the South Korean navy. U.S. Navy photo by Petty Officer 2nd Class David Didier
SCHOOL SUPPLIES - U.S. Army Lt. Akael of the 5th Iraqi Army Brigade works with U.S. Army soldiers to hand out school supplies at the Thekhar Primary School in the Hateem neighborhood of Baghdad on Nov. 12, 2007. U.S. Army photo by Spc. Charles W. Gill
PARATROOPERS PREPARE - U.S. Army paratroopers from Fort Campbell, Ky., and Egyptian paratroopers aboard a U.S. Air Force aircraft prepare for an air drop into Cairo, Egypt, Nov. 10, 2007, as part of exercise. U.S Air Force photo by Staff. Sgt. Aaron Allmon
RED HORNET - 11-15-07 An F/A-18C Hornet from the Dambusters of Strike Fighter Squadron195 launches from the aircraft carrier USS Kitty Hawk during night flight operations. U.S. Navy photo by Petty Officer 3rd Class Jimmy C. Pan
FUJI FLIGHT -11-15-07 - An SH-60F helicopter from the Warlords of Helicopter Antisubmarine Squadron Light 51 Det. 11, flies in front of Japan's Mt. Fuji. The squadron, based in Atsugi, Japan, provides combat-ready armed anti-surface and anti-submarine helicopter detachments to ships deploying in the Korea, western Pacific and Persian Gulf regions. U.S. Navy photo by Seaman Bryan Reckard ((Now, that is breathtaking.))
"Nothing Stops These Men..." - Photo by AHEC - November 18, 2007 - This poster by artist H. Giles illustrates the strength of our Nation, the American Soldier, rushing into battle and at the same time it appeals to an American People encouraging them to support our troops and to make a difference in the Great War effort. (Army Heritage & Education Center Poster collection).
MUST READ THE WHOLE INCREDIBLE REPORT ~~ FROM: Michael Yon Online
Thanks and Praise: I photographed men and women, both Christians and Muslims, placing a cross atop the St. John’s Church in Baghdad. They had taken the cross from storage and a man washed it before carrying it up to the dome.
A Muslim man had invited the American soldiers from “Chosen” Company 2-12 Infantry to the church, where I videotaped as Muslims and Christians worked and rejoiced at the reopening of St John’s, an occasion all viewed as a sign of hope.
The Iraqis asked me to convey a message of thanks to the American people. ” Thank you, thank you,” the people were saying. One man said, “Thank you for peace.” Another man, a Muslim, said “All the people, all the people in Iraq, Muslim and Christian, is brother.” The men and women were holding bells, and for the first time in memory freedom rang over the ravaged land between two rivers.
Today, Muslims mostly filled the front pews of St John’s. Muslims who want their Christian friends and neighbors to come home. The Christians who might see these photos likely will recognize their friends here. The Muslims in this neighborhood worry that other people will take the homes of their Christian neighbors, and that the Christians will never come back.
And so they came to St John’s today in force, and they showed their faces, and they said, “Come back to Iraq. Come home.” They wanted the cameras to catch it. They wanted to spread the word: Come home. Muslims keep telling me to get it on the news. “Tell the Christians to come home to their country Iraq.”((Thank you, Lord, for this miracle.))
Heidi McElmury hugs her son Travis upon his departure from the bus at the U.S. Army Reserve Center in Rochester (MN) Wednesday morning. McElmury and 26 others from the 79th Military Police Company returned from Iraq.
Staff Sgt. Jeremy Horkey holds his nine-month old son, Colton, while standing in formation Wednesday to be dismissed from active duty with the 79th Military Police Company. ''He's big,'' Horkey said of Colton, who was born after Horkey was deployed for Iraq. Horkey was given leave to be home for Colton's birth, but he hadn't seen the boy since.
Frank Sinatra ~~ High Hopes
Les Brown Orchestra, Doris Day ~~ Sentimental Journey
Basia ~~ New Day For You
Paul Hardcastle ~~ Ride The D Train
Frank Sinatra ~~ Autumn In New York
Eric Clapton ~~ Forever Man