HOLIDAY POST 2009

HOLIDAY POST 2009

“TWELVE DRUMMERS DRUMMING” DAY 12

Joint US Military personnel salute the flag draped transfer case carrying the remains of US Navy (USN) Chief Petty Officer (CPO) Matthew J. Bourgeois, during his Fallen Soldier Ceremony at Ramstein Air Base, Germany. CPO Bourgeois, a member of the USN Seal Team, was killed in action in Afghanistan, during Operation ENDURING FREEDOM. Photographer's Name: SSGT MARVIN B. MOORE, USAF. Date Shot: 3/29/2002.Date Posted: unknown (CRYPTOME.ORG)

Holidays are perhaps the most difficult days of the year for military people. The Christmas Holiday season has long been recognized as toughest to endure. For military personnel on active duty, and for their families, the holiday season is always bittersweet. There is a separation to endure, or one in the near future yet to be endured. This knowledge never leaves, not while war is at hand, not so long as the necessity for war continues to exist. For those who have served in the past, the holiday season remains bittersweet, as memories of fallen comrades assume the form of the Ghost of Christmases Past. Charles Dickens, who wrote the story of Scrooge we in America and Britain are so very familiar with, certainly understand human nature and human memory. This understanding, combined with his writing talent, made him great.

The holiday season is not just bittersweet for families who have a lost a loved one to war; it is nearly impossible to endure. This season has a way of reopening old wounds and of creating an unstoppable flow from the fresh wound of recent loss.

You don’t have to bear these memories alone. Write. Talk. Communicate. Share your precious and most guarded memories with others. Like the bearers of one of our fallen warriors’ remains, together we can carry these memories honorably, with dignity, into the future.
The burden of grief does not have to be shouldered alone.

All Milspeak Writers know my take on this sharing of the past - what you share, through conversation or through writing, might save a life. When someone reads your story and relates to it, they learn that the most difficult waters of all - those of experience and memory - can be navigated successfully. As Milspeak Writer Kathryn Parker has said, sometimes one word is all someone needs to find the courage to go on - you might provide that word.

This has been a remarkable year for Milspeak Foundation. Milspeak programs are possible because of you. Each person who has visited this site has given me the courage to go - despite not having any funding, despite those who have said my own story is a disgrace, despite those who have said the work I am doing is a disgrace, that military families shouldn’t be exposed to such things as the stories, video, books, and photographs shared in this magazine, and at this site. I disagree.

You have given me courage to go on.

The Milspeak Writers and I thank you. We also have a gift for you. From now until 01 Jan 10, the Milspeak anthology is available as a free download to readers of Milspeak Memo and to all military people. You can download the eBook in many formats, including Kindle, Nook, Sony Reader, and simply to be read on your computer. Simply follow these steps:

CLICK ON THE BOOK COVER OR ON THIS LINK

SELECT THE BOOK FOR PURCHASE

AT CHECKOUT, ENTER THE FOLLOWING CODE
VB37C

If you can afford to pay the purchase price and want to, nearly all the purchase price will go to Milspeak Foundation to make the foundation self-supporting. A portion of the purchase price will be passed on to the Walter Reed Chaplains Fund, as is the case with every title on the Milspeak Books list. Additionally, a small portion of proceeds from each sale goes to the eBook distributor.

Thank you for supporting Milspeak Foundation.

HAPPY HOLIDAYS
send comments to:
kudosorkrap@milspeak.org
let us know how we’re doing!
thank you for reading milspeak memo

END OF POST
VOLUME 6 BEGINS 03 JAN 10