Kin & kindred

from nicole shaffner,
college student, usmc officer candidate, tireless volunteer:

Kin and Kindred- To me this has many meanings. It is the 25 women who went through Hell for 6 weeks at OCS with me. It is every man and woman in the Marines and military. It is my father who served 6 years in the Army. It is the rest of my family who stands behind my decision. It is all the men I have come to know as my uncles who continue to serve this great nation, even in retirement. It is my Grandfather who served in the Marines so long ago. And my other grandfather who served in WWII and my uncle who served in Vietnam. My kin and kindred are those I have never met. They believe in the same values and traditions as I do. They support me in my decisions even if they don't make them happy. They are there for me when I need them. They came as strangers and we left as a family. They are my sisters and brothers, aunts and uncles, and grandmothers and grandfathers. They are 13 Marines in Afghanistan who have never met me and probably never will but they are my brothers and sisters and I send them care packages. Family is there for you through the good and the bad, because they have been there too or will be soon.

Veterans-For-Change is currently asking for small donations of $5 or $10 to help insure children from two veteran families have Christmas this year! Mrs. Ward of Mishawaka, Indiana, whose husband recently passed. Mrs. Ward has five children, Justin & Jason (the twins 6 yrs old.), Duncan (9 yrs old), Pamela (10 yrs old), and Michael (14 yrs old). And Ms. Kristina Sawyckyi of Colorado Springs, Colorado has three children, Noah who is age 7, Danny who is age 5, and Sara Rose who is age 3. VFC is asking one more time for anyone who would be able to donate maybe $5-10 each to help buy Christmas gifts for the children to please go to the PayPal link at the bottom right of our main web page: www.veterans-for-change.com The deadline is Saturday, December 5, 2009 and we’d like to present the families with a voucher to provide a Christmas dinner for them as well as gifts for the children.

Sgt. William Olas Bee, a U.S. Marine from the 24th Marine Expeditionary Unit, has a close call after Taliban fighters opened fire near Garmser in Helmand Province of Afghanistan May 18, 2008. The Marine was not injured. REUTERS/Goran Tomasevic.
photo courtesy of cryptome.org