AdoptaPlatoon Full Battle Rattle Newsletter. September "American Blessings from Home"

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Alaina Powers
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1 AdoptaPlatoon Full Battle Rattle Newsletter September 2011 "American Blessings from Home" OUR TROOPS NEED US! THEY ARE OUR NATION'S HEROES AND WE CAN'T LET THEM DOWN! Words from the Front Lines! Dear AdoptaPlatoon, Thank you for supporting my men deployed here to Afghanistan. The care packages have been appreciated and the beef sticks are great! I'm sure you see many thank you letters but I wanted to write and say that the support of the American people bring home a little bit closer when the days out here without our loved ones are long and we are so far from home. Keep up the great work and know that what you do matters to us!... A U.S. Soldier, Deployed to Afghanistan Dear AdoptaPlatoon. I am staring at a huge pile of goodies sent by AdoptaPlatoon... There are baby wipes, coffee, wash cloths, pillows, cooling ties, beef sticks, sunflower seeds, corn nuts, trail mix, rice crispy treats, Pringles, tuna, pop-tarts, cookies, sunglasses, and blankets... And I'm sure I forgot some of the goodies in the boxes... But the point is that AdoptaPlatoon made a huge difference for our Soldiers in a very difficult and dangerous environment. I have pushed out your packages to five combat outposts and to our forward operating base and you will never fully realize the impact you are making...i cannot thank you enough for what you are doing. God bless you and AdoptaPlatoon! Chaplain, U.S. Army, Afghanistan. PLATOON ADOPTERS DESPERATELY NEEDED!!

As our Nation heads into the last quarter of the year, we write to all our AAP supporters to say, "Our Troops need us desperately!" So please respond immediately and let's SUPPORT OUR HEROES!

2 As our Nation heads into the last quarter of the year, we write to all our AAP supporters to say, "Our Troops need us desperately!" So please respond immediately and let's SUPPORT OUR HEROES! If you could possibly assist with AAP's "PLATOON ADOPTION" participation, it would be deeply appreciated by our deployed Service Men and Women who are our Heroes! You can brighten a Soldier's or Marine's day by sending a simple care package and by writing a note of praise and saying, "We're thinking of you and praying for you" and just letting our deployed Service Members know while they are deployed and far from home, that we as Americans here at home will not let them down! A care package to a deployed U.S. Platoon does not have to be elaborate or expensive. Send hard candy, gum, a beef jerky stick, lip balm, a few travel sized hygiene products in a zip lock baggie and a letter or card letting them know they are not forgotten and by doing this, you can make a difference to a lonely Service Member and remind him that he is your HERO. A selection list of items most needed by deployed Service Members can be found on the AAP website at Become a Platoon Team Member and send "American Blessings from Home" What does Platoon Adoption Support entail?

3 As an adoptive platoon supporter, you will be assigned to a Platoon Point of Contact (POC) and you will become a morale lifting team member of your assigned platoon. You are asked to pledge only one care package per month sending enough goodies such as gum, candy, beef sticks, cookies etc. that can be distributed to the Platoon as "American Blessings from Home". Your platoon could be as small as 10 or as large as 50. You can let us know how large of a support effort you wish to embrace with your loving heart, respect for our Heroes serving on our behalf and your patriotic spirit. You can write updates about your patriotic service to your country, send us photos of your care package support, and they will be posted on the AAP website. Pledge to send a monthly care package to one individual deployed Service Member means that you pledge to send only one (1) care package per month to lift the spirits of an American Hero serving far from home. Who can participate in Adoption Support?... Individuals, Families, Groups, Companies, Schools, American Legions, civic groups, etc. can adopt an individual Service Member or Adopt a Platoon. Ask your group adoption team members to donate pocket change to assist with shipping costs as that also helps the team effort. SHIPPING COSTS -APO/FPO AMERICA SUPPORTS YOU BOXES FROM USPS Sending a care package to a U.S. deployed Troop serving half way around the world only costs $12.95 per box when you send to APO/FPO military addresses. This is $2.00 less than regular domestic shipping pricing! APO/FPO America Supports you shipping boxes are free from your local U.S. Post Office or you can order them free on-line... Click here for more information -

Our Heroes wait for the American people to embrace them! It truly has a positive effect on the morale of these men and women who serve so proudly when they know they have not been forgotten!

4 Our Heroes wait for the American people to embrace them! It truly has a positive effect on the morale of these men and women who serve so proudly when they know they have not been forgotten! Please America, don't let one Soldier be forgotten at Mail Call! Just knowing our Troops stand for Mail Call and in memory and honor of 9/11 in the month of September, if you have the ability to adopt a team of 10 Soldiers or Marines within a platoon of deployed Troops, please let us know ASAP! Thousands of new support requests from our Troops have been coming in requesting platoon care package support and it s heartbreaking knowing our Heroes wait for the American people to embrace them. We are urgently low on "PLATOON ADOPTERS" and we're pleading for your help. Please don't let our Troops down as they serve on our behalf.

5 SPREAD THE WORD AMERICA THAT OUR TROOPS NEED US! Please spread the news about AdoptaPlatoon and ask friends, family and coworkers who haven t supported a deployed HERO previously, to visit the AdoptaPlatoon website at and join AAP's efforts to stand behind our Nation s Heroes by submitting the NEW SUPPORTER application. If you are already an approved supporter with AAP and wish to participate once again by adopting a small platoon or if you currently have an assigned Service Member and can adopt a small platoon of 10 or more, it is NOT necessary to submit a new application. IT'S EASY TO SUPPORT THE TROOPS! All you have to do is write to AAP at info@adoptaplatoon.org and let us know that you are ready to continue your support of America's finest and put the following in the subject line of your APPROVED SUPPORTER. Also, it is very important that you let us know your marital status as we do not assign single ladies to married Troops and be sure to send us any address changes or contact information so that we can update our database. Remember, we take great care never to link a single lady to a married deployed Service Member! ONE PERSON MAY NOT BE ABLE TO ADOPT A PLATOON, BUT AS A TEAM OF INDIVIDUAL AMERICANS WORKING TOGETHER, WE CAN MOVE MOUNTAINS! Be creative and innovate with your Platoon support. In these hard economic times, we can still forge ahead and support our deployed Heroes by involving your neighbors, family members, social groups, and co-workers and make your support a team effort. Call your local American Legion / American Legion Aux, and Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW) and ask them to become a team member of your "Blessings from Home" one (1) care package per month support effort via AdoptaPlatoon and ask individuals in your Troop Support group to donate a bag of hard candy,

or a bag of bubble gum, corn nuts, sunflowers seeds, beef sticks, lip balm stick, a pair of socks, toothbrushes, travel size hygiene products etc., and make it a team effort.

6 or a bag of bubble gum, corn nuts, sunflowers seeds, beef sticks, lip balm stick, a pair of socks, toothbrushes, travel size hygiene products etc., and make it a team effort. If everyone pitches in and donates one item per month, WE CAN MOVE MOUNTAINS! Include in your monthly care package a greeting card where everybody signs and let your HEROES know that they are not alone and we as Americans will never let them down and WE STAND BEHIND THEM IN THIS WAR ON TERROR! Longhorns Ledger Your Soldiers are living and working in varying degrees of comfort. Some have the opportunity to call or home every day while others have very limited contact with the outside world. So please keep up the support for your Soldiers. Everyone appreciates the support from home, and the more contact Soldiers are able to maintain with family while deployed, the easier the transition is upon redeployment. Thank you for all of your support. V/R, LTC Todd A. Berry (September 11, 2011 Battalion Newsletter) Halloween Treats for the Troops 2011 Announcement!

7 AdoptaPlatoon has set an organizational goal to prepare and ship 50,000 Halloween Treat bags for deployed U.S. Troops. These "Halloween From Home Treats" bags will put a lot of smiles on the faces of our Troops who are serving far from home and lonely...but we have so many Troops deployed in service to our Nation signing up with AAP for support that we are desperate for support from Americans like YOU. We need a lot more Halloween bags prepared and sent to proud U.S. Service Members deployed far from home... So let s double our Halloween Bag support to 100,000 so that more Troops deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan can be touched with a taste of home. Don't let a deployed Soldier or Marine be forgotten at Mail Call! Send a tax-deductible contribution for your Halloween by writing "Treats for the Troops" on your check and mail to: AdoptaPlatoon Attn: Ida P.O. Box 234

Lozano, Texas 78568 OR you can participate in the AAP on-line Halloween Treats for the Troops Campaign and create your own Halloween bag(s) for the Troops.

8 Lozano, Texas OR you can participate in the AAP on-line Halloween Treats for the Troops Campaign and create your own Halloween bag(s) for the Troops. Click on the link below for more information: Halloween Treats for the Troops Campaign WE CAN DO THIS AMERICA IF WE WORK AS A TEAM! AAP Walking Wounded Program Please extend a helping hand to AAP's Walking Wounded Program. AdoptaPlatoon assists our U.S. Troops who have been injured or wounded in Iraq or Afghanistan. Our Nation's injured and wounded Troops need extra help for themselves and/or their families financially paying utility bills, rent, car repair costs, or providing groceries for a month or two or helping with school clothes and school supplies for their children. Some of these Heroes have endured many medical procedures, surgeries, and physical therapy and by extending an AAP helping hand, we are letting our active duty wounded warriors and our wounded veterans (Afghanistan and Iraqi wars) know that America will never forget them and they will always be our Heroes!

If you would like to participate in assisting our Wounded Troops, please make your tax-deductible donation to AAP Walking Wounded and mail to: AAP Walking Wounded Attn: Ida P.O.

9 If you would like to participate in assisting our Wounded Troops, please make your tax-deductible donation to AAP Walking Wounded and mail to: AAP Walking Wounded Attn: Ida P.O. Box 234 Lozano, Texas Your kindness is deeply appreciated, and all donations will be acknowledged. You can also make your tax-deductible donation via Pay-Pal. Please go to our website, to do this. Please also remember AdoptaPlatoon in the CFC (Combined Federal Campaign) by donating. AAP s CFC is 99368, and is also on our website,

2011 Husker Fans Salute the Troops Release 1, May 22, 2011 Husker Fans Salute the Troops is an event to salute Nebraskans serving in the military: Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen, Marines and Coast Guard -

10 2011 Husker Fans Salute the Troops Release 1, May 22, 2011 Husker Fans Salute the Troops is an event to salute Nebraskans serving in the military: Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen, Marines and Coast Guard - active duty, reserve, National Guard, retirees and veterans. This event is to honor Nebraskans (or Soldiers who just like the Nebraska Cornhuskers) serving our country in Iraq, Afghanistan, and elsewhere. This Salute will be held in Lincoln on October 22nd and 23rd, the weekend of the Minnesota game in Minnesota. The event is not open to the public marks the fourth year of the Husker Fans Salute to the Troops Weekend in Lincoln. Last year's event was expanded by inviting 25 Husker fans from the Fort Riley Wounded Warrior program. This was only possible due to the generous sponsorship from AdoptaPlatoon. These men and women were all wounded in combat in Iraq or Afghanistan and were sent to Fort Riley to recover from extensive wounds. Due to their condition, these troops were unable to be home with their families. Thanks to AdoptaPlatoon, we will again be bringing more of these special Husker fans to Lincoln this year for the Salute. The event begins on Saturday with a tour of the UNL athletic facilities and Memorial Stadium culminating with a "Tunnel Walk" as the troops and their families walk to the fifty-yard line. After the tours, the group will assemble at the Cornhusker Marriott Hotel for a Minnesota- Nebraska TV game watch party. On Sunday morning, a brunch will conclude the weekend activities. This weekend is sure to provide a unique opportunity for the troops to come home to Lincoln and spend a dream weekend around something that they miss out on when they are deployed - Nebraska football. The event is open to all Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen, Marines and Coast Guard - active duty, reserve, National Guard, retirees and veterans. If you are a CORN HUSKER FAN, PLEASE DONATE AT:

11 ADOPTAPLATOON WISH LIST AAP IN GREAT NEED OF ELECTRIC FORKLIFT Our AdoptaPlatoon warehouse is in great need of an electric forklift. AAP receives Troop support care package freight delivery via 18-wheelers directly to the AAP warehouse and we are in immediate need for an electric forklift. A used electric forklift would be a great blessing. All donations, whether it be monetary or in this case, a forklift, would be a taxdeductible gift. To contact AdoptaPlatoon in this regard, please contact Ida at ida@adoptaplatoon.org. Our 4-legged Retired 9-11 Heroes - Meet Abby: Abby s a retired search-and-rescue dog, and she and Debra, who was her handler, worked in New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina hit. They also worked California s deadly La Conchita mudslide in Just two days before she retired, on her 11th birthday, Abby searched for survivors at the scene of a train wreck in California. And she s one of the few dogs still living who hunted through the smoldering ruins of the World Trade Center desperately seeking signs of life after the September 11 attacks 10 years ago... Read More

Afghanistan - Kia's Story Military Dog Killed in Helicopter Crash in Afghanistan by David Deleon Baker August 11, 2011 A military dog and its handler were among the casualties on August 6 when a

12 Afghanistan - Kia's Story Military Dog Killed in Helicopter Crash in Afghanistan by David Deleon Baker August 11, 2011 A military dog and its handler were among the casualties on August 6 when a helicopter was shot down over Afghanistan, killing all 38 aboard. Some members of the Navy SEALS Team Six were aboard, but it seems unlikely that the canine was the same one that had participated in the mission to kill Osama bin Laden in May. (That dog s name was Cairo.) The handler, John Douangdara of Nebraska (master-at-arms petty officer 1st class), was reportedly the lead dog handler for SEAL Team Six. He was 26 years old. Douangdara s participation in elite military operations was so secretive that even his mother tells reporters she had no idea Johnny was a Navy SEAL. She adds, I know that he loved his job it was a job he chose. The military working dog killed in the helicopter crash has been identified on a Facebook memorial page as Bart. As we ve pointed out before, every day hundreds of heroic military working dogs are filling critical needs and saving lives. We owe dogs like Bart a debt of tremendous gratitude for their service. Dog/

13 The 9/11 rescue dogs: Portraits of the last surviving animals who scoured Ground Zero one decade on... During the chaos of the 9/11 attacks, where almost 3,000 people died, nearly 100 loyal search and rescue dogs and their brave owners scoured Ground Zero for survivors. Now, ten years on, just 12 of these heroic canines survive, and they have been commemorated in a touching series of portraits entitled 'Retrieved'. The dogs worked tirelessly to search for anyone trapped alive in the rubble, along with countless emergency service workers and members of the public. Traveling across nine states in the U.S. from Texas to Maryland, Dutch photographer Charlotte Dumas, 34, captured the remaining dogs in their twilight years in their homes where they still live with their handlers, a full decade on from 9/11. Their stories have now been compiled in a book, called Retrieved, which is published on Friday, the tenth anniversary of the attacks. Noted for her touching portraits of animals, especially dogs, Charlotte wanted 'Retrieved' to mark not only the anniversary of the September 2001 attacks, but also as recognition for some of the first responders and their dogs. 'I felt this was a turning point, especially for the dogs, who although are not forgotten, are not as prominent as the human stories involved,' explained Charlotte, who splits her time between New York and Amsterdam. 'They speak to us as a different species and animals are greatly important for our sense of empathy and to put things into perspective.' See portraits of the last surviving hero dogs of 9-11 and...read More

14 REPORTING FOR DUTY SIR! We respectfully ask all AdoptaPlatoon Supporters to pray for our Nation and our deployed U.S. Troops and remember the sacrifices they and their families have made to ensure our freedom and safety in these United States of AMERICA.

suffer and bear the deepest wounds and scars of war.

15 May we Never Forget Major Thomas G. Bostick, Jr. Camp Bostick, Afghanistan The Soldier above all others prays for peace, for it is the Soldier who must suffer and bear the deepest wounds and scars of war. Douglas MacArthur On behalf of AdoptaPlatoon and the Troops we serve, many words of grateful gratitude are expressed to our devoted Supporters and Donors. May God bless you and yours and may God Bless the U.S.A.

ADOPTAPLATOON SOLDIER SUPPORT EFFORT 1998-2011- All Rights Reserved September 2011 Full

On Veterans Day, salute our American heroes!

The American Legion PO Box 361656 Indianapolis, IN 46236 NONPROFIT ORG U.S. POSTAGE PAID The American Legion On Veterans Day, salute our American heroes! WINDOW 1.125 x 4.5.875 from Left.5 from Bottom