I just came back from the U.S.--the trip that set off what I like to call my Mid-Life French Crisis (read about it here
www.priscillalalisse.com). I flew in and out of Atlanta’s
airport-Hartsfield International, where I couldn’t help but
notice the many servicemen walking around in dessert-color
fatigues, headed for Iraq or Afghanistan. Mind you, I’ve always
had the men and women who serve our country in mind, but when
the war kicked off, I was expecting my first child and then was
up to my ears in diapers. Along with the diapers, I also had my
book to wrap up. I know, excuses, excuses! But up until now, I
hadn’t done anything other than send prayers and warm wishes
their way. So when I found myself face to face with soldiers at
the airport, I wanted to go up and ask: “What Can I do?”
and let them know that Americans everywhere support them...but I
didn’t know where to begin. Finally, after arriving back in
France, I decided to go online and search for support groups.
This is what I found:
www.anysoldier.com,
and I can’t stop singing its praises.
I’m guessing that back in 2003 when Marty Horn and his wife Sue said
goodbye to their son, Sgt. Brian Horn, an Army
Infantry Soldier with the 173rd Airborne Brigade,
they probably had no idea that in addition to their own
son, they would later be heading up an organization that
supports thousands of military personnel. Any Soldier has
become one of the leading efforts in making sure the men and
women who’ve been deployed for the war are cared for, via
letters and packages from “home”. In other words, it’s our link
to them, and their link to us, no matter where we are in the
world.
How does it work? Any Soldier provides a Where to
Send page, which features emails from different military
personnel regarding the type of support they’re looking for, be
it a simple letter or package. Right now, there are over 3,000
names on this list. You address your snail mail to the writer
using his name, but also adding the words “Any Soldier”
on the second line, and that person shares the mail with his
fellow servicemen. If there’s someone in your addressee’s group
who isn’t getting a lot of mail from home, he’ll be the first
person the letter goes to. The What to Send and How to
Send pages are equally helpful, and the site, built and
maintained by Marty Horn himself (a retired military man) is amazingly
complete. You won’t have any problems getting the information
you need. There is one potential problem however,
as Horn warns: You might become addicted to the site.
I spent quite awhile clicking on several names and reading the
emails, which are better than any news story I’ve ever seen. You
feel like you’re “in touch” with some of your compatriots
who are serving in the war, and you glimpse a little of what
life might be like over there. Another cool thing about the site
is that all branches of the military are covered as well, just
in case you have a preference and/ or personal attachment to one
in particular. Some of the writers tell stories, share pictures,
and mostly all of them thank the American people (and
people from all over the world) for their support. Sometimes you
want to cry, sometimes you want to laugh, and quite frankly,
sometimes you want to do both. The emails are indeed that
touching.
Afterwards, I ended up at La Poste with an armful of
letters and packages for our troops. I’ve been assured by Any
Soldier that the men and women are indeed receiving mail from
all over the world, including FRANCE. Being an American
over here, we often feel far away from home and what’s going on
there, but Any Soldier and Horn (whose email signature lines
reads: Freedom isn’t free…Just ask my son) gives
us a chance to feel like we too can be a part of the support
effort for our troops who are in harm’s way. If you wish
to support them, visit
Any Soldier online.
through my eyes...
