Take a moment today to reflect on all our veterans, and what their service means to your life.

While your at it, honor our newest vets by dropping some change in the Valour-IT hat. Clickt he button on the left or go here to donate.

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...to bring you this Project Valour-IT update.

Army wins!

Although Navy is ahead right now, Team Army was the first to go over the $21,000 mark (our goal!), some time last night!

Also, Carren Z was on MSNBC yesterday, discussing the project and she did an AWESOME job. If you missed it, click here to go to the page. If you click on the Project Valour link underneath the picture of the Ziegenfuss family with President Bush, you can see the video. However, you can only see it in IE (damn Microsoft) so if you're running Firefox, get the IE viewer extension first, then right click the link to view in IE.

Finally, since the competition is almost over, and today is the Marines' big day, why don't you throw them some lovin'. To donate to Team Marines, go here.

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The lede of yesterday's Dear Abby column was a letter from a Dad who is hurt when his ex throws birthday parties for their kids and doesn't invite him.

This was the second letter:

DEAR ABBY: I was a soldier serving in Iraq. Last April, I was in a vehicular accident while part of a military convoy and was MEDEVACed to the nearest medical treatment facility.

When you're a trauma patient in the United States, you're put in a cubicle in an emergency room, blocked off from the rest of the patients. That is not the case in the military during a war.

I didn't mind sharing the trauma room with the Marine who had arrived there before me. He had been shot three times in the face. While I was in the room with this brave Marine, the trauma crew fought valiantly to save his life. He flatlined seven times in just the short period after I got there. The nurses, doctors and medics worked tirelessly on him, not giving up. Finally, the doctor told them it was over, and they covered him up. I never knew his name. I lay on my litter while they started to work on my arm, which had been pinned under the truck during my accident and crushed, crying silently for the life that had been lost.

I'm writing this to you, Abby, to let that Marine's parents and friends know how hard the doctors and crew fought to save his life. Besides the medical crew, I'm the only one who knows. He wasn't just a face, or a name on a memorial to them. He was a life, and many people tried hard to keep him alive. If he had been my child, I would want to know. -- ANOTHER SOLIDER, CLARKSVILLE, TENN.

Not much from me here, I wanted to highlight this amazing testament.

If this was my son, I would be profoundly grateful for the thoughtfulness of Another Soldier who took a few moments out of his day to let the world know how hard the medics fought for the life of that Marine. But I would also be profoundly saddened that even Dear Abby chose to print this letter as an afterthought.

In honor of this soldier, this marine, and the medics who worked tirelessly on both of them, why don't you make a donation to Valour-IT and tell our troops that we support them, both well and wounded? Click the button on the left sidebar or go here.

added to Greyhawk's Open Post and OTB's Beltway Traffic Jam

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Here's comic man Mike Wallster's (of Ipso Facto Comics) contribution to Valour-IT:

That's what it's like for our wounded troops without the use of their hands and arms.

Every little bit you can give to Valour-IT helps! Especially now that those Squiddies got two very large donations and have pulled ahead!

Click on the button to the left to donate to our team, the First Team, Team Army!

(bonus points to anyone except my DH who gets where that phrase comes from)

in deference to those of you who might have other opinions on which group is best, try these links to donate:
To credit the Zoomies go here.
For the Squids, go here.
And if you love the Jarheads, go here.

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Imagine being thousands of miles from home, battling heat, wind, sand, and an enemy that is too cowardly to face you on the street, preferring to throw RPGs and IEDs at you, or blow themselves up in a car bomb.

Imagine being attacked by one of these cowards. Hearing the explosion, feeling the heat and the wind, and looking down to see blood, feeling the pain.

You're rushed to the field hospital by the medics, and suddenly everything is out of control: needles, pain meds, fluids, bandages, your whole world upside down in a matter of minutes.

Next thing you know, you wake up in a hospital, look down at your hands and see bandages. Maybe you were lucky enough to keep your hands, maybe they're gone. In either case, you can't use them.

Imagine how helpless you would feel. You can't feed yourself, dress yourself, read a book, change the channel on the television. You can't pick up the phone and dial your Mom, even just to tell her you're ok. No really, you are OK.

Imagine days on end like this. What you would give just to be able to be a little independent. To have something you can do for yourself, even just to be able to call up your family on your own.

Now imagine an Angel walks into your room one day, with a laptop and a microphone. This Angel, not a heavenly Angel, but a real Angel, a Soldier's Angel, has a Valour-IT laptop, and it's yours to use. You can get back in touch with the world on your own terms. The voice activated software lets you write letters, surf the web, send email, watch videos, even blog, all without your hands. And you can use it whenever you want, as long as you're still there.

Imagine how this marvelous gift would make you feel.

Supporting Valour-IT means that such a feeling is no longer a dream for many of our wounded soldiers. Just $685 buys a fully outfitted laptop, complete with the voice software, and ready to help a wounded service person reconnect. Any small amount of money will go a long way towards buying these computers and getting them into our military hospitals where they can be put to good use.

Even $5. It's not hard to set aside a few $$ to help out. Think you can skip that venti latte for one day to help out a wounded soldier? There's $5. Take lunch to work instead of the Cafeteria or McDonalds, another $5. Making dinner at home instead of going out gets you $20. Running errands in one trip to save gas gets you another $5 saved.

So dig deep. We're almost a quarter of the way to our goal. Help us help our soldiers.

To donate with a credit card, click the button on the left. To send a check, click here for the address.

Remember all donations to Valour-IT are tax deductible and every donor gets a Soldier's Angels coin. Every donor over $50 who uses my button (email me) gets a minimum 500 word essay on the topic of your choice (within reason) and gratuitous linkage (in lieu of a blog ad, which we don't do here)

GO ARMY!

Bloggers participating in Team Army:

Linked to the 11/4 OTB Traffic Jam

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In the Valour-IT competition, nearing the end of Day 1....

We've raised twice as much as the Zoomies, with almost $2700 $3000!! so far! (5pm PST)

Donate Early, Donate Often!

Clicky Clicky on the button! (on the left sidebar)

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Info on how you can be a part of Project Valour-IT. Specifically by donating through Team Army!

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