What do you do for the military?

[MacGyver]

During the times I'm in uniform as a TN State Guard member, I've had many thank me for my service. That's in contrast to the attitudes expressed toward us during the Vietnam era.

Out of all the ways that I believe our country has changed for the worse over the last 4 decades, seeing someone shake a soldier's hand in the airport and simply say thank you brightens my soul a bit. I know this is in stark contrast to how my dad and many of you other Vietnam vets were treated coming home, and gives me some hope that it is possible to change for the better.

[gunrunner32]

Good job GunTroll, if I was home still I'd keep my ear out for you. Sorry I never made it down before I left, the projects I had lined up before leaving kept me busy, painting, building a book shelf from scratch and putting up new stair rails.

I think it's good to see that you are willing to do this. I know it will turn out great from seeing your other projects. Good luck and I hope the project pans out well for you.

[Guest Sgt. Joe]

First of all THANK YOU to all our Vets. especially those from the Nam that were treated so horribly. I apologize to you for all of those who treated you the way that they did, most of them will never do it themselves. Shame on them all...shame shame shame!

But to the question at hand....Gun Troll yours is a wonderful idea that all of us can participate in if we want to.

It is really much simpler than one may think, any of you that really want to help out, find a National Guard unit near you that is deployed. Call or go to their armory and find out how to get in touch with whomever is in charge of the Family Readiness Group or Family Support group for that unit.

Then volunteer your time and effort to help out the soldier's families while they are deployed.

There is a great need for those who are willing to cut grass (that is a big one) fix leaking faucets, make small auto and appliance repairs and anything else that the man of the house would normally do. I can promise you that these people will appreciate anything that you are willing to do to help them.

I am myself a combat veteran who started serving when I was 17, took a lot of breaks in service and ended up in Iraq when I was nearly 50 years old.

While I was there it was very comforting to me to know that someone was taking care of cutting my rather large yard while I was gone, it wasnt something that my wife could do nor were my kids old enough to do it at the time. We could have paid someone to cut the grass but never needed to due to the kindness of some folks that I will never have the chance to thank in person.

Since I reenlisted, volunteered and deployed all rather quickly, cutting the grass was also something that neither my wife or I even thought about until I was gone. With all that is going on during those times little things like that get overlooked more often than one would think, it is just impossible to think of everything.

Once when my wife had a flat tire in the driveway one morning all it took was one call to the FRG and a volunteer came and took her and the kids to their Doctors appointments and someone else took care of getting the tire fixed. Sure that is but a simple thing but it meant the world to my wife that morning and also to me when I found out that she had been taken care of like that.

ANYTHING like that, that you can do for the Soldier's family while they are gone really does translate into direct support of that deployed soldier. I simply can not with words describe how knowing something as simple as my yard was being taken care of helped ease my mind while I was deployed.

I know that it seems very simple but I promise you that there is nothing better for the Soldier or easier for you that you can do to help our deployed Guardsmen and women. Anything that helps relieve stress on that Soldier is powerful stuff even if it is a simple act such as cutting grass or changing a tire.

If you do not know of a unit near you contact TN Army National Guard HQ in Nashville and tell them what you want to do and I am sure that they will direct you accordingly. I do not know where the HQ for our Air Guard or Marine Reserves is at but that should be easy enough to find out and the same would apply to those deployed Soldier's families also.

The biggest thing that I learned during my deployment was that the hardest job in the world is that of a Military spouse or child. Of course I had always heard that said but it took new meaning once I knew my wife and kids were living it. It really set in about a month after I had been home and had to go to HQ in Nashville. I had not had the uniform on since my return and when I set it out the night before my youngest came unglued....it took hours to calm him down. It was then that I realized just how hard it had been on them.

Find a way to help those families and you will love yourself for it.

The Soldier has another family in his fellow Soldiers, but the family at home really does not other than that support group. The Soldiers are together all the time but the family support group is not, they normally have monthly meetings but for your day-to-day that family is on their own so even the simplest of things that you can do to help that family will be very much appreciated.

For our ladies, babysitting is a huge deal too. Not that our ladies could not do some of the other things but folks tend to want women as babysitters when they need them and believe me a Military wife has a huge need for some time for herself. My wife had her sister but not everyone has someone to call on.

So find a nearby unit give them your number and volunteer your time...we have all likely cut grass in our time but never will it have meant as much as it will if you do it for a deployed Soldier's family.

Trust me guys....it really is that simple.

[Guest GunTroll]

Good job GunTroll, if I was home still I'd keep my ear out for you. Sorry I never made it down before I left, the projects I had lined up before leaving kept me busy, painting, building a book shelf from scratch and putting up new stair rails.

I think it's good to see that you are willing to do this. I know it will turn out great from seeing your other projects. Good luck and I hope the project pans out well for you.

I figured you were gone. Sorry I didn't get to say bye. Let me know if there is anything I can ever do for your family here. It would be my pleasure to help in any way. I'll send you a PM.

Sgt. Joe,

Thanks for your thoughts on the matter. I'm literally surrounded by active,NG, & vets on darn near every side of me and we get it done here in our neighborhood.