OT - Red Friday

Many of us have been touched by the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq in one way
or another. Many of us have had friends and loved ones over there, some have
come home safe and secure while others have come home with a flag draped
over their coffin. A friend who's husband did a tour in Afghanistan just
before he retired from the Army sent this to me several months ago. I was
cleaning out my mailbox today when I came across it and re-read it. It had a
new meaning for me since my nephew just came home from Iraq after two tours.


PLEASE READ THE ENTIRE EMAIL AND YOU SEE WHAT IS MEANT BY RED FRIDAY.

Last week, while traveling to Chicago on business, I noticed a Marine
sergeant traveling with a folded flag, but did not put two and two
together.
After we boarded our flight, I turned to the sergeant, who'd been invited
to
sit in First Class (across from me), and inquired if he was heading home.

No, he responded. Heading out I asked?

No. I'm escorting a soldier home. Going to pick him up?

No. He is with me right now. He was killed in Iraq . I'm taking him home
to
his family.

The realization of what he had been asked to do hit me like a punch to the
gut. It was an honor for him. He told me that, although he didn't know the
soldier, he had delivered the news of his passing to the soldier's family
and felt as if he knew them after many conversations in so few days.

I turned back to him, extended my hand, and said, Thank you. Thank you
for doing what you do so my family and I can do what we do.

Upon landing in Chicago the pilot stopped short of the gate and made the
following announcement over the intercom.

"Ladies and gentlemen, I would like to note that we have had the honor
of having Sergeant Steeley of the United States Marine Corps join us on
this flight. He is escorting a fallen comrade back home to his family. I
ask that
you please remain in your seats when we open the forward door to allow
Sergeant Steeley to deplane and receive his fellow soldier. We will then
turn off the seat belt sign."

Without a sound, all went as requested. I noticed the sergeant saluting the
casket as it was brought off the plane, and his action made me realize that
I am proud to be an American.

So here's a public Thank You to our military Men and Women for what
you do so we can live the way we do.

Red Fridays.

Very soon, you will see a great many people wearing Red every Friday.
The reason? Americans who support our troops used to be called the "silent
majority." We are no longer silent, and are voicing our love for God,
country and home in record breaking numbers. We are not organized,
boisterous or overbearing.

Many Americans, like you, me and all our friends, simply want to
recognize that the vast majority of America supports our troops. Our idea
of
showing solidarity and support for our troops with dignity and respect
starts
this Friday -- and continues each and every Friday until the troops all
come
home, sending a deafening message that ... every red-blooded American
who supports our men and women afar, will wear something red.

By word of mouth, press, TV -- let's make the United States on every
Friday a sea of red much like a homecoming football game in the bleachers.
If
every one of us who loves this country will share this with acquaintances,
coworkers, friends, and family, it will not be long before the USA is
covered in RED and it will let our troops know the once "silent" majority
is
on their side more than ever, certainly more than the media lets on.

The first thing a soldier says when asked "What can we do to make things
better for you?" is .."We need your support and your prayers." Let's get
the
word out and lead with class and dignity, by example, and wear something
red
every Friday.


WE LIVE IN THE LAND OF THE FREE, ONLY BECAUSE OF THE BRAVE!!

I've gotten the same chain letter e-mail from about 20 people. It
sounds so nice and easy. Wear red to support the troops. But how
does wearing red help soldiers fighting in other countries? They will
never see it. They probably won't hear about it either, even if
someone could manage to convince millions of Americans to do it.

It seems to me that it would be far better to show support by doing
something tangible for a soldier. Write a letter. Send a care
package. Join in one of the many group efforts to supply various
items to the deployed troops. Make a quilt of Valor for an injured
soldier. Find out if any local men are deployed and offer to help
their immediate families with a home maintenance project, babysitting
so the one parent here can run errands, or just invite them to a good
meal.

Sure those things take more time, money, and effort than just putting
on a red shirt every Friday, but they will also make a real difference
to a soldier or a soldier's family.
Debra in VA
See my quilts at
http://community.webshots.com/user/debplayshere

Red Friday was started by 2 Canadian soldiers' wives in the spring of
2006 - it has grown from their idea and does not only represent
support for the troops who are in Afghanistan but who are in other
parts of the world and are in Canada too. The wives have kept a
scrapbook of the national red Friday rallies which has been delivered
to the troops - they DO know that they have the support of their
fellow Canadians - the support will continue as a non-partisan group
of red'wearing Canadians gather every Friday to pursue their regular
activities. The "wearing o' the green' means something
internationally so why not the 'wearing of the red'?
Red is also the colour of Canada - from the original red ensign to the
red maple leaf flag of today.
jennellh (change the mail to news) in Ottawa, Canada




On Jul 7, 1:44 am, Debra wrote:
I've gotten the same chain letter e-mail from about 20 people. It
sounds so nice and easy. Wear red to support the troops. But how
does wearing red help soldiers fighting in other countries? They will
never see it. They probably won't hear about it either, even if
someone could manage to convince millions of Americans to do it.

It seems to me that it would be far better to show support by doing
something tangible for a soldier. Write a letter. Send a care
package. Join in one of the many group efforts to supply various
items to the deployed troops. Make a quilt of Valor for an injured
soldier. Find out if any local men are deployed and offer to help
their immediate families with a home maintenance project, babysitting
so the one parent here can run errands, or just invite them to a good
meal.

Sure those things take more time, money, and effort than just putting
on a red shirt every Friday, but they will also make a real difference
to a soldier or a soldier's family.
Debra in VA
See my quilts athttp://community.webshots.com/user/debplayshere

On Sat, 07 Jul 2007 07:00:19 -0700, jennellh
wrote:

Red Friday was started by 2 Canadian soldiers' wives in the spring of
2006 - it has grown from their idea and does not only represent
support for the troops who are in Afghanistan but who are in other
parts of the world and are in Canada too. The wives have kept a
scrapbook of the national red Friday rallies which has been delivered
to the troops - they DO know that they have the support of their
fellow Canadians - the support will continue as a non-partisan group
of red'wearing Canadians gather every Friday to pursue their regular
activities. The "wearing o' the green' means something
internationally so why not the 'wearing of the red'?
Red is also the colour of Canada - from the original red ensign to the
red maple leaf flag of today.
jennellh (change the mail to news) in Ottawa, Canada

Sorry if I've hurt your, or anyone else's, feelings. I've never seen
anything ever be true in a chain letter. This letter is little
different as makes it sound like it was thought up specifically by a
US resident for the US troops, with no mention of how US troops abroad
would ever know about it. It never mentions Canada at all.

I am very surprised that one of the calls to wear a color actually has
a benefit for someone. Perhaps that is because it was started and
done well by that pair of Canadian soldier's wives for their husbands,
and then grew slowly enough across Canada to keep it's original
spirit.

The only way anyone benefits from one here in the US is if you sell an
item, and most of those items are sold by people who pocket the money
themselves. Equally upsetting is the "wear the proper item or get
beaten up" attitude that now accompanies many of these things. Add
that these calls to 'wear your support' come so often in the US that
it now seems to be more like a wear the color or logo of the month
club and you will understand why I feel the way I do about them.

Debra in VA
See my quilts at
http://community.webshots.com/user/debplayshere

: Sorry if I've hurt your, or anyone else's, feelings. I've never seen
: anything ever be true in a chain letter. This letter is little
: different as makes it sound like it was thought up specifically by a
: US resident for the US troops, with no mention of how US troops abroad
: would ever know about it. It never mentions Canada at all.
:
: I am very surprised that one of the calls to wear a color actually has
: a benefit for someone. Perhaps that is because it was started and
: done well by that pair of Canadian soldier's wives for their husbands,
: and then grew slowly enough across Canada to keep it's original
: spirit.
:
: The only way anyone benefits from one here in the US is if you sell an
: item, and most of those items are sold by people who pocket the money
: themselves. Equally upsetting is the "wear the proper item or get
: beaten up" attitude that now accompanies many of these things. Add
: that these calls to 'wear your support' come so often in the US that
: it now seems to be more like a wear the color or logo of the month
: club and you will understand why I feel the way I do about them.
:
: Debra in VA
: See my quilts at
: http://community.webshots.com/user/debplayshere



I ran across this song written by a Canadian for Canadians and thought you
may appreciate it too.
http://www.forces.gc.ca/site/Communi...rd/index_e.asp

This is also the place to write to our Canadian troops.

~KK in BC~ who's oldest son is joining the forces and who's middle son is
helping train the cadets at scholarship camp and who's youngest wants to
join up with peace keeping when she is old enough.

Deb - you didn't hurt my feelings at all - I am not a polical person
by any means - the wearing of red is purely to indicate a support of
the armed forces in whatever capacity they are serving. If the number
of persons involved in such a project keeps on growing from the
original idea of two wives, it could also work in other countries
too? There is a write-up on snopes and also 'red fridays' does come
up on google. No one benefits monetarily from any of this - in the
usual ho-hum existence of a nation, the rallies have served to unite
the general population in recognition of the troops. While a person
may or may not support the government proposals regarding the current
state of world events, it is not the members of the government who are
following through with the day to day realities of any decision of
those in power (president, prime minister, etc.) but the man/woman on
the ground. If you like, the wearing of red is a grass roots
indicator of support for those persons who bear the brunt of the
consequences made by the governments of peaceful nations around the
world.

A recent event in Canada through Tim Horton's coffee shops was the
purchase of gift certificates by patrons to benefit the troops in
Afghanistan (where a Tim Horton's was opened up on base a couple of
years ago) - the idea being that, a soldier was treated to a taste of
home by another Canadian.

jennellh


On Jul 8, 12:40 pm, Debra wrote:
On Sat, 07 Jul 2007 07:00:19 -0700, jennellh

wrote:
Red Friday was started by 2 Canadian soldiers' wives in the spring of
2006 - it has grown from their idea and does not only represent
support for the troops who are in Afghanistan but who are in other
parts of the world and are in Canada too. The wives have kept a
scrapbook of the national red Friday rallies which has been delivered
to the troops - they DO know that they have the support of their
fellow Canadians - the support will continue as a non-partisan group
of red'wearing Canadians gather every Friday to pursue their regular
activities. The "wearing o' the green' means something
internationally so why not the 'wearing of the red'?
Red is also the colour of Canada - from the original red ensign to the
red maple leaf flag of today.
jennellh (change the mail to news) in Ottawa, Canada

Sorry if I've hurt your, or anyone else's, feelings. I've never seen
anything ever be true in a chain letter. This letter is little
different as makes it sound like it was thought up specifically by a
US resident for the US troops, with no mention of how US troops abroad
would ever know about it. It never mentions Canada at all.

I am very surprised that one of the calls to wear a color actually has
a benefit for someone. Perhaps that is because it was started and
done well by that pair of Canadian soldier's wives for their husbands,
and then grew slowly enough across Canada to keep it's original
spirit.

The only way anyone benefits from one here in the US is if you sell an
item, and most of those items are sold by people who pocket the money
themselves. Equally upsetting is the "wear the proper item or get
beaten up" attitude that now accompanies many of these things. Add
that these calls to 'wear your support' come so often in the US that
it now seems to be more like a wear the color or logo of the month
club and you will understand why I feel the way I do about them.

Debra in VA
See my quilts athttp://community.webshots.com/user/debplayshere