They stood up for us, NOW Let’s stand up for them

We have prospered because we have always had cit­i­zens willing to rise to answer the call to serve in hours of need. The millions who have worn the military uniform have expressed our national resolve. On November 11th we honor our vet­er­ans, past and present, for their unyielding sac­ri­fice and ded­i­ca­tion to our great nations.

In return for their many sac­ri­fices, these brave indi­vid­u­als ask very lit­tle. And thus, it falls to an indebted nation to meet their self­less­ness with thankfulness.

I was watching a news report the day before Remembrance Day and they seem overjoyed to report these numbers :

Three in 10 Canadians say they will attend a Remembrance Day ceremony in 2012 (up eight points from 2010) and 80% of Canadians say they will observe two minutes of silence at 11 a.m. (up five points from 2010).

Wow, 30% of 34,000,000+ will take one hour of the 8765 hours in a year to take a moment to remember all those who gave their lives so that we will be free, I can see why the news anchor was so happy to report these numbers.

But what happens from November 12th to November 10th? Most people go back to their normal lives and don’t think about our Veterans again until the week leading up to Remembrance Day.

I was recently speaking with the director of a homeless shelter in Los Angele’s “Skid Row” called “The Midnight Mission” and he informed me that at least 35% of the people that use their services are Veterans.

“Veterans Food Bank” is three words that should never have to be spoken ever but I spoke with a representative from the Calgary location yesterday at our Remembrance Day Ceremony who said they are seeing the numbers increase of Veterans having to use these services.

We have Veterans returning from serving overseas who are suffering with symptoms of PTSD afraid to come forward and seek help as they are seen as being weak or told to suck it up. More soldiers have committed suicide than the number of names that are on the Vietnam War Memorial yet no one seems to care or think this is an issue worth covering on the media.

This brings me to the launch of our new project “A CALL TO ACTION” it’s time to come out from behind the keyboard and do something about this.

It is time we—as coalition nations—take the proper steps to renew our com­mit­ment to those who served our nation. Whenever I post anything on “Thank A Soldier Facebook” there’s always tons of comments from people saying “We should do this every day” or “I Thank our military every day or when I see them” well that is awesome and the main objective our page but our Veterans (Young & Older generation) are being neglected and it’s time for us to stand up together.


HOW YOU CAN HELP :

1. Our Action Plan – Contacting Government officials

Below is a list for each location on how to contact your government representative and tell them you have had enough of how our Veterans are being treated.

If you are unsure of what to send in your letter or email you can CLICK HERE FOR THE LETTER YOU CAN COPY & PASTE


Note : for our Canadian members : Steven Blaney, Minister for Veterans Affairs might be another good person to CC any e-mail to? blanes1@parl.gc.ca

Canada : Find your Member of Parliament using your postal code 
United States : Find your member of Senate
United Kingdom : Find your MP
Australia : find your government elective 

We have joined forces with Military Minds & Vets Canada on this but welcome others to join us, we are all grassroots movements and this is not about receiving donations or asking for help it’s free to get involved with this and that’s why I’m leaving the above open for people to contact your representative internationally and tell them how you feel about this if you agree with us.

2. Join one of the following Facebook groups to join their missions : 

MILITARY MINDS : A grass roots movement for all coalition forces returning home from deployment cope with PTSD started by Canadian Forces member Cpl Chris Dupee. Military Minds goal is to raise awareness for the stigma around Post Traumatic Stress Disorder - Breaking down the wall of stigma; one brick at a time 

Click here to join their Facebook page 

Thank A Soldier - Our page started out in 2007 as a page for sending coffee to Canadian soldiers serving in Afghanistan, through growth and people from every corner of the world joining our page it has turned in to a multipurpose page. Introducing military families together, gratitude campaigns, connecting family members of fallen soldiers together and bringing light to issues in the military community 

Click here to join our Facebook page 

V.E.T.S Canada : A volunteer-led registered charity (Registration #826667602RR0001) based in Nova Scotia with outreach across the country. V.E.T.S. aims to provide aid and comfort to transient and homeless Canadian veterans by providing the essentials in emergencies, and assisting those at risk. Click here to join their Facebook page 

3. Help up spread the word by sharing this post on Twitter & Facebook.

The more people that take part in this and bring awareness to how our Veterans are being treated maybe we can actually make a difference and changes made to current policies. 

Twitter - Tweet
Facebook : Go to the "Thank A Soldier Facebook page" and click SHARE on THIS PHOTO
Pinterest - If you're on Pinterest go here and RE-PIN our post 

“They stood up for us, NOW Let’s stand up for them”