Newsflash : All Canadian soldiers HAVE NOT returned from Afghanistan

While 2,850 Canadian soldiers have arrived back home in Canada over 1000 others have been in Afghanistan to help train Afghan security forces to take the lead role in securing the country by 2014. 

In the majority of the media all you read is “Canada’s Afghan Mission Ends’ yes the doors to the Tim Hortons have been closed, yes the hockey rink will no longer be in use by Canadian soldiers but some of our troops are still there and do face danger every day.

Yesterday I saw an article that said "Last Troops arrive home from Kandahar" - Ottawa Citizen 

I had a read through this and I've had several emails from people asking me "So now that our troops are home are you going to continue with your site" well the answer as this article states is "They are not all home yet" and it is 100% yes

- We have troops deployed at other operations in the world aside from Afghanistan such as Navy in Somalia and Panama, troops away from their families deployed in Alert and many other operations.

- Thank a Soldier is not only for Canadian troops, we have paired up people as Pen Pals from the United States, Britain, and even Australia. Also 70% of the 4.2 million members are from areas outside of Canada.

-Thank A Soldier encourages people to say Thank You to our men and women in uniform no matter where they cross paths with them.


-Our troops are always ready to go in the case of emergencies here at home i.e the ice storms in Montreal, floods in Manitoba and last winter helping stranded motorists in London, Ontario.

-With so many of our troops returning home showing signs of Combat Stress & PTSD Operation You Are Not Alone is more important than ever, as the song by Julian Austin says many of our troops although physically home are “Still Over There”

After speaking with a personal friend who is currently on tour who said "We don't want people to forget we are still over here" I ask you to please keep in mind that even though in our medias eyes our mission ended when the "Combat Mission" ended, lets not forget those men and women still putting their lives at risk every day.

As happy as I am that the the combat guys are home seeing stories like this makes me feel like the one's still there are already forgotten about 

Don't forget to check out our new Facebook Page 

Helmet Cam Firefight in Afghanistan - HD 1080

This is the clearest footage you will ever see from a Helmet Camera in Afghanistan, the video is courtesy of our friend over at @Funker530 and this is by far one of the best videos I have ever seen!!!

You can visit the Afghanistan Combat Footage - Funker530 Facebook page follow him on Twitter for frequent updates and visit his main YouTube Channel.

Cassy's Card

Today as I was checking my emails for Thankasoldier I received this email from a woman in Ontario who told me about her six year old daughter who had created a Christmas Card she wanted to send to soldiers.

"During Christmas break my 6 year old daughter Cassy created the attached card. Now what I think makes it so special is the fact that when she made it she was 1/2 way thru before she said to me " I'm making a Christmas Card for the soldiers Mummy" when I said " That is a great idea honey is this something you are talking about at school." Her answer was "No I just felt like doing it". I was so proud of her and I just had to share it. So I was wondering if you could help me forward it to "the soldiers."

"Do you mean soldiers in Afghanistan? Or do you mean the soldiers here in Toronto?"

I asked Cassy which soldiers she meant and this was her reply.... "I meant the soldiers who have died, and the soldiers in Afghanistan, and the soldiers in Hati, and here and all over the world. I know that we can't guarantee that the dead ones will see it but I want every soldier in the world to see it".

I replied and told them about my "Christmas cards for Sunnybrook Veterans" project and they are going to get involved and send a few along to the address.

IMPORTANT: If you are on Twitter it would be amazing to see #CassysCard trending and this is my attempt to make that happen, so if you have a twitter account you can copy and paste the following and TWEET IT :) 


Help 6yr old Cassy get her Christmas wish for troops http://bit.ly/CasCard #CassysCard

Here is a photo of her card :

If you know someone serving and want to send them the link to this page feel free too share it with whomever and help this little girl with her goal for every soldier to see her card.

Thanks

Wall Of Gratitude - Sports Challenge

On any given night you can turn on your TV and during a pre game ceremony for any sporting event find a "Tribute To Our Troops" or "Military Appreciation Night".  Anyone who knows me off the Thank A Soldier page knows I am one of the biggest NHL fans you will ever meet and I've had the pleasure in attending a few of the Military appreciation nights.  Several teams send out a notice to season ticket holders and ask if for one game they would give up their seats to a military family and they have been very successful.

One of the most successful of these have always been in Edmonton, Alberta which is home to CFB (Canadian Forces Base) Edmonton and there games when they host military appreciation night the stands are always filled with Camo.

The Boston Bruins are another NHL Team that has always been huge in the troops support department hosting a surprise homecoming for a military family and also did something very special for a family of a fallen Canadian soldier.  The Toronto Maple Leafs have done morale visits to our troops in Afghanistan and have also hosted several Military Appreciation night.  Also during every game defenceman Luke Schenn gives tickets to military families and during the 3rd period they are given a shout out on the big screen in a segment called Lukes Troops.

As far as the NFL goes I have seen many shout outs to our troops during live broadcasts and they will always show a camera live from IRAQ or Afghanistan with our troops watching the games.  The same can be said about the MLB.  As for the NBA I`m sorry but I haven`t watched many games and would love some feedback on this blog as to what they  may have done for our soldiers.  I do know that Bonnie-Jill Laflin (the only female scout in the NBA) for the L.A Lakers has done numerous morale visits to troops serving in IRAQ and Afghanistan and also has her own charity for soldiers called Hounds & Heroes.

That being said..............

We as you may or may not know are soon launching `The Wall Of Gratitude` and I wanted to give fans of all these sports a chance to message their favorite sports teams and see if they would like to be involved.  Our soldiers are huge fans of these sports and imagine how much it would mean to them to see their favorite player or someone from their home team holding a `Welcome Home`or ``Thank You`` sign.

Here`s what you do:

Twitter:
1. Find the list of teams of your favorite sport on twitter

List of NHL teams on Twitter
List of NFL teams on Twitter
List of NBA teams on Twitter
List of MLB teams on Twitter

2. Find your favorite team(s) in this list and tweet them the following

e.g.  Hey @MapleLeafs which one of your players will submit a photo for the Wall Of Gratitude? http://bit.ly/WallOfGratSports  #WallOfGrat

3. If you don`t use twitter you can search for your fav team on Facebook and simply copy and paste it on their fan pages.  (NOTE Im not asking anyone to spam these groups it is simply one or two messages to your favorite teams from these various leagues)

You can also tweet it to @NHL @NBA @NFL & @MLB or any of your favorite teams from other sports too but I figure for now I would keep it to these major four sports.  YOU can also send in a photo wearing your favorite sports teams jersey to WALLOFGRATUDE`s email address

This is just an idea I have to help get the word about the Wall Of Gratitude Out there and if you have any other suggestions please feel free to leave a comment on the blog here.  All it takes is one person or organization with a lot of followers to RT this for it to take off and think of how much it will mean to all our men and women serving

CLICK HERE FOR MORE INFO ON THE WALL OF GRATITUDE

Thank A Soldier - A New Direction

As you may or may not know the Thank A Soldier cause page has over 4.1 million members from all over the world however with a seperate Facebook application many are inactive members and when I send out bulletins reading how many people read them and share them this has become quite visible.

With the "WALL OF GRATITUDE" launching later this month the ease of sharing photos on our new Facebook page will also be easier and allow users to also share the photos easily on their walls without having to load a separate application to do so.

On our third anniversary I have decided to launch a "Facebook Page" instead for many reasons the biggest one being interaction with members.  I have been posting a few photos on there and the reaction and comments are instant and like what we are seeing with it so far.

It is also much easier to feature links and stories from other military organizations with the click of one button instead of having to type up a bulletin every time I want to share something with you all.  I would rather have a Facebook page of 5000 active members who can click a "Share" button when they see something that interests them rather than have them try and get friends to join an application.

Yes I will continue to use the "Thank A Soldier" cause page but probably only send out bulletins once or twice a month and will be focusing primarily on the "Thank A Soldier Facebook page"

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Christmas Cards For Veterans

 So I've been getting a lot of email requests and Faeebook messages of people asking for my address to send a Christmas card to and as much as I appreciate the thought I was thinking about our veterans who are in Sunnybrook Hospital in Ontario who would probably appreciate getting a card for Christmas a lot more than I would so I contacted them and got the ok to give out an address to do so.

When you are filling out your list of Christmas cards this week please address one to the following address :

Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre 

 L-Wing, 

Room L1108

c/o Nancy Bowers-Ivanski (Thankasoldier) 

2075 Bayview Avenue

Toronto, On M4N 3M5

Think of how much it will mean to a Veteran of this amazing country of ours to open a Christmas card from someone they don't even know simply saying "Merry Christmas & Thank You" I would say thats $0.59 for the price of ONE stamp put to pretty good use this season.

Sunnybrook Health Science center is the larges Veterans care facility in Canada and each year on Remembrance Day they run "Operation Raise A Flag" which is their way of honouring our veterans each year as people are encouraged to donate a flag to place outside the care center on the morning of Remembrance Day.

 Sunnybrook has a proud, 60-year legacy of caring for Canada’s servicemen and women. Started as a centre of healing for Second World War Veterans, they have grown into the largest Canadian centre for Second World War and Korean War Veterans. Today, they provide 500 Veterans with access to specialized health care and comfort services.

The program provides cognitive support, physical support, mental health support and stroke care to Canada's war Veterans. We also provide palliative care for Veterans and the community at large. The palliative care unit (K1E), offers twenty-four beds and is located on the first floor of Kilgour wing. The professionals and volunteers on the palliative team are compassionate and committed to providing the highest quality end-of-life care. We also provide leading-edge, innovative dementia care for Veterans with challenging behaviours due to Alzheimer's Disease and other dementias in the Dorothy Macham Home. This residential-style home with ten beds, offers a unique specially designed therapeutic environment. It is the first facility of its kind in Canada.

Sunnybrook has a distinguished history of excellence in the care of the elderly. In 1948, Sunnybrook officially opened as a war Veteran's hospital, providing care to Canada's soldiers, sailors and airmen returning home from the Second World War. We are proud and consider it an honour to care for Canada's Veterans, the courageous men and women who served our country in the name of peace and freedom.

Sunnybrook Hospital Twitter 

Sunnybrook Hospital Website 

Military Wives Choir set to release Christmas song

Photo credit : dailymail.co.uk

Look out Justin Beiber there's a group of Military wives set to tear up the Christmas charts on December 19th the song "Wherever You Are" featuring wives of soldiers will be released for download.  This single is raising money for The Royal British Legion andSSAFA Forces Help (Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen and Families Association). Help these charities that work tirelessly with the families of the armed forces by buying this single and play your part in making it a Christmas No 1.

Our Canadian & American men and women stand along side our soldiers from the UK so lets help support their families also by downloading this song on December 19th.

Link to download the song is below the video.

Lets show our friends in the UK we support them as well




Amazon: http://amzn.to/MWCAmazon
 iTunes: http://bit.ly/MWCsingle