Thank A Soldier themed Facebook Timeline Covers

Recently on Facebook users have the option to put a "Cover Page" on their Facebook profiles and I thought it would be a good idea to make up a few with our "Thank A Soldier Banner" and theme that people can download.

This is an example photos are available for download below

This is an example of how the logo will look on your Facebook page and I will post instructions below on how to download and upload to your Facebook pages if you like.

Please if you are going to use these as your Facebook Profile do not edit out the links to our webpage or Facebook page as that would defeat the point of getting the word out about.


How to download and install Facebook Timeline Covers.

To Download from this page:
1. Click the image that you would like to use as your Facebook timeline cover
2. Right click on it and select Save
3. Save the file to your desktop

To load image to your Facebook timeline cover
1. Click on your Facebook profile page
2. Click on "Add Cover"
3. Select Upload file
4. Select file from desktop
5. Select Save changes

NOTE: Once you've downloaded a photo and have it set as your cover page feel free to take a screen shot of your profile and post it on the "Thank A Soldier Facebook Page" I will post instructions below the images of how to take a screen show of your profile also if you're unsure of how to do that.

Click the below images for larger size image to download

How to take a print screen and take a screen shot CLICK HERE

1. Go to Thank A Soldier Facebook
2. Click upload photo
3. Upload your saved photo showing your new Thank A Soldier Time Line video


If you would like to share this post to Twitter copy and paste the following :

Check this out http://bit.ly/TASFBT @Thankasoldier themed FB Timeline Cover


Thanks 

What to send to soldiers

Today I received over 200 addresses of soldiers currently serving overseas and within 30 minutes of posting on "Thank A Soldier" facebook i received over 300 emails.  My most common question was "If I send a care package what do I send"

Here is a collection of items requested by soldiers I have sent care packages too:

1. White Socks
2. Pepperoni sticks
3. Toilet paper
4. Deodorant 
5. Crystal lite, Gatorade , flavored teas (regular & herbal),
6. Potato chips
7. Pop tarts, granola bars, fruit roll ups
8. DRY SOUP: (Ramen Noodles / Cup-O-Soup: just add water)
9. Sports pages from newspapers, or sports magazines, or Hometown newspaper
10. Toothbrushes and toothpaste
11. Deodorant
12. International phone calling cards
13. Gummi Bears, sour candy, suckers, Halloween treat type candy
14. Hand and face whipes
15. batteries
16. Small Stuffed Animals (they like to give these out to the kids when they are on patrol)
17. Pens and notepads
18. Hand Cream (moisturizer)
19. Beef Jerky
20. A hand written letter

From a girlfriend of a soldier :
My boyfriend is currently in Afghanistan and I send him a package once a month and a written letter more than once a month.. In the package I send his favorites.. beef jerky, popcorn, gummie worms, chex mix, we’re from texas and he loves the texas longhorns so I get the texas football magazine and he loves UFC so I send him the tapout magazine, I’ve sent him a baseball hat, shirts from his favorite baseball teams, tapout shirts, under armour work out gear, socks, pictures, waterguns, frisbees, bubbles, football, something they can have fun with on their down times, just sending something from home and him seeing that package makes his day so much better.. oh and I spray everything with my perfume on it:)

From a soldier currently in Afghanistan:
I’m actually in Afghanistan now and I’ll tell ya, each person is different. (duh) but some stuff like tobacco is one thing, dip and cigarettes that you can get while deployed have a lot of extra stuff put in them so they’ll keep longer, so they end up tasting and feeling funky. The best thing ever though.. Beef Jerky! Trail mix, drinkings, poptarts. ect… but the best thing you can do is simply write and ask what, Whoever, would like. ya know?

From a female soldier:
As a female that had deployed, it sounds crazy, but the things I wanted the most were little things that still made me feel like a girl. Lip gloss, soft blanket, “good” shampoo and lotions. Someone sent me a soft robe (sounds funny), but it was my favorite, and I would wear it every night in my tent. I still have it and my kids know that’s one of mommy’s favorite things.

Discounts for The Military Family

Today I received this in my email from the wife of a Canadian soldier and was asked if would share this on my blog.  A lot of people consider the military family the invisible rank and a lot of the times we forget the sacrifice that loved ones of our soldiers give up while their loved ones are on deployment.

I recently traveled home during christmas with my three small children (under 6),while my Canadian husband is deployed for the 6th time in 7 years (this time with the USAF for 6 months). I was shocked to hear that United Airlines would not recognize our Military ID and deployment orders as being a part of the military. I was told that unless my husband was with me that my family was not classed as military. I was so disappointed in the lack of regard they hold for military families. 

As much as the member themselves serve, so do the families. The mothers, fathers and/or partners that hold families together to support those deployed. Most of the time we are without family support as we are posted far from our families. Military families for year after year do this with pride so that others can enjoy their freedom. I cannot believe that a large airline company would treat any deployed military family in the way that they did with us. 

I thought you might be able to help bring some attention to this issue for the Airlines to support all military personal, including those who wear the "Invisible Uniform" Cheers,


HERE IS UNITED AIRLINES RESPONSE :

Dear *********** :
I am sorry you continue to be disappointed with United.

I regret that my colleague was not clear with our Military baggage policy. Active U.S. Military and their accompanying dependents on personal travel are allowed 3 bags up to 70lbs/32kg with a maximum dimension of 62 linear inches. As you're husband was not traveling with you the general domestic baggage policy applies.

We recognize you have a choice of airlines, and we thank you for choosing to fly with United on this occasion.

We wish you the best with all of your future travel.
 Sincerely,
 Michelle ****
Customer Care
United Airlines

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Since posting this article I have also received the following from soldiers and their families:

.I was recently making a booking with Disney for our family and they confirmed me with the military rate...When I called to add something to the vacation they informed me that we could not receive the military rate...even though my husband did two tours and was injured on his second tour...I told her that we all fight together...didn't matter it cost us almost double sad but true

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my unit from Alaska is deployed we got our two weeks of leave in October to go see family and friends. well one of my buddies was got to the airport and the line was long. when he got to the counter they told him sorry we cant check your baggage its to close to boarding time. well instead of making a way to get his baggage to his destination on another flight the next day or something they told him he can call and book another flight for 1300 more dollars! that's outrageous this man is going to serve your country for a year and you wont put his bags on another flight so he can go see his mother! i was beyond disturbed when i heard this. 

anyways thats my horror story with airlines and military. but i have also had good ones i sat down to lunch with a buddy of mine before we parted )both military) and when the check came we were told dont worry about it the couple over there said thank you for your service. it was very nice and thats not counting the endless amounts of beers people have bought me :) thank you for all your support!

--------------------------------------------------------th-------

I have been on both sides....a serving member and a military spouse. Military families are not nearly respected enough. For instance, Via Rail Canada offers a discount to military members, and to their families as long as they are traveling together. But if the military member is not traveling with you? Forget it. I would argue that in some ways the family at home has a harder time than the serving member. The serving member has a clear mandate and focus, the remaining family members have to do everything without an integral part of the family, and often have to do it without a support network. When I took my kids to meet my husband in the states while on his LTA, lots of people were happy to congratulate him and offer him a beer. The rest of us were ignored and/or forgotten.

--------------------------------------------------------------- 

This blog was originally posted as a story about how a military family was mistreated by an Airlines in the US and I've shared the other updates I've received but have removed the names and personal information.  I think all military families should receive military discounts regardless of if their loved one is with them or not. 

In Memory of Cpl Mark Robert McLaren

Cpl. Mark Robert McLaren MMV

1st Battalion of The Royal Canadian Regiment

Former member of The Hastings & Prince Edward Regiment

Born - September 7, 1985 - KIA Afghanistan - December 5, 2008.

In December of 2008 Canada lost it's 100th soldier in Afghanistan Cpl. Mark Robert McLaren MMV was serving his country and was involved in an roadside attack and sadly lost his life.  Many members of the general public in the Peterborough, Ontario region came out to show their respects at his funeral and also every overpass was lined with supporters when he came down the "Highway Of Heroes" from Trenton, Ontario.

More than a year after he was killed by a roadside bomb, Peterborough's Cpl. Mark McLaren was honoured with the Medal of Military Valour as he was recognized for pulling an Afghan interpreter to safety while on patrol.

On Nov. 6, 2008, Cpl. McLaren's joint Canadian-Afghan patrol was ambushed in Kandahar Province. The attack seriously injured the team's Afghan interpreter who was paralyzed and exposed to further enemy fire.

Today Jo-Anne Mclaren posted the below photo to the "Thank A Soldier" Facebook page :

"This is our son Cpl. Mark Robert McLaren MMV. He was killed in Afghanistan December 5, 2008. His Dad has been creating photos from pictures he has taken and some he has received like this one of Mark. The tree is across the street from where we live and this was the first major snowfall here in Peterborough. These photos are helping with his healing and mine as well. We miss him every day, every hour, every minute...." - Jo-Ann McLaren"


She was overwhelmed with all the messages of support that started to come in from people all over the world and I told her "This is just the way the people of my page are" and thus the reason I chose to list it as a "Community" and not a "Fan Page"

I do what I can to keep the names of our fallen heroes alive so they just don't become a number or a statistic on a website and when we did "The Gratitude Project last year I received this photo from Cpl McLaren's family to submit for our project.

R.I.P Cpl Mark Robert McLaren - May you never be forgotten 

The Reason - By Dan Gray

I posted the above photo earlier on our Facebook page and a friend of mine who writes poems for our military wrote up the following poem.  I hope you like it.

This is the reason I do it, this baby in my hand, 

The reason I wear this uniform, the reason I serve my land, 

The everyday freedoms of walking up and down the street, 

not worried for a moment of any evil their may be, 

I choose to fight the evil in countries far away, 

To toil in sand and desert sun for many a day, 

To see things unspeakable and face fear square on, 

right now the only task I have is getting my baby home.

I want them to look up at me and put that smile on their face, 

I want them to understand what I do when it calls me away,

but right now I want them for a few more minutes just to sleep, 

till we get home to mother and a fine dinner to eat.

This baby is the reason for me to fight for peace, 

so they never will have to do the things or see what I have seen, 

So when they grow up there may be peace the world round, 

now I may quiet so as not to cause my baby to make a sound.

Worth 1000 words?

Here are some of our favorite photos we've received to our email in the past few years


Hope you enjoy

Priceless 

   We received this photo for "The Wall Of Gratitude from a Girl Guide troops in the USA who got pretty creative with their cookies.

Sidney Crosby from the Pittsburgh Penguins took time from his day with The Stanley Cup and shared it our Armed Forces & Navy.

 Sidney Crosy with The Stanley Cup and some of our military

This lady sent us this photo for "The Gratitude Project" and she is signing out "Thank You 

The day that Gene Simmons featured "The Gratitude Project" on his website was probably the biggest thing to ever happen to our page & site it's grown like wildfire since then

Bird on an Afghan wire 

Canadian Country artist Jason McCoy sending a message to our troops via our Gratitude Project 

I met this veteran on Remembrance Day 2010 and the photo below is of a wreath that the mother of a fallen soldier had made up to lay at the memorial.

Received the above photo from a military wive......... no words needed here

The Memorial Drive crosses in Calgary, Alberta lists the name of every fallen soldier from Calgary

Even our pets can "Support Our Troops"

This photo was sent to me from a lady in the USA for July 1st, 2011 they had the flag in the eagles cage and she was able to capture this moment.

This photo was sent to me by a soldiers wife and the photo was taken the day before this Canadian soldier was to deploy to Afghanistan.  He took his son for a little man to man talk before he left.

An early "Wall Of Gratitude" photo :)

Marines in Afghanistan wish everyone a Happy New Year

There are no words needed for this post