Our TEN most viewed videos

Here are our ten most viewed YouTube videos in the last three years. Vote for your favourite by clicking the poll below the videos.





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Donate blood in memory of a fallen hero

"On Feb. 24th 2008 my son, Spc. Micheal “Pokey” Phillips gave his life for freedom. I tell people often to not dwell on that day and how he died but to dwell on how he lived. One thing Micheal often did was to give blood and the gift of life. This year to honor how he lived we are holding seoind annual  “Spc. Micheal ‘Pokey’ Phillips Memorial Blood Drive”

Yes this started as a local event but many people across the world have come to me saying they would give where they are in his memory. So I am asking you to give the gift of life to honor a man who gave the gift of his life for others.

Please help keep other families from facing the painful path of losing a loved one. If you do choose to give the gift of life in Micheal’s memory I ask you to please take a picture of yourself giving blood and share via the information below

Thank you
Angelia Phillips Gold Star Mom of  Spc. Micheal “Pokey” Phillips

Please R.S.V.P on the Spc. Micheal "Pokey" Phillips Memorial Blood Drive Facebook Page

My challenge to everyone is no matter where you are in the world on this day to go donate blood and have someone take a photo of yourself doing so then send it to SUBMISSIONS@Thankasoldier.net and we'll post an album on our Facebook page of people from every corner of the world taking part of this.

I met Angelia on Facebook many years ago and she has helped with every project I have ever launched as well as talked about our page on group on every radio show she has been on and I have always wanted to come up with a way to say thanks and I can't think of a better way than by helping her honour her son Michael.

Dave Murphy - TAS
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Click here for the Facebook event page 

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What A Soldier Left Behind - FREE Download

Click below for a free download of the song "What A Soldier Left Behind" by Sgt Elton Adams - of the Canadian Forces.

1. Click on SONGS
2. Click on "What A Soldier Left Behind"
3. Enter your email address
4. Go to your email and click "Access Exclusives Now"
5. Click Download

Zero Dark Thirty - My Review

Zero Dark Thirty arrives in theaters today and last night I had the opportunity to attend a pre-screening in Calgary, Alberta. This film already has people talking without hitting theaters yet . “Zero Dark Thirty” covers the ten year period between the 9/11 attacks and the killing of Osama Bin Laden. The story follows CIA operative Maya (Jessica Chastain) as she single-mindedly hunts for Bin Laden and those responsible for the attacks.

Personally I can’t say how “Accurate” this movie is as I wasn't there during the interrogations or situation room meetings however when the film first starts with the caption “based on first-hand accounts of actual events.” So I will leave that up to you to judge for yourselves.

“The Torture Scenes” which occupy about 15 minutes of the first half-hour of a 157-minute film have some people up in arms but if they happened then they need to be shown.

Like any movie based on actual events this movie had it’s “Bruce Willis” line moments such as the lead character Maya’s “I’m going to smoke everyone involved in this op – and then I’m going to kill bin Laden.”

Overall I enjoyed this movie and found it very interesting however there will be those that say it’s a “Public Relations PSA” from the CIA however there was easily about 30 minutes that could have been cut from this movie but that’s my opinion.

If you enjoyed “The Hurt Locker” you will enjoy this movie but if you’re also going to this expecting two hours of action you will be disappointed. If you can put up with the “Artistic Licenses” and “Team America” type one liners you won’t be disappointed either.

The TAS Year In Review

As we near 2013 I thought it would be interesting to take a look back on 2012 on our Facebook page and our blog and share our top TEN photos and posts.  These are the most viewed stories of 2012 and the most shared photos that were the most viral.

The photos will be ranked according to the "Number of people reached" via Shares & likes and how many new members it brought to the page.  The blog posts will be strictly ranked according to the total number of views they received. 

OUR TOP TEN MOST VIEWED BLOG POSTS OF THE YEAR are : 
(Clicking on the list will take you to each story)

10. In Memory of Frank N. Boosamra 
9. The Most Inspiring Veteran I Know - MCpl Jody Mitic
8. Happy 5th Birthday - Thank A Soldier 
7. From The Sandbox To The Cage - Shane Kruchten
6. What Is A Hero - By Jim Seggie
5. Petition to release a stamp honouring the PPCLI 
4. V.E.T.S Canada Donation Drive
3. Christmas Cards for Veterans  
2. The Order Of St. George - My Thoughts
1. Leave No Veteran Behind 


Here are our TOP TEN photo of the year in order of "Reach" via Likes & Shares

10. 

 #9

Photo of Canadian Forces delivering food to the Calgary Foodbank

#8

A poppy made for a teacher who lost a good friend overseas by a kindergaten student


#7

Photo of Dave Murphy (TAS) being Knighted into The Order Of St. George

 #6

Photo received for our "Poppy Photo Project"

 #5

Photo of the SOT Car

#4

Photo of some awesome Christmas decorations

 #3

Photo of a drawing done by my 8 year old niece in Ontario for Remembrance Day

#2 

#1

This photo was our most shared in our history, had almost 7000 shares and reached a total of 189,000 people 

Thank you all for being a part of our page for the last year and helping us continue to do the work we do.

V.E.T.S Canada donation drive

Our friends at V.E.T.S Canada were semi-finalists in the Aviva Community Challenge, every day on our Facebook page I would post a request for votes and the results were minimal. The last 24 hours of the contest we had a good push but in the end they didn't make the top 30 across Canada. No disrespect intended but to see shelters for animals finish with 16,000+ more votes than a group that provides assistance to homeless Veterans was a little upsetting.

V.E.T.S Canada is a group we support 100% as I have seen and heard the work they do from Veterans who have received help getting back on their feet.
We have 75,000+ members on our “Thank A Soldier” page and in the end V.E.T.S Canada barely cleared 8000 votes. Had they made the final they would have received a $5000.00 prize and now is our chance to give them that.  

If only 5000 people read this and donate $1.00 to them they’ll get their $5000

Who’s in?

CLICK HERE TO DONATE

Mail Donations or Canadian Tire Money

VETS Canada understands that not all contributors would like to use the internet to make payments. For that reason you can send a cheque or money order, or even Canadian Tire Money to the following address:

VETS Canada

53 Queen St.

PO Box 214 Dartmouth Main

Dartmouth NS B2Y 3Y3

CLICK HERE TO ORDER V.E.T.S CANADA MERCHANDISE

Since early 2011, Veterans Emergency Transition Services (V.E.T.S. Canada), a volunteer-led, registered charity, has been reaching out to homeless and at-risk military veterans across Canada. We are based in the Halifax-Dartmouth area and in the past year and a half our outreach efforts have helped us identify and assist more than 30 homeless veterans in Halifax and throughout Nova Scotia. We have also helped veterans in other Canadian cities using our growing social network of volunteers. 

V.E.T.S. Canada is a volunteer-led registered charity (Registration #826667602RR0001) based in Nova Scotia with outreach across the country. Our goal is to help homeless and at-risk Canadian veterans leave the streets and transition successfully back into society. 

Petition to release a PPCLI 100th Anniv Coin

The PPCLI will celebrate its 100th anniversary in August of 2014  we feel there should be a coin released honouring the 100th anniversary of the PPCLI (Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry) & all the men and women who serve & have served our country past & present that are members of the PPCLI.

Previous coins have been issued honouring the 100th anniversaries of The Montreal Canadiens & Saskatchewan Roughriders and also one for the 100th Grey Cup this past year.

In 2010 the Navy celebrated it's Centennial and a coin was released to honour that milestone.

Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry (PPCLI, generally referred to as The Patricias is one of the three Regular Force infantry regiments of the Canadian Army. The regiment is composed of four battalions including a Primary Reserve battalion, for a total of 2,000 soldiers. 

The PPCLI is the main lodger unit of Canadian Forces Base (CFB) Edmonton in Alberta and CFB Shilo in Manitoba, and belongs to Land Force Western Area; as such it is the "local" regular infantry regiment for much of western Canada. The Loyal Edmonton Regiment is the reserve battalion of the regiment and carries the designation '4th Battalion, Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry'.

The following idea for this petition was started by Dave Murphy (Thank A Soldier) & Nick Kerr (TAS Admin) 

Also, Nick Kerr who served with the PPCLI , Tyler Heberton & Jessica Wiebe are currently working on a design we would also like to submit and when that is ready to go we will update this page

CLICK HERE TO SIGN OUR PETITION 

Click Here to Sign Our Petition