Volunteering To Assist America's Veterans

(NAPSI)-For centuries, the men and women of the U.S. armed forces have volunteered to protect the United States. But did you know that thousands of veterans are now volunteering to assist other veterans to receive the benefits they have earned.

Approximately 140,000 volunteers annually give more than 13 million hours in service to veterans through the Veterans Affairs (VA) system. And among those volunteers is a group that has already given on the battlefield: the Military Order of the Purple Heart (MOPH).

The MOPH is made up entirely of veterans wounded in combat and who, for their sacrifice, received the Purple Heart medal. Last year, almost 700 volunteers from the group donated some 83,000 hours at 97 medical facilities providing assistance to other veterans. Its Ladies Auxiliary donated an additional 18,000 hours to the VA Voluntary Service (VAVS) program.

Jeff Roy, the group's National Commander, intends to increase his organization's role even further. He's set a goal of boosting its volunteer hours by 15 percent and has helped develop a Youth Scholarship Program to reward young people who volunteer.

If you'd like to help a veteran in the area, here's what you should know:

The Role Of Volunteers

Volunteers play a number of roles within the VA. They can work in hospital wards, at nursing homes and pharmacies, and in veterans outreach centers. Some volunteers serve as drivers who help bring patients to and from medical appointments. Some participate in recreational activities, birthday celebrations or holiday events. And some simply visit with veterans, helping improve their overall quality of life.

Making A Difference

You can donate time, money and even a car to help veterans. In fact, over 500,000 people have made a vehicle donation to the MOPH since the inception of the program. You may also contact Del "Bulldog" Turner, MOPH National VAVS Director, by phone at (256) 891-0592 or by e-mail at dplusk@aol.com. For more information on the MOPH VAVS program or to join in our other volunteer efforts, visit www.purpleheart.org.

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1988: President Reagan at the Vietnam Veterans Memorial

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PBS' National Memorial Day Concert: A Tribute to the Sacrifice of America's Servicemen and Women

/PRNewswire / -- On Memorial Day weekend, PBS will unite our nation with an evening that has become an American tradition. The multi award-winning National Memorial Day Concert honors the service and sacrifice of our men and women in uniform, their families at home and all those who have given their lives for our country. The 2009 event commemorates 20 years on air as the nation's memorial service, offering viewers a time to remember, to heal and bring our country together. The program is co-hosted by Gary Sinise (CSI:New York) and Joe Mantegna (Criminal Minds), two acclaimed actors who have dedicated themselves to veteran's causes and supporting our troops in active service. The top-rated show will be broadcast live from the West Lawn of the U.S. Capitol on PBS Sunday, May 24 from 8:00 to 9:30 p.m. ET (check local listings) before a concert audience of hundreds of thousands, millions more at home, as well as to our troops around the world on the American Forces Radio and Television Network.

"For 20 years, a remarkable group of distinguished performers and television veterans have come together to create a moving remembrance and tribute to those who have been wounded or given their lives for our country," said executive producer Jerry Colbert. "Together with our audience, we have become a community of care and support for our troops. And, every year, we receive a growing number of e-mails and letters from those who still suffer their own personal and painful losses -- from WWII, Korea, Vietnam, and now Iraq and Afghanistan -- for whom this concert is truly a healing and uniting experience."

Joining co-hosts Sinise and Mantegna is an all-star line-up of dignitaries, actors and musical artists including: distinguished American leader Colin L. Powell USA (Ret.); renowned film, television and stage actress Katie Holmes; Emmy Award-winning actor Laurence Fishburne; double Academy Award-winning actress Dianne Wiest; recording artist/actress Katharine McPhee; country music superstar Trace Adkins; Tony Award-winning Broadway star Brian Stokes Mitchell; celebrated Broadway star Colm Wilkinson; acclaimed opera star Denyce Graves; classical music superstar Lang Lang; and Grammy nominated violin virtuoso Robert McDuffie with the National Symphony Orchestra under the direction of maestro Erich Kunzel.

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Georgia War Veterans Nursing Home to hold Memorial Day ceremony

The Georgia War Veterans Nursing Home will hold a Memorial Day ceremony at 9 a.m. Monday, May 25 in the courtyard. Regimental Chief Warrant Officer Andrew Barr of the U.S. Army Signal Center at Fort Gordon will be the guest speaker.

Fort Gordon’s U.S. Army Signal Corps Band and Post Ceremonial Detachment Color Guard also will be featured.

The Georgia War Veterans Nursing Home, operated through an interagency agreement between the Medical College of Georgia and the Georgia Department of Veterans Service, is located at 1101 15th St. For more information call 706-721-2531.

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Nation to Pause to Remember Our Fallen Heroes on Memorial Day

/PRNewswire / -- The White House Commission on Remembrance today announced highlights of activities that will unfold across the country at 3:00 p.m. local time on May 25 as Americans pause to remember the nation's fallen heroes. The President, in his Memorial Day Proclamation, will call on Americans to observe the National Moment of Remembrance. Observances include: Major League Baseball games will stop, the National Memorial Day Parade in Washington, D.C. will halt, Amtrak trains will blow their whistles, Buglers Across America will play "Taps," and the National Grocers Association and Food Marketing Institute will ask shoppers to pause in stores nationwide to remember our fallen. Join them and millions of others in observing the Moment at 3:00 p.m. local time on Memorial Day.

Citizens are asked to pause, wherever they may be for the Moment, and reflect on the sacrifices made for our freedoms, and commit to Live Honoring America's Fallen.

"We want our citizens to contemplate the ties that bind us and take a moment to put 'Memorial' back into Memorial Day!" said Carmella LaSpada, the Commission's Director.

The Moment is a new American tradition--a time to renew the values upon which America was founded, to commit to serving our country, and reflect on the history of sacrifices made for freedom.

The Moment was created by the Commission after its Director asked a group of children visiting our Nation's Capitol, "What is the meaning of Memorial Day?" Their reply was, "It's the day the pools open." Their innocent response, combined with a Gallup Poll that revealed that only 28% of Americans know the true meaning of this holiday, launched the National Moment of Remembrance.

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Red Skelton's 1969 Pledge of Allegiance

Is Patriotism Fading Along With Flag Stickers?

PP Note: Just in case you are searching for some flag stickers as we head in to the summer season!

/PRNewswire/ -- A tidal wave of patriotism ... and U.S. flag sticker sales ... began after September 11th, 2001. It was impossible to avoid the flood; almost everyone had a flag sticker on their car and you couldn't go anywhere without seeing the American flag. Gill Studios, one large manufacturer of flag stickers and decals, produced over 31 million flag stickers within a 3-month period in 2001. But the lifespan of a screen-printed, vinyl flag sticker is typically 3-5 years, so many of those flag decals are now long gone.

Websticker.com (http://www.flagstickers.us/), a distributor of American flag decals as well as custom stickers, labels and magnets, wants to get the flag back on your bumper. They are currently offering free American flag stickers, a limited edition domed flag decal, and great wholesale prices for bulk quantities of flag stickers so that others can spread the flag and the pride.

"Flag sticker wholesale orders have steadily declined every year since 2001," says Websticker.com founder Jeff Nicholson. "There is a yearly spike in sales before Flag Day and July 4th -- and the beginning of the Iraq War in 2003 boosted sales, but the yearly trend in production and sales has been steadily downward. We want to do what we can to change that. Waving or displaying the flag and supporting our country shouldn't be just for holidays or the start of a war. Let's celebrate our nation every day!"

Websticker.com introduced a new web page at http://www.flagstickers.us/ to not only sell U.S. flag stickers at wholesale prices but to give flags away for free (4 stickers per SASE). They also introduced a high-end, limited-edition "Still The One" domed flag decal. The LE domed flag decals will be a gift with every bulk order of flag stickers as well as available for sale for a limited time. Only 500 of this domed flag design will ever be produced.

Flag Day is June 14th. Flag stickers are a great, inexpensive giveaway item for any business or used as a fundraising product for many organizations. Flag decals are not only great on cars but also on helmets, hard hats, equipment, products, toolboxes ... anywhere.

Websticker.com (http://www.websticker.com/) was launched in 1997. Besides selling pre-printed flag stickers the company's main focus is designing and selling custom bumper stickers, decals, labels, magnets and other printed promotional products. They can also customize flag sticker products with company names or add personalized messages to the back of bulk sticker runs.

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The National World War II Museum's Cutting Edge Victory Theater, Stage Door Canteen and The American Sector Set to Open in November

/PRNewswire/ -- The memories are gathered and the research is complete. Celebrity voice-overs are all recorded. The computer-synchronized props are soon to be stowed in an 18-foot-deep pit waiting for their close-up. The National World War II Museum's gleaming new complex, comprised of The Victory Theater, Stage Door Canteen and The American Sector restaurant, is readying for its debut. When the doors fling open on November 6, 2009, the Museum's $60 million newest addition to its $300 million expansion will become the most significant attraction to the city's cultural scene since Hurricane Katrina.

Groundbreaking for the 70,000-square-foot building occurred on April 7, 2008. Designed by architects Voorsanger Mathes, LLC, the three attraction's centerpiece is the 250-seat Victory Theater. A state-of-the-art venue, the theater boasts a 120 feet wide screen with technology designed to thrust audiences into the titanic struggles of the War That Changed the World via a 4-D cinematic experience entitled Beyond All Boundaries.

"This isn't another World War II film," says National World War II Museum President and CEO Dr. Gordon H. "Nick" Mueller "This is a cinematic experience unavailable anywhere else in the world. The narrative uses the combatants', journalists' and Home Front workers' own words to tell the story of the war, and it's an unprecedented journey that took America Beyond All Boundaries."

Executive Producer Tom Hanks has worked with Phil Hettema, former Senior Vice President, Attraction Development for Universal Studios and now President of the Hettema Group, to create a unique and overwhelming immersive journey into World War II that will appeal to everyone - from the Greatest Generation to those who have grown up with Facebook and Xbox.

The four-year project incorporates Hollywood special effects, digital animation, and original war footage, all created specifically for the Theater that is being built to house it.

Creative consultant, screenwriter and Professor of History at Lafayette College, Donald L. Miller, author of several best-selling books about the war, collaborated on the screenplay of Beyond All Boundaries. As a historian it was vitally important to Miller that the facts be accurate. "We wanted it to have fidelity," he said. "The story is too good to make up. You're seeing events that really happened. Beyond All Boundaries gives audiences a tremendously exciting, immersive and significant picture of the immensity of World War Two. It was a true global conflict, and America is the only country that fought it globally.

The result, voiced by some of Hollywood's top stars, is jaw dropping. Beyond All Boundaries is true to its name - a 4-D experience that plunges audiences into a sensory world where they will feel the steam rising from Guadalcanal's jungles, brush snowflakes from their cheeks tailing troops in the Battle of the Bulge, and flinch at deadly anti-aircraft fire as they fly with bomber crews thousands of feet above Nazi Germany.

Following the end of on the 40-minute performance, theater-goers can catch their breath at the Stage Door Canteen, a detailed recreation of the wartime venues found in New York, Los Angeles and other cities that entertained the troops during the war. The National World War II Museum's new Stage Door Canteen recaptures that excitement and is an ode to the morale-building experience. Patrons will be able to hear the old songs, laugh at the jokes and grab a bite, a soft drink or a cocktail while discovering the sights and sounds of the era. On select nights, patrons can enjoy dinner and a spectacular new signature live show or local music performances.

Lastly, and literally, on the menu, is The American Sector, a Chef John Besh Restaurant. Chef Besh is the celebrated New Orleanian known to the nation for his James Beard award-winning restaurants and through appearances on TV shows like the Next Iron Chef and programs such as the Today show. His is also a former Marine who fought during Operation Desert Storm.

For The American Sector, the original name of the historic New Orleans district known today as the Warehouse District, Besh plans a menu inspired by the simpler fare of the 1940s, but with a flair found only in New Orleans. The restaurant interior will have a bar and an outdoor patio overlooking newly landscaped Magazine Street. It is certain to become a great new addition to the city's culinary landscape, making a trip to the Museum a must for visitors to New Orleans.

The complex's grand opening celebrations are planned to be worthy of a Hollywood premiere and run from November 6-8. A cast of celebrities led by Tom Hanks and Tom Brokaw, veterans and active military, political dignitaries from around the globe, as well as other assorted VIPs, will officially open the complex with a military fly-over and parachute drop on Friday the 6th. Family events and a New Orleans-style block party will take place all day Saturday the 7th, and special retrospective honoring Museum-founder and Historian Stephen E. Ambrose will be held on Sunday the 8th.

According to the Veterans Administration in Washington, D.C., U.S. veterans of World War II are dying at the rate of 900 a day, with only 2.2 million remaining today. With each one goes another memory of a time when America sacrificed and shared together as one nation. It's priceless knowledge.

"The National World War II Museum must collect, record and pass on their stories for the next generation," says Governor Pete Wilson, Chairman of the Museum's National Board of Trustees. "Our veterans are saying good-bye, and we are losing their eye-witness accounts, so we are hastening our efforts to build-out the museum before they leave us completely. It's a way to honor those who have done so much to preserve our way of life, and it's our mission."

To that end the Museum is proceeding apace with building the new six-acre, 300,000 square-foot campus, of which the Victory Theater complex is only the first phase. When completed by 2015, the Museum will boast four additional exhibition buildings as well as space for traveling collections and a parade ground, in addition to its existing facilities.

The National World War II Museum tells the story of the American Experience in the war that changed the world - why it was fought, how it was won, and what it means today. Dedicated in 2000 as The National D-Day Museum and now designated by Congress as America's National World War II Museum, it celebrates the American Spirit, the teamwork, optimism, courage and sacrifice of the men and women who fought on the battlefront and the Home Front. For more information, call 877-813-3329 or 504-527-6012 or visit www.nationalww2museum.org. Follow us on Twitter at WWIImuseum or visit our Facebook fan page.

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Video: National Infantry Museum

The National Infantry Museum is set to open June 19, 2009 in Georgia at the home of the Infantry, Fort Benning. Nestled next to Columbus, Fort Benning has been part of the neighborhood since 1918. Congratulations on this wonderful new museum.



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