Saturday September 8th: Why You Should Attend a Young Democrats USO Day Event
Submitted by CCYoungDems on Wed, 08/29/2007 - 11:57pm.
My husband was in Iraq in 2003 and 2005 and just recently returned from Afghanistan. I am not originally from North Carolina so I came here in 2002 with no family and no friends. We arrived in NC in October of 2002 and my husband was gone by February 2003. Despite these frequent and sometimes lengthy deployments I have never moved back home. The reason is simple, the people of North Carolina know how to take care of military families. I can think of no other community that better understands the unique challenges facing the military and their families. Sadly this is not always the case in the larger population. Less than 1% of Americans serve in the Armed Forces and less than half that number will be deployed to serve in Iraq and Afghanistan. Military families at heavily deployed bases like Fort Bragg and Camp Lejeune are communities at war without their country. Never in our history have so few been asked to sacrifice so much while so many are asked to do nothing at all. Too many Americans hear about the war in Iraq on the evening news, switch off their TV's and sleep well at night confident that the yellow ribbon magnet they bought for their car last week is a sufficient sacrifice. My two young daughters have sacrificed more before age 10 than the grown men three times their age who beat the loudest drums to send their Daddy off to war.
The present administration has been slow to ask our nation as a whole to share the burdens or consequences of his foreign policy. American citizens are not being asked to sacrifice with tax increases to pay the billions of dollars we are spending monthly in Iraq. When soldiers were losing their lives in unarmored vehicles, American companies producing titanium were never called upon to stop making golf clubs just long enough for our soldiers to receive armor faster. As Democrats we understand that these injustices done to a few are injustices done to us all. Substandard care for our veterans is an injustice. Fifteen month deployments leading to a divorce rate double that of the civilian population is an injustice. Disrespecting the sacrifice of our troops by sending them into war with no armor and no exit is an injustice.
Every American soldier serving in Iraq and Afghanistan belongs to every American mother and father. These are our neighbors doing their best to get back to their families safely. We as Democrats will no longer allow it to be said that because we don't drink the President's "stay the course" kool-aid (also available in flavors like "hate us for our freedoms") we don't support our troops. Democrats must organize in our local communities to do what we in North Carolina do best; take care of our soldiers and their families. We must continue to support our new majority in Washington as they work to reverse the President's failed Iraq policy. We must also remember that charity begins with supporting our military families here at home.
I want to invite all of you to join the North Carolina Young Democrats Saturday, September 8th in a statewide "Day at the USO". The USO supports our men and women in uniform as they serve their country overseas and at home. We welcome all who want to participate!
Like the USO, North Carolina Young Democrats have made a pledge to support our troops until every soldier comes home.
YOUNG DEMOCRATS DAY AT THE USO
Saturday, September 8, 2007
10am-2pm
Lunch and T-Shirts will be provided!
JACKSONVILLE
(Assemble care packages for troops/volunteer USO rummage sale)
USO JACKSONVILLE CENTER
9 Tallman Street, Jacksonville, NC, 28540
CHARLOTTE
(USO presentation/Salute to the troops/GOTV Training & Campaign Invasion)
St. Andrew's Episcopal Church 3601 Central Ave. Charlotte, NC 28205
RALEIGH/DURHAM
(USO presentation/Salute to the troops/GOTV Training & Campaign Invasion)
Hillside High School 3727 Fayetteville Rd. Durham, NC 27707
ASHVILLE
(Salute to the troops/GOTV Training & Campaign Invasion)
Buncombe Co. Dem. Party HQ 951 Fairview Rd Asheville, NC 28803
My husband was in Iraq in 2003 and 2005 and just recently returned from Afghanistan. I am not originally from North Carolina so I came here in 2002 with no family and no friends. We arrived in NC in October of 2002 and my husband was gone by February 2003. Despite these frequent and sometimes lengthy deployments I have never moved back home. The reason is simple, the people of North Carolina know how to take care of military families. I can think of no other community that better understands the unique challenges facing the military and their families. Sadly this is not always the case in the larger population. Less than 1% of Americans serve in the Armed Forces and less than half that number will be deployed to serve in Iraq and Afghanistan. Military families at heavily deployed bases like Fort Bragg and Camp Lejeune are communities at war without their country. Never in our history have so few been asked to sacrifice so much while so many are asked to do nothing at all. Too many Americans hear about the war in Iraq on the evening news, switch off their TV's and sleep well at night confident that the yellow ribbon magnet they bought for their car last week is a sufficient sacrifice. My two young daughters have sacrificed more before age 10 than the grown men three times their age who beat the loudest drums to send their Daddy off to war.
The present administration has been slow to ask our nation as a whole to share the burdens or consequences of his foreign policy. American citizens are not being asked to sacrifice with tax increases to pay the billions of dollars we are spending monthly in Iraq. When soldiers were losing their lives in unarmored vehicles, American companies producing titanium were never called upon to stop making golf clubs just long enough for our soldiers to receive armor faster. As Democrats we understand that these injustices done to a few are injustices done to us all. Substandard care for our veterans is an injustice. Fifteen month deployments leading to a divorce rate double that of the civilian population is an injustice. Disrespecting the sacrifice of our troops by sending them into war with no armor and no exit is an injustice.
Every American soldier serving in Iraq and Afghanistan belongs to every American mother and father. These are our neighbors doing their best to get back to their families safely. We as Democrats will no longer allow it to be said that because we don't drink the President's "stay the course" kool-aid (also available in flavors like "hate us for our freedoms") we don't support our troops. Democrats must organize in our local communities to do what we in North Carolina do best; take care of our soldiers and their families. We must continue to support our new majority in Washington as they work to reverse the President's failed Iraq policy. We must also remember that charity begins with supporting our military families here at home.
I want to invite all of you to join the North Carolina Young Democrats Saturday, September 8th in a statewide "Day at the USO". The USO supports our men and women in uniform as they serve their country overseas and at home. We welcome all who want to participate!
Like the USO, North Carolina Young Democrats have made a pledge to support our troops until every soldier comes home.
YOUNG DEMOCRATS DAY AT THE USO
Saturday, September 8, 2007
10am-2pm
Lunch and T-Shirts will be provided!
JACKSONVILLE
(Assemble care packages for troops/volunteer USO rummage sale)
USO JACKSONVILLE CENTER
9 Tallman Street, Jacksonville, NC, 28540
CHARLOTTE
(USO presentation/Salute to the troops/GOTV Training & Campaign Invasion)
St. Andrew's Episcopal Church 3601 Central Ave. Charlotte, NC 28205
RALEIGH/DURHAM
(USO presentation/Salute to the troops/GOTV Training & Campaign Invasion)
Hillside High School 3727 Fayetteville Rd. Durham, NC 27707
ASHVILLE
(Salute to the troops/GOTV Training & Campaign Invasion)
Buncombe Co. Dem. Party HQ 951 Fairview Rd Asheville, NC 28803
If you can't make it to your regional event you can still show your support with a donation to help purchase care package items for our troops. The more supplies we can purchase, the more soldiers we can support!
Visit www.YDNC.org to find out how to get involved!
Team Raleigh/Durham: Zack Hawkins President@YDNC.org
Team Jacksonville: Kara Hollingsworth Committeewoman@YDNC.org
Team Charlotte: Zeb Smathers Committeeman@YDNC.org
Team Asheville: William Styles ws38409@wcu.edu