Archive for the ‘2007 Milblog Conference’ Category

Do you know this man?

Is that impressive or not? lol. Aside from Chuck’s antics, he is impressive. It’s because of Chuck who had an idea, that Valour IT was born.

Here’s the story: Project Valour-IT began when Charles “Chuck” Ziegenfuss was wounded by an IED while serving as commander of a tank company in Iraq in June 2005.

During his deployment he kept a blog (an online personal diary, opinion forum, or news analysis site-called a milblog or military weblog when written by a servicemember or about military subjects). Captivating writing, insightful stories of his experiences, and his self-deprecating humor won him many loyal readers. After he was wounded, his wife continued his blog, keeping his readers informed of his condition.

As he began to recover, CPT Ziegenfuss wanted to return to writing his blog, but serious hand injuries hampered his typing. When a loyal and generous reader gave him a copy of the Dragon Naturally Speaking Preferred software, other readers began to realize how important such software could be to CPT Ziegenfuss’ fellow wounded soldiers and started cast about for a way to get it to them.

A fellow blogger (blog author) who writes under the pseudonym FbL contacted Captain Ziegenfuss and the two realized they shared a vision of providing laptops with voice-controlled software to wounded soldiers whose injuries prevented them from operating a standard computer. FbL contacted Soldiers Angels, who offered to help develop the project, and Project Valour-IT was born.

In sharing their thoughts, CPT Ziegenfuss and FbL found that memories of their respective fathers were a motivating factor in their work with the project. Both continue their association with this project in memory of the great men in their lives whose fine examples taught them lasting lessons of courage and generosity.

How does VALOUR IT work?

Every cent raised for Project Valour-IT goes directly to the purchase and shipment of laptops for severely wounded service members. As of October 2007, Valour-IT has distributed over 1500 laptops to severely wounded Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen and Marines across the country.

Valour-IT accepts donations in any amount to support the purchase and distribution of laptops, but also offers a sponsorship option. An individual or organization may sponsor a wounded soldier by completely funding the cost of a laptop and continuing to provide that soldier with personal support and encouragement throughout recovery. This has proved to be an excellent project for churches, groups of coworkers or friends, and members of community organizations such Boy Scouts.
Originally Valour-IT provided the voice-controlled software, but now works closely with the Department of Defense Computer/electronic Accommodations Program (CAP): CAP supplies the adaptive software and Valour-IT provides the laptop. In addition, DoD caseworkers serve as Valour-IT’s “eyes and earsâ€? at several medical centers, identifying possible laptop recipients. Wounded military personnel can also directly request a laptop through the sign-up form or through the Valour-IT/Soldiers’ Angels representatives at the following medical centers:

* Balboa Naval Hospital

* Brooke Army Medical Center

* Madigan Regional Medical Center

* National Naval Medical Center (Bethesda Naval Hospital)

* Naval Hospital, Camp Pendleton

* Robert E. Bush Naval Hospital (29 Palms)

* Walter Reed Army Medical Center

Thanks to the efforts of the Military Order of the Purple Heart, Valour-IT is also able to reach patients in VA hospitals who would benefit from a Valour-IT laptop.

How to donate?

Our goal for this fundraising netathon is $240,000 and runs from October 28th through November 11th (Veterans Day). Each service team (Air Force, Marines, Navy, Army – hey where’s the Coasties?) has a $60,000 goal I’m on Team Air Force, so if you’re going to donate then click on MY AF BUTTON…….please?

Note – Oct. 29th at 3:15 – there’s a technical glitch with the donation widget which the wizards behind the curtain are working furiously to correct.

Note – Oct. 30th at 10:30am – we’re changing donation widgets. The widget on my right sidebar at the top seems to be functioning correctly but I’m having a problem embedding the new code in a posting. So, you can also donate to the Air Force Team goal by going to this link.

Or if you’re not an online person then you can mail in a check to

Soldiers’ Angels
Project Valour-IT Fund
1792 E. Washington Blvd
Pasadena, Ca 91104
If you donate by mail, then be sure to include your name, address, phone number and email address. And I’d really appreciate it if you would include that this is for the Air Force Team considering that’s my team! If you have any questions you can call (615) 676-0239.

Soldiers’ Angels has been designated a 501(c)(3) non-profit charity by the IRS. Donations are tax-deductible and may be eligible for matching funds from donors’ employers (ask your employer). Be sure to consult your tax advisor for further information.

Readers, besides donating, you can also help by…..

# Check for employer matching donations (or lay the groundwork for a corporate donation during the fundraiser)
# Find items to auction—check with authors, celebrities, etc., or offer your own service or product for auction. Items can be military-related or of general interest
# Give a heads up to your local press/political connections by offering links to Valour-IT sites and telling them about Valour-IT’s history

If you’d like to receive this information in an email format ( so you can forward this information to everyone in your address book…heheh), you can contact me at bearcreekledger@bearcreekledger.com.

Technorati Tags: Valour IT, Wounded Warriors, Support Our Troops, Military, netathon

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I know that Andi is traveling right now due to PCS’g but go over to her site, leave a comment congratulating her on her new Who’s Who of Military Spouses status!  Andi is not only the creator of SpouseBuzz but is responsible for thinking up the Milblog Conference AND planning both conferences to date.  She’s also one hell of a nice gal with a personality to match.  Her energy seems boundless with her ability to always have a smile on her face. 

Military Spouse magazine announces 2007 Who’s Who of Military Spouses

In the last few years, the military spouse community has changed. Spouses have taken charge of their community and created the much-needed resources to meet the shifting requirements of military spouses worldwide.

The 2007 Who’s Who of Military Spouses list recognizes military spouses who have made significant contribution in the military community for all military spouses. The leaders of the military spouse community were chosen based on their service-wide appeal, commitment to military spouses and professional development. Military Spouse magazine, a Victory Media, Inc. publication, is proud to be the resource to bring you this comprehensive list of deserving spouses in the world of the military. The listed spouses will be profiled in the next three issues of Military Spouse magazine as noted below.

September/October 2007:
Sue Hoppin, Military Officer Association of America (MOAA), Assistant Director for Spouse Outreach, Air Force Spouse
Sarah Smiley, syndicated columnist, author of Going Overboard: The Misadventures of a Military Wife, Navy Spouse
Deb Kloeppel, Military Spouse Corporate Career Network (MSCCN), Founder and President, Navy Spouse
Meredith Leyva, Operation Homefront, Founder and Chairman Emeritus, Navy Spouse
Andi Hurley, Spouse BUZZ, Founder, Army Spouse

November/December 2007:
Joyce Raezer, NMFA, Chief Operating Officer, Army Spouse
Jacey Eckhart, syndicated columnist, radio personality and author of The Homefront Club, Navy Spouse
Roxanne Reed, Jane Wayne Gear, Chief Executive Officer and Founder, Marine Corps Spouse
Tanya Biank, Author of Army Wives: The Unwritten Code of Military Marriage, Army Spouse
Kathie Hightower and Holly Scherer, motivational speakers and co-authors of Help! I’m a Military Spouse and I Want a Life, too!
Victoria Parham, Military Spouse Talk Radio, President and Founder, Army Spouse

January 2008, first monthly issue:
Who’s Who Spouses to watch in 2008
Kristin Henderson, Author
Janet Farley, Author
Karen Pavlicin, Author
Nicole Alcorn and Karie Darga, Military Spouse Monument, Founders
Krista Wells, Ph.D, The Military Spouse Coach TM
Shannon Maxwell and Robin Kelleher, Hope for the Warriors non-profit, Founders

Technorati Tags: Who’s Who of Military Spouses, Andi Hurley, Support The Troops, 2007 Milblog Conference, Spousebuzz

Who would that be?  That would be JP Borda!  At the 2007 Milblog Conference Sherri of SK Diva fame, brought in enlarged pictures to be autographed and one of those was the man who single handedly started a beef jerky war between Iraq and Afghanistan.  JP’s also the creator of milblogging.com – like that’s any big deal!  I almost blew Sherri’s surprise of these signed pictures by posting this one with my 2007 Milblog Conference posting.  JP’s family hadn’t yet presented the memento to him. 

Tell me this doesn’t resemble Darth Vader.

JP’s reason for not attending the 2007 Milblog Conference was because he was training for his deployment to Iraq.  He supposedly was at Camp Shelby.  Check out the Bad VooDoo Platoon.  Once JP has deployed be sure to send him boxes of beef jerky.  JP loves beef jerky. 

You can find JP’s blog at milblogging.com.  Be warned though, JP has a rather odd sense of humor……odd as in snarky, odd as in sarcastic, odd as in inflammatory, odd as in a guy’s just gotta have fun.  Here’s one of his recent posts:

Sean Lawson, a blogger doing a research paper about milblogs, has created a Google Custom Search Engine that searches 27 different military blogs.

snip…..To be honest, you could use the Milblogging.com Search Engine which searches thousands of milblogs and you might get better results. The only problem is that it’s far too advanced for the regular user, so many of you might not be able to figure it out. Although, when I first built the website I had my five year old test out the Search Engine, and he had no problems. But please, don’t feel bad. When he was three he was already in the eighth grade, and had written a dissertation on the moral decay of urban America in crayon. He also spoke like six languages, four of which he invented. I wouldn’t call him a genius though, he still can’t beat me in videogames, which of course we all know is the true measure of brilliance.

Head on over to JP’s little blog and give him a hoohah, then also stop by Voodoo Platoon. These guys are about to ship out for their 15 month deployment and deserve our thanks.

Technorati Tags: 2007 Milblog Conference, Milblogging.com, JP Borda, beef jerky wars, iraq, afghanistan, support the troops

The trip to Washington DC for the 2007 Milblog Conference was a smashing success.  Susan, a PGR friend joined me on the trip.  We arrived on Thursday night in Manassas, Va.  Susan had collected money from her work to buy some entertainment items for wounded soldiers at Walter Reed.  I had collected DVDs and CDs from various sources.  But on Thursday night we went out to spend the money Susan had collected.  I was surprised how many great deals we found quickly on new and used DVDs.  Anyway the Walter Reed visit is another posting.  Friday we drove into Arlington, got to the hotel and I hadn’t even gotten out of the car and some woman came up to my window saying TONI!!!!  It was Deb from Yankee Mom.  They were just leaving the hotel to get something to eat.  Susan and I got checked in, caught the Metro to the Holocaust Museum.  We were so lucky, I think we got to the museum before the big tour buses arrived.  Had about a 20 minute wait for a 12:15 tour.  Unfortunately we had to kind of hurry so we could be back to the hotel by 3pm.  We needed to meet the PGR couple (Ann & Ted) by 4pm for our visit to Walter Reed. 

One of the odd pieces of information I learned from the visit to the Holocaust Museum….I watched this short documentary on the 1936 Olympics which were held in Germany with Adolph Hitler as the host.  So there was much controversy on whether the US Team should be in attendance.  Most major news outlets in the US were against the US Team competing.  However there were two major newspapers in favor and this is what I found interesting……..they were the Los Angeles Times and the Minneapolis Star & Tribune!  Ah, yes, the Red Star hasn’t changed much in all these years.  There isn’t a dictator or tyrant they don’t love, adore and promote. 

Susan and I missed most of the cocktail reception on Friday evening since we were at Walter Reed.  We did get there at the end though.  Here’s a couple photos from the reception:

Carren & myself

Greta, me and Deb (and then walking off on the right is Theresa)

On Saturday morning the conference began with a video message from President Bush to the milblog conference.

I was going to post photos of the panels and panelists but if you want great roundup of links, photos and what was said then I suggest you go to Gateway Pundit who also has video.  Go here ,here, here and here.

Do check out what Robert Stokely had to say at Gateway Pundit.  What a wonderful man, it was such a pleasure to meet him in person.

After the conference many gathered at the bar.  I had a chance to talk with Andi’s hubbie (actually I probably talked his ear off!).  I was looking for a cup of coffee towards the end of the conference and ran into Consul-at-Arms!  Had no idea he was going to be there.  That was a pleasant surprise.  It was also wonderful to get a hug from Sgt. Hook who will deploying again in the near future.

Me, Carla and Mrs. G.

Of course there’s one of my favorite young Army wives – and that’s Sarah.

If you’ve never gone out to dinner with Chuck this is a sample of what goes on….
B

Never a dull moment!

Update – May 8th

Got this photo from SK Diva and couldn’t resist posting it.  It’s Greta and I posing for JP Borda the creator of the Beef Jerky Wars, he got sent lots of boobas (I think it was boobas – they’re a goofy looking doll) and of course Milblogging.com.  JP was supposed to be a focal figure at the 2007 Milblog Conference, his lame excuse for not attending?  He’s training to get deployed again.  Oh yeah, right……

It was great to see everyone and hear what was said with the panels along with the questions.  Wish I’d gotten a photo of myself and Rachelle, Sammy (Joan), Andi (who was very busy) but did get to say hi to Dadmanly, just found out American Soldier was there with his Mrs AS and I didn’t get to meet them and now I’m wondering who else was there that I didn’t meet! 

Disclaimer:  I’m already apologizing to those I forgot to mention, by the end of dinner Saturday night I was so tired it was back to the hotel and bed to get ready for the long drive home on Sunday.

Here’s the link from Andi’s World to What they’re saying (about the 2007 Milblog Conference) from attendees at the conference.

Technorati Tags: 2007 Milblog Conference, photos

It’s been a bit of a hit or miss situation with my blog postings lately.  A combination of PGR missions, remodeling my house and trying to get a new laptop setup to take with me to the Milbloggers Conference.  I love my new laptop but it’s so much easier to do anything and everything (when you’re in a hurry) on my old laptop.  But it’s now or never so I’m finally getting it set up.  So now I’m getting things ready to take off for the 2007 Milblogger’s Conference in D.C.  Got one of my PGR pals coming with me so we’re going to visit with a Tn Soldier who’s being treated at Walter Reed but not living there. 

Posting will be sparse through the next few days.  Hopefully I’ll find time to post a few pics once I’m in DC but the days seem to be pretty full.  Can’t wait to see my old milblog friends and meet up with the new ones!

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The site for the 2007 Milblog Conference is up and running! Go check it out. Andi’s got some info on the panels and confirmed panelists to date.

Bookmark the site and check back often for updates.

2007 Milblog Conference – May 4th and 5th

Technorati Tags: 2007 Milblog Conference