In a comment in joanbrooker’s heartbreaking diary Friday night, Our Women Suffer Too Hearing Their Voices I wrote this:
I have been writing for IGTNT for four years. I don't know how many soldiers, sailors, Marines, Airmen and National Guard I have profiled . . . each of their stories stays in my heart.
But two have a particularly special place there:
First Lt. Roslyn L. Schulte, 25, of St. Louis, Missouri
Capt. Maria I. Ortiz, 40, of Bayamon, Puerto Rico
There is another woman whose courage and service and sacrifice have never left me. Her name is Megan McClung.
My family is offering $1000 in matching funds for NFTT tonight in her honor.
Major Megan McClung was killed in Iraq on December 6, 2006. She was the first female Marine Corps officer to die there. She was a graduate of the United States Naval Academy and the first female USNA graduate to be killed in action. She was 34 years old.
At the time of her death, IGTNT was in its infancy. It had no title. It was maintained entirely by i dunno. Here is the diary remembering Megan.
I did not read about Major McClung’s death at Daily Kos. But it was her death that brought me to IGTNT. And all the reasons that compelled me to write for IGTNT compel me, as well, to ask for your donations to NFTT tonight.
Before Netroots Nation ’10, our own Sandy on Signal (who is more than anyone else responsible for leading IGTNT for the past four years and who had been asked to represent us at the conference) asked all the diarists there to tell her why we had joined the diary team. I joined because of Megan. This is what I wrote:
IGTNT started for me with an obituary in a magazine. The magazine was Shipmates, the alumni publication of the United States Naval Academy. The year was 2007 – seven years after my Dad’s obituary (which I had written) had been included; and the obituary was for Major Megan McClung. My Mom, his widow, in whose name the subscription now comes, had pointed it out to me.
Marine Maj. Megan McClung, triathlete.
Surely, I thought, there should be some way to remember this remarkable young woman on Daily Kos.
I searched through the diaries and found IGTNT, which was then maintained by Sandy on Signal and monkeybiz. I didn’t know either of them, but I wrote to them and asked about remembering her, and they wrote back and said, “Please do.” I did not; and some weeks passed, and then I wrote back again and said I would like to contribute to the series.
My decision to write for the series came, as I suppose it did for most of us, from my heart.
I believe that those who serve our country (as my Dad and both of my grandfathers did – and as my ancestors stretching back to the Revolutionary War did before them) deserve our respect and gratitude. Writing for the IGTNT series allows me the chance to thank them, and to remember them.
In the long years since the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq were launched, our country seems to have forgotten those who serve. Try to remember a news broadcast you’ve seen, or a newspaper story you’ve read, about a young man or woman serving who has died. They are few and far between. Our young men and women in uniform are in Iraq and Afghanistan and have largely been forgotten, as have those who wait at home, during their husband’s or wife’s or mother’s or father’s fifth or sixth or seventh deployment.
At the huge military base near my home, where I shop with my Mom, there are collection barrels for food for our military families; in the women’s bathroom at the PX, there are posters about domestic violence and organizations to contact. The strain on those who serve is palpable there; but invisible almost everywhere else.
Let those families know that their sacrifice is not invisible to you. Please donate tonight.
This is why I write for IGTNT. This is why I write for NFTT.
These young men and women must not be invisible. They should not be. We may agree or disagree with the wars they fight. We may agree or disagree with their decisions to do so. But they are Americans, and they serve courageously while wearing our nation’s uniforms. They deserve our respect and our gratitude.
I am very grateful for the chance to be able to remember them.
And I so very much more than grateful to TexDem, velovixen, downtowner, Onomastic, MB and all those who organized NFTT, which allows us to say thank you to those who are still serving.
Please say thank you tonight with a donation.
Major Megan McClung was buried at Arlington National Cemetery on December 19, 2006 with full military honors. Someone will be adding a flag to her grave this weekend. I hope whoever does will pause for a moment and read the epitaph she wanted, which is engraved on her headstone:
Be Bold. Be Brief. Be Gone.
Her awards included The Bronze Star, The Purple Heart, Navy and Marine Corps Commendation Medal, and National Defense Service Medal.
Thank you, Major Megan McClung. Godspeed. Your mission is done.
Please use some of our family’s matching funds tonight to honor Major Megan McClung (USNA ’95) with donations for care packages for those with whom she was so proud to serve.
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Our goal for Netroots for the TroopsTM 2011 is $100,000.0 (cash or in-kind donations)
NFTT's primary function is the purchasing and assembling of Care Packages at Netroots Nation to be mailed to American Military serving in war zones. However, the needs of our military families and veterans at home are also a NFTT priority. As llbear et al. have shown, far too often veterans and their families end up caught between a need and red tape. As we raise funds this year remember that your donation will be helping on multiple levels. Our deployed sons and daughter will know they have not been forgotten. Military families will know that they are not alone. Veterans at home will receive needed help.
We realize that you would like to donate something tangible to go inside the packages that will be mailed to the troops. Unfortunately, accepting in-kind donations from individuals is not practical in terms of storage and handling of the items. We will only be accepting corporate donations or cash from YOU to purchase items for the care packages this year.
Here’s how YOU can help:
1. Please contact TexDem if you know someone who might be helpful in securing the corporate in-kind donations. Just leave him a message through the dkos message system. To help you think of companies who could donate products, see below for a list of potential items. Put your thinking caps on and let us hear from you. It takes time to get through the corporate processes so we need to hear from you ASAP!
2. We are accepting cash from individuals and -beg- ask that you DONATE HERE to contribute to this worthy cause. Your donation will enable us to purchase the things that we are unable to obtain through corporate donations, and will help to pay the costs of shipping them to our troops.
3. Sign up for a diary! Don’t worry---we’ve made it easy for you. We’ve got a template set up, and all you need to do is add a small introduction. You can tell us why you are donating or share a story of someone you know who has served or is serving. You can post some favorite pootie and woozel photos. Or how about some gardening photos? We love them! Recipes? We're ready to cook. A list of the top ten guitarists of all time? We'll listen. An homage to your favorite Sci-Fi/Fantasy writer? (Terry Pratchett is one of mine.) We'll be reading. We want you to have fun while raising money for our troops and their families. Just drop Onomastic/Ono a message through the dkos message system to get the template and on the schedule.
4. Do you know a service member who would like to receive a care package? Email a request to: info@netrootsforthetroops.com before May 31, 2011. Please include all of the following information. Unfortunately we will not be able to process any incomplete requests:
Rank:
Last name:
First name:
APO Address Line 1:
APO Address Line 2:
APO Address Zip:
If you know of a Military Unit that would like to receive care packages please include Unit and contact information by May 15, 2011.
5. Write letters to be included in the packages! If you need some ideas, rbutters wrote an excellent diary with tips on how to write letters to troops and why it’s so important to them.
6. Help us assemble the packages in Minneapolis. It's fun! More information will be forthcoming for those of you who are going to be in Minneapolis and would like to help there.
7. Please consider joining the NFTT FaceBook Group. Invite your FaceBook and non-FaceBook friends.
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The goal for 2011 is 600 Care Packages assembled in Minneapolis, that equates to approximately $100,000.00. Again this was decided upon after seeing we could assemble 300 in 45 minutes in Pittsburgh. Those boxes had a retail value of approximately $210.00. The items we'll be sending will be comparable to what was sent last year. However, that list is subject to modification based on suggestions, request and needs. Btw, check out the NFTT website.
The following list contains some of the things we have included in packages. Please let us know if you know someone who might be helpful in securing these corporate in-kind donations. (Please DO NOT send these items yourself! We have no way to accept them. Instead, your cash donation is the very best way to help make this happen on the ground in Minneapolis.)
- Baby wipes
- Mechanix gloves
- LED flashlights
- Gel shoe insoles
- Goop Cleaning Gel
- Powdered energy drinks
- Gel energy food packets
- DVDs and CDs
- Letters to the soldiers
- More suggestions coming soon
The NFTT diaries are a way for the Daily Kos community to support the troops in Afghanistan and Iraq and their families. We send them packages of items they might not otherwise receive through the normal military process but that they find useful. This is a non-political diary. While we understand there are differing views on the wars and the warriors, the site gives plenty of opportunity to express those views elsewhere. Furthermore, we would hope that users do not engage with those that attempt to hijack or otherwise disrupt these diaries.
We appreciate your understanding and support. Thanks!
Netroots For The TroopsTM is a project of Netroots for the Troops, Inc., a Virginia non-profit corporation. Netroots For The TroopsTM raises money for the assembly, mailing and delivery of care packages to American military in war zones, and to provide assistance to military families in the United States. Netroots For The Troops, Inc. is a 501(c)3 tax-exempt organization.