By: Mike Redding (Stop and Smell the People)
Mark this down: Noon, Friday August 14. Here’s why…
In Arlington National Cemetery, a family marks the one-year anniversary of United States Marine Captain Garrett Lawton's death. After reading my story from Arlington National Cemetery, “One Soldier’s Death,” many of us have been asking the same question: How do we say thank you to those who serve?
No matter our politics, we all want or soldiers to return home safely… to be reunited with their families. In the meantime wouldn’t it be nice if our servicemen and women knew how proud we are of them, how often we think of them, and how much we appreciate their sacrifice?
Anna and I have been looking for a simple way for masses of people to say thanks. I think we’ve stumbled upon something. It was under our noses all along. What if on Friday at noon each of us updated our Facebook or twitter status by writing something to our soldiers?
You could offer a prayer… or a moment of silence… or simply type a soldiers name… anything that for you says, “I care!” I’m not asking you to be pro-war… or anti-war. All I’m asking is for you to tell our troops and their families you haven’t forgotten them.
If for one moment we stopped yelling at each other about health care and instead made are voices one. What would that look like? What if we all tweeted or updated our FB status at the same time as a grateful nation to all the men and women serving our country?
Anna and I have reached out to the people who inspired this idea… Sgt. Carlos Baldeosingh’s widow, Rebecca; Chaplain 1LT Thomas Watson, the Charlottean leading our soldiers through their toughest hours in Iraq; and Soldier Cody Fowler who has been reading this website from the frontlines in Iraq. They all love the idea. (You’d be amazed at how “plugged in” our soldiers are to social media.) Your gratitude will reach them.
So, we are asking you to join us on Friday, August 14, 2009 to take a moment and offer up some simple words of thanks to our troops.
Also, lets see how many people we can get on board. Start telling all your Facebook and twitter friends. Let’s see how far we can spread this simple gesture of thanks.
In case you’re like me and need it spelled out… here’s how our simple plan will work…
1. On August 14, 2009 at 12 NOON EST (9AM West Coast… 7PM Baghdad… 8PM Kabul, Afghanistan) we’ll all “tweet” or update our Facebook status with a few words of gratitude, or the name of someone serving or the name of someone killed in action. (If you don’t have Facebook or Twitter you can post your words of gratitude here on this site under “comments.”)
2. Before Friday, August 14 tell everyone you can and ask them to join in our moment of thanks… and ask them to pass along news of our effort to everyone they know.
We have about 24 hours, people, get the word out!
In Arlington National Cemetery, a family marks the one-year anniversary of United States Marine Captain Garrett Lawton's death. After reading my story from Arlington National Cemetery, “One Soldier’s Death,” many of us have been asking the same question: How do we say thank you to those who serve?No matter our politics, we all want or soldiers to return home safely… to be reunited with their families. In the meantime wouldn’t it be nice if our servicemen and women knew how proud we are of them, how often we think of them, and how much we appreciate their sacrifice?
Anna and I have been looking for a simple way for masses of people to say thanks. I think we’ve stumbled upon something. It was under our noses all along. What if on Friday at noon each of us updated our Facebook or twitter status by writing something to our soldiers?
You could offer a prayer… or a moment of silence… or simply type a soldiers name… anything that for you says, “I care!” I’m not asking you to be pro-war… or anti-war. All I’m asking is for you to tell our troops and their families you haven’t forgotten them.
If for one moment we stopped yelling at each other about health care and instead made are voices one. What would that look like? What if we all tweeted or updated our FB status at the same time as a grateful nation to all the men and women serving our country?
Anna and I have reached out to the people who inspired this idea… Sgt. Carlos Baldeosingh’s widow, Rebecca; Chaplain 1LT Thomas Watson, the Charlottean leading our soldiers through their toughest hours in Iraq; and Soldier Cody Fowler who has been reading this website from the frontlines in Iraq. They all love the idea. (You’d be amazed at how “plugged in” our soldiers are to social media.) Your gratitude will reach them.So, we are asking you to join us on Friday, August 14, 2009 to take a moment and offer up some simple words of thanks to our troops.
Also, lets see how many people we can get on board. Start telling all your Facebook and twitter friends. Let’s see how far we can spread this simple gesture of thanks.
In case you’re like me and need it spelled out… here’s how our simple plan will work…
1. On August 14, 2009 at 12 NOON EST (9AM West Coast… 7PM Baghdad… 8PM Kabul, Afghanistan) we’ll all “tweet” or update our Facebook status with a few words of gratitude, or the name of someone serving or the name of someone killed in action. (If you don’t have Facebook or Twitter you can post your words of gratitude here on this site under “comments.”)
2. Before Friday, August 14 tell everyone you can and ask them to join in our moment of thanks… and ask them to pass along news of our effort to everyone they know.
We have about 24 hours, people, get the word out!
(Copied from Stop and Smell the People by Mike Redding)
No comments:
Post a Comment