Want to walk from Canada to Key West with me?

SO while I wish I could do that, I can’t take time off from work to participate but I am helping them get the word out! Good for them and I am glad they are raising awareness!

I read this article about a former Army medic William Mosebach and his girlfriend, Kristen Creech, plan to spend months walking the East Coast Greenway from Maine to Florida to raise awareness about the needs of military families and money to help them.

Mosebach, 31, a former Army paratrooper and medic who served in Iraq from 2003-04, and Creech, 25, a waitress at Raindancer Steak House, gathered with family members at Palm Beach International Airport Thursday before boarding a flight to begin their fund-raising trek.

The pair is from Flordia and will start walking Saturday from the Canadian border in Calais, Maine. They plan to walk six days a week, transporting their gear on a donated bicycle trailer, enough to cover about 2,500 miles in seven months. They plan to stop along the way for fund-raising events and to end the Hike for Heroes with a reception in West Palm Beach in March. Their goal is to raise at least $50,000 for Active Heroes, a nonprofit organization based in Louisville, Ky., that provides financial assistance to active military personnel, veterans and their families.

Active Heroes was started by Troy Yocum, an Army veteran who walked more than 7,800 miles across the United States in 2010 and 2011 to raise money for military families. The East Coast Greenway is a 2,900+ mile corridor stretching from the Canadian border in Maine to Key West, is a more urban version of the Appalachian Trail. This trail is used by cyclists and walkers, the trail is 63 percent roadway at this point and goes through several cities, according to the East Coast Greenway Alliance.

Mosebach said he and Creech are not experienced hikers. They will carry basic camping gear but plan to stay in donated motel rooms and private homes as they make their way south. You can track their progress here or for more information about the Hike for Heroes can be found at http://www.activeheroes.org/hike.

SNEAK PEAK-ABC Extreme Home Makeover Premiere for Army Tankers Wife Readers

 WOW it is a 2 hour premiere! Let me tell you what this was a very moving episode of ABC Home Makeover, I think the best ever. Not only did I get to help volunteer in person on this project in July but I get to see it before it is released on Sunday Sept 25, 2o11. I even saw myself on TV, I was lucky enough to be in one of the filming episodes called the Honor Walk, where we bring in the first piece of the house. Check it out Day 4, I am in the front can’t miss me, I walk RIGHT BY THE CAMERA! LOL
 
I was contacted yesterday to preview the season premiere of Extreme Makeover Home Edition, releasing Sunday September 25th, 2011. This was a special link for ArmyTankersWife Blog only! So my readers and VIEWERS get to hear some sneak peak things.OMG I have had the BEST YEAR OF MY LIFE!

This was a powerful episode and I believe this was the best, well put, thought-out episode I have ever seen. There are endless surprises that happened on this show, I only knew of ONE big surprise which was Mrs. Michelle Obama, but OMG I know there were at least 5 different surprises that I didn’t even know of.  I AM SO PROUD to be from Ft Bragg, and part of the 82nd AB and 18th AP Corps. Hearing the Army song and music just gets me excited, I feel like a kid again. The military really stepped up and showed support for Barbara Marshall and the Steps-N-Stages Jubilee House. Now I am not going to ruin it by telling you ALL the surprises, but the one you know about was Mrs. Obama, she was so wonderful in helping out. Ty and the team built a garden and greenhouse for the Jubilee House, that uses a VEGGIE TUBE! WOW that is on a whole new level! Amazing, fresh vegetables, year round, this comes in handy with the First Lady’s “Let’s Move” initiative!  The Jubilee House makes sure women veterans aren’t homeless, and helps women veterans get on their feet.  This 7 days that they built the house in was just so patriotic. They had a parade in Disney World for her, and she got several surprises while there. Just say one surprise was very moving, and when you are in the military and you don’t get those good surprises often.

 The amazing support from the US was just terrific, there were people from New Orleans, to Minnesota, to the Wish Upon a Hero guy walking across the US to raise money. Just made me feel all MS. America right now. I can’t describe the happiness I get when I see these stories of hope, and encouragement. These extra-ordinary citizens were helping participate in her charity by donating money and sending words of encouragement. Just makes me feel really warm and just excited that there the public hasn’t forgotten about military families and what we do.

ABC does a really good job at telling stories about families that need help, and Barbara Marshall’s story is just that. She has a remarkable story to tell and needed help to continue to tell her story. Like I didn’t realize that her husband had passed away in March 2011. That’s really recent and she has a son to take care of. Yet she still carries on with her torch of hope for these women who need her, and I am sure that’s what her husband wants. Being a military family is so full of ups and downs, and it gets super hard sometimes. But then there are stories like these who just make it all better.

There were so many corporations like Blue Ridge Log Cabin Builders and Sears who just amazed me. I was fortunate enough to meet Chip Smith the president of Blue Ridge Log Cabin Homes and he was so down to earth and humble.  You know the community of Fayetteville really rallied behind this and made this happen, the volunteers were out here building and lending a hand. I was so amazed that SEARS even put on a Career Expo Day for Women Veterans, giving them the things they needed to become successful. You know when you look good and feel good about yourself, things really do change and look up for you. It really makes and impact and with the military training these women have had, they can make a really big impact on the civilian world. When life gets turned upside down, all you need is someone to just help you get on your feet and that’s what Barbara Marshall does.

So like I said I am not going to give away all those surprises but it was really amazing to see a Grammy Winner Recording Artist here in Fayetteville to just talk to women veterans, and show that they really do care.  You all need to tune in Saturday Sept 25, 2011

Don’t be an island, I will listen to you

September is the month of Suicide Prevention in the Army. So I wanted to talk to the families as well as the soldiers reading this. Being in the military can be very stressful and demanding, and most military personnel and their families are at a high risk for depression. I totally get that! I think this month everyone should learn the signs and symptoms of depression. Soldiers and especially families are highly reluctant to ask for help when they are depressed because they do not want to be seen as weak. But untreated depression is the number one cause for suicide, so those who are depressed and do not seek help are at risk for suicide. So what can be done?

Here are some tips that I think can help. If you are in a leadership position and in the military, I urge you to get to know your soldiers. Do any of your soldiers have financial or marital problems? Is your single solider lonely? Do you see changes in someone’s work patterns, activities or personality? Knowing these soldiers personally can help you see their probable dark times and head them off with activities, someone to talk to or professional help (the chaplains, MFLCs, family support center staff, first sergeant or other support services). These are your friends, your co-workers, your family, your team and they are your responsibility.

For military spouses make friends and be there for them, build up those relationships, because some of them might not have the same resources or strong will as you. If that is the case, get to know them well enough that you can see the warning signs and be strong enough to ask if they are thinking about hurting themselves and as hard as it is tell someone else if they are. Everyone has bad days now and then but do you know the signs of depression? If you do become depressed, call the doctor, it is a reason maybe physical such as a hormone imbalance or mental (your solider just deployed, or you had a change in the family). See a therapist. Depression needs to be treated. It is an illness, and just like ALL illnesses, it needs treatment. Do not think that you can treat depression by yourself — that is like trying to treat a broken arm on your own.

So my advice to you is take care of yourself first. Make sure that you get help when you need it. Also make sure that you get to know your battle buddies who you are serving with whether you are the one left behind in a deployment or you are deployed. Just say more than hello, open up to others, and they will open up to you. I believe you should always make yourself available to others. Do not let any person be an island, include others in conversations and activities. Reach out. And when someone does have a serious problem or becomes depressed, make sure that they get help.