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FamilyCares Veterans' Day
Your family can honor veterans in your community or support our troops abroad by participating in a FamilyCares Veterans Day project. If you do not have a veterans' home or hospital in your area, call your local Veterans of Foreign Wars chapter, (VFW) and ask if they can deliver your project to veterans who would appreciate the recognition. FamilyCares Poppy Wreath "In Flanders fields the poppies blow The poppy is a symbol of remembrance dating from World War I. Major John McCrae, a doctor, wrote the poem “In Flanders Field” after treating Canadian, British, Indian, French and German soldiers from the battle at Ypres, Belgium. He could see wild poppies springing up in the cemetery from where he wrote the poem. When you wear a poppy or display a wreath, you honor the war dead, ex-service personnel and their dependents. The VFW sells paper poppies to raise funds for disabled veterans. Poppy lapel flowers can be obtained from your local Veterans of Foreign Wars, (VFW) chapter. Materials Needed Steps Involved
Template for black and white printer FamilyCares Patriotic Bookmarks Materials Needed Steps Involved
FamilyCares "Hugs and Kisses for Vets" Materials Needed Steps Involved
Materials Needed Construction paper Markers Glue Stickers Homemade cookies Steps Involved
FamilyCares Patriotic Place Mats Materials Needed Steps Involved
How old were you when you joined the armed forces? Which branch did you serve in? What was it like to train to be a soldier? Did you fly a plane or a helicopter, sail on a ship, or drive a tank? What were some of your favorite songs when you were in the armed forces? Did you travel to a foreign country? Which foreign country did you travel to? How was the food in the armed forces? What kind of food did you eat overseas? What was the first thing you ate when you returned home? Were you married? Did you have children? Were you homesick? What did you miss the most about America when you were away? How many years did you serve? Groups Supporting Troops Any Soldier at http://anysoldier.com/ Want to send your support to a soldier in harm's way, Support Our Soldiers, America - http://www.sosamericainc.org - is a nation-wide organization c ommitted to s upporting our troops overseas and in military hospitals. The site provides c omplete instructions on what to write and a list of helpful items to send soldiers. The Department of Defense does not accept any mail addressed to “any service member” or “any soldier.” But you can send an email through America Supports You, Our Military Men and Women at http://www.americasupportsyou.mil/americasupportsyou/index.aspx And through Operation Dear Abbey at http://anyservicemember.navy.mil/ Operation Uplink Veterans of Foreign Wars Operation Uplink keeps military personnel and hospitalized veterans in touch with their families and loved ones by providing a free phone card. To learn how your family can request a card for a soldier or donate a phone card to a soldier serving our country, visit Operation Uplink at http://www.operationuplink.org/ BooksAaseng, Nathan. Navajo Code Talkers. Navajo Code Talkers describes the role played by Navajo Indians in World War II as code talkers in creating a code using the Navajo language. Once developed, it proved unbreakable and the Native Americans proved highly efficient and effective code talkers. Balgassi, Haemi. Peacebound Trains. Sumi's grandmother tells the story of her family's escape from Seoul during the Korean War, while they watch the trains which will eventually bring her mother back from army service. Bunting, Eve. The Blue and The Gray. Construction on a Civil War battlefield provides the setting for this tale of a friendship between two boys, one black and one white, and the action alternates between the present and the long-ago conflict. Bunting, Eve. The Wall. A father and his young son come to the Vietnam Veterans Memorial to find the name of the grandfather the boy never knew. This moving account is beautifully told from a young child's point of view; the watercolors capture the impressive mass of the wall of names as well as the poignant reactions of the people who visit there. Cooper, Susan. Dawn of Fear . A group of boys, faced with the death of a friend during a bombing raid, must learn to go on with life in WWII England. Lyon, George Ella. Cecil's Story. In Cecil's Story , a young boy thinks about what might happen to his father, a soldier in the Civil War. In the end, Papa returns, still strong enough to lift his son with his one remaining arm. Murphy, Jim. The Boys' War. The Boys' War provides vignettes of boys' experiences between the ages of 10 and 15 in the Civil War through excerpts from diaries and letters. Daily experiences, from outfitting to drumming to fighting, are vivid. Paterson, Katherine. Park's Quest. Park goes on a quest in search of the father he did not know and finds a crippled grandfather and a Vietnamese half-sister, and a stronger image of himself. |
On the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month in 1918, an armistice was signed between Germany and the Allies. The Armistice signaled an end to World War I, the “war to end all wars.” In 1919, November 11th , was set aside as “Armistice Day.” Armistice Day was eventually changed to Veterans Day; a day set aside for Americans to honor all veterans who fought in American wars. 
