COLUMBIA — When Tracy Della Vecchia’s son, Derrick Jensen, joined the U.S. Marine Corps in 2001, she wanted to learn as much as she could about the Marines and what to expect as the parent of one. Unsure of where to turn, she searched the Internet for help and support.
Continue reading "Columbia organization MarineParents.com keeps growing and making a difference" »
Training routine, war experience explained to leathernecks’ parents
Col. Bryan McCoy warned the Marine Corps parents that he would be blunt before he began describing what Marines face in combat, and how leaders prepare them for the death they will see.
When Lance Cpl. Justin Longcor returned after seven months in Iraq he expected to see a few smiling faces.
Continue reading "Local man gets a surprising welcome back" »
Leon Deraps died May 6, 2006, while serving in Iraq
JAMESTOWN, Mo. - Sandy Deraps has a sparkle in her eye and a loving smile on her face when she hears her son's name.
If Colin Glavan is worried about going to Iraq, he doesn't show it.
He's a newly minted Marine. So it's his job, he says.
Continue reading "Some time with family, then it's off to war" »
Patricia Fry thought she and her husband, John, were prepared.
Continue reading "Marine parents find own comrades online" »
There’s happy and lucky to be alive, and then there’s the suicide bombing story that Marines Eric Morante and Steven May, both Spring Branch ISD graduates, will tell for years to come after serving in Iraq.
Continue reading "SBISD graduates recovering from suicide truck bombing in Iraq" »
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact:
Tracy Della Vecchia
MarineParents.com, Inc.
2810 Lemone Industrial Boulevard, Suite B
Columbia, MO 65201
Phone: (573) 449-2003
Columbia, MO – November 2, 2007- MarineParents.com will be holding its final packing day of 2007 on Saturday, November 3rd, from 8:00 AM until 3:00 PM in its offices at 2810 Lemone Industrial Boulevard, Suite B. Over 1100 care packages will be packed and mailed to Marines on active duty in Iraq and Afghanistan. Turkey dinners for Thanksgiving and cigars for the United States Marine Corps 232nd birthday on November 10th will be among the items packed in this shipment.
Wednesday, Neil Schalk, Cosmo 's Wisconsin Bachelor 2007, will head to New York to face a day filled with media, capped by the magazine 's Bachelor of the Year party.
Continue reading "Veteran from Muscoda on Cosmo bachelor list" »
Surrounded by about 2,000 others on foot at today's Sunshine Run, Lance Cpl. Joe Lopez will get by with arm-power — and a set of wheels.
An area Marine who was injured in Iraq is up for a big award, but it's not for his service. Cosmopolitan magazine is taking his story nationwide. Each year Cosmo has a contest to find the hottest bachelors in the country and it just so happens that Richland Center is home to one of the lucky 50 finalists.
Continue reading "Richland Center Marine Bachelor of the Year?" »
Marines Raising Funds to Support Marines Injured in Iraq or Afghanistan
Washington, D.C. (October 04, 2007) – LCpl. Josef Lopez and Cpl. Neil Schalk didn’t know each other while serving in the Marine Corps in Iraq, but the invisible bonds of brotherhood that tie Marines together made it an easy decision for them to support each other through their next challenge: the Marine Corps Marathon. Those same bonds also made it an easy decision for a Gold Star family to support their cause.
Mario Sagastume was an infantry Marine who served in Vietnam 40 years ago. He and his wife, Nanette Sagastume, have a son who served as an infantry Marine in Iraq in 2004.
Continue reading "It's not about the war, or politics: Chico couple off to bootcamp" »
There’s happy and lucky to be alive, and then there’s the suicide bombing story that Marines Eric Morante and Steven May, both Spring Branch ISD graduates, will tell for years to come after serving in Iraq.
Continue reading "SBISD graduates recovering from suicide truck bombing in Iraq" »
I mentioned earlier that I attended the Marine Parents Conference in St. Louis last week. It was an honor for me to be included and I have a wonderful time. As I walked around the conference I noticed something extraordinary about the hundreds of Marine parents who had come together. They were proud. Everywhere I looked there were yellow ribbon pins, pins that read “My son is a Marine,” moms and dads were wearing t-shirts printed with photos of their Marine and everyone had a photo of their Marine in his dress blues. I couldn’t help but be awed by the force of the pride in the room.
ST. LOUIS — Patricia Fry, whose son is a Marine infantryman, was explaining the fine art of creating a scrapbook to Rita Swift, whose son is a Marine helicopter pilot.
recently had the privilege of attending the annual conference for MarineParents.com. The conference was in St. Louis this year and I was invited to make the trip out by the founder of Marine Parents, Inc. I should mention here that I am not the parent of a Marine, but I do know the organization quite well. Tracy Della Vecchia started Marine Parents when her son was deployed to Iraq at the start of the war. He went back two more times before getting out of the Marine Corps. As the mother of a Marine in harm’s way, Tracey was desperate for answers. She wanted to get information, she wanted to find support, she wanted to know everything there was to now about the Marine Corps. But as she looked online, she didn’t find any organizations dedicated to helping the parents of those who serve. So Tracy took matters into her own hands and started MarineParents.com.
St. Louis, MO – April 6, 2007 - United States Marine Corps family members from around the country will gather in St. Louis at the MarineParents.com conference to learn about the Marine Corps, combat deployment, recovery from combat, Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, and ways to encourage awareness for Troop Support in their own communities. Attendance will range from new Marine families, families experiencing first, second or third combat deployments, and families who have experienced casualties of combat.
BETHESDA, MD, March 24, 2007 - Purple Heart Family Support ™ announced the start of new program bringing support to families of injured Marines at the National Naval Medical Center (NNMC) in Bethesda, MD. Purple Heart Family Support ™, a subsidiary of the non-profit MarineParents.com, will bring a monthly free meal to families and patients at the hospital, providing a much needed service as the hospital cafeteria is closed on the weekends.
Continue reading "Purple Heart Family Support ™ Bring Lunch to National Naval Medical Center" »
OSWEGO, IL. ~ The eXtreme Allstarzz Cheerleading Academy of Oswego, IL. recently raised $1,870 in a Change War Competition. The money has been donated to MarineParents.com and their Care Package Project(TM). The $1,870 will sponsor 85 care packages. MarineParents.com mails approximately 1,100 care packages to deployed Marines every 10 weeks.
Continue reading "Cheerleading Academy raises money to sponsor care packages for deployed Marines" »
That's how the wife of one Cherry Point Marine stays strong when her husband is deployed overseas.
Continue reading "Marine Families Helping Marine Families" »
“He’s a lifer,” says Jennifer Weaver, smiling proudly at her husband of 10 years from across the table. Without missing a beat, she grabs the tipped soda cup off the table and hands it back to her daughter, 2-year-old Dixie, and turns to settle Daisy, 4, and Dallas, 9, back into their seats.
With precision and care, Stephanie Thompson packed small treats of cookies, candy and coffee into a box that would be topped with a Christmas card and mailed. Instead of going to a friend or relative, the package will end up with someone on the other side of the globe.
Continue reading "Home front packages with care Parcels shipped out to Marines in Iraq." »
TAMPA - Dick Linn sits inside Room 109 at the La Quinta Inn, lost in the glow of his laptop.
He's 53, a traveling software salesman far from his Virginia home. He's also the father of Marine Lance Cpl. Karl Linn, 20, who was killed during an ambush near Haditha, Iraq, in January 2005.
TAMPA - Dick Linn sits inside Room 109 at the La Quinta Inn, lost in the glow of his laptop.
He's 53, a traveling software salesman far from his Virginia home. He's also the father of Marine Lance Cpl. Karl Linn, 20, who was killed during an ambush near Haditha, Iraq, in January 2005.
It was almost a year ago that Lance Cpl. Neil Schalk, then 19, a Marine from Richland Center serving in Iraq, was wounded by a homemade bomb during a convoy mission from Fallujah to Ramadi.
Continue reading "Catching Up: Iraq war veteran marks third marathon finish" »
How do you get gallons of barbecue sauce to Iraq? A York restaurant is trying.
YORK -- Some Marines over in Iraq have a hankering for barbecue.
And not just any barbecue. They want Pierce's Pitt Bar-B-Que. Enough to e-mail the restaurant and ask for some.
About 227 Marines and sailors returned to Twentynine Palms Wednesday afternoon after a seven-month deployment in Iraq's strife-torn Al Anbar Province.
Karen and David Marks once anguished for months not knowing whether their sons away at military boot camp were safe and well.
CAMP PENDLETON ---- Though the pace of deployments of local troops has slowed a bit, North County Marines will probably continue to be deployed to Iraq every seven months or so for "the next few years," the Camp Pendleton-based commander of the Marines' western bases said last week.
Continue reading "Marine commander: Deployments to continue steadily for a few years" »
Patrick Howard was determined to become a Marine as a teenager in South Miami-Dade. After being seriously injured in Iraq last month, he hasn't lost his will to fight.
Patrick Howard heard his blood dripping onto the floor. He was on a mesh stretcher, a doctor leaning over him. His right arm was motionless, and he struggled to speak. Only a year out of high school, the 20-year-old Marine from South Miami-Dade faced his mortality last month on the battlefield in Iraq.
Tracy Della Vecchia talks about the possible call-up of her son, Derrick Jensen (right), on Wednesday in their Columbia, Mo., home. Jensen, who has already seen three tours of combat duty, still has three years left on his eight-year contract, making him eligible to be called up for another tour of duty.
L.G. PATTERSON / Associated Press
SAN DIEGO -- After spending six months in Iraq, Marine reservist David Morgan figured he was done patrolling the dangerous streets and could focus on building his biotech business.
Continue reading "California: Marine reservists uneasy about recall risk" »
'The Heart of a Marine Foundation' was created by the parents of Lance Corporal Phillip Frank. He was killed by enemy fire in Iraq two years ago. The foundation provides aid and comfort to other military families who have lost loved ones in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Continue reading "Parents of Marine killed create foundation" »
Since the beginning of Operations Iraqi Freedom and Enduring Freedom, hundreds of thousands of American soldiers have deployed overseas to fight—over half of them parents. That's a lot of children saying goodbye to Mom or Dad—and then, hopefully, welcoming that parent home again.
Continue reading "Returning Soldiers Bring Joy, Stress to Families" »
Parents get cybersupport for loved ones in war zones
Steve Schulz knew where to find emotional support when he learned that a roadside bomb had driven shrapnel into his son's brain while on patrol with his Marine unit in Iraq.
Parents get cybersupport for loved ones in war zones
Steve Schulz knew where to find emotional support when he learned that a roadside bomb had driven shrapnel into his son's brain while on patrol with his Marine unit in Iraq.
Columbia, Mo. -- The MarineParents.com, Inc., Annual National Conference will be held in Houston, Texas the weekend of April 21-23.
The conference offers a phenomenal lineup of six guest speakers, many authors, Marines and Sailors, breakout sessions, and plenty of opportunities to meet and network with other Marine Corps and Navy parents, spouses, families and friends. Join Marine and Navy families from all over the United States for a weekend of education, friendship, entertainment, patriotism, and esprit de corps.
Yellow Ribbon Week
Saluting the soldiers in Iraq and their families back home
The Heart of a Marine
(Georgette & Roy Frank on their son Phillip Frank)
You don`t have to look very far to find a full spectrum of opinions on the war in Iraq. Right here in Southeast Texas there is ample evidence that this is a divided home front.
Computer security experts say the old Nigerian "prince" scam is making the email rounds again, but this time the deposed "prince" has been replaced by a U.S. Marine. They say the objective is the same – to get recipients to reveal bank account information.
Continue reading "Scammers Posing As Marines Offer Mountains of Cash" »
For some military families, Christmas can be a heart-wrenching time. Several area families count themselves among many around the country who will not be united with loved ones this season.
(Andrew and Robyn Cobb - members of Marineparents.com included in article)
Offered in partnership with http://www.MarineParents.com, a nonprofit corporation funded by private donations, dotPhoto's Wishes From Home helps to create and send customized "talking holiday cards" to their loved ones at home or overseas.
Continue reading "CONSUMER ADVICE: 'Wishes From Home' for U.S. troops" »
We currently ship over 700 care packages each month to Marines stationed in Iraq and Afghanistan. Our database grows daily as Marines send us names of comrades who are not receiving mail or care packages. You can help get care packages of needed items to these Marines! There are several ways that you can help out.
Continue reading "MarineParents.com Inc Care Package Project" »
MOVIE: Make Peace or Die: The First Days of War in Iraq with 1st Battalion 5th Marines
INTRO:
March 2003 - Thousands of troops are massed on the border of Iraq poised for war. Among the first to cross the line of departure is one of the most decorated units in the American military having served since World War I: First Battalion, Fifth Marine Regiment. The Marine Corps infantry unit known as “1/5” (one-five) carries to battle a flag with its salient motto, “Make Peace or Die.”
Show your support and help make this film public.
Now Announcing! 2006 MarineParents.com, Inc. Conference- location Houston, TX
Continue reading "2006 MarineParents.com, Inc. Conference" »
Need a touching, personalized gift for that special loved one overseas?
Talking Holiday Cards is a GREAT idea!- Mail Call never Sounded so good!
Not only is it a great gift idea to send a touch of home to your hero, but it also support a GREAT cause- $1 from every card comes back to MarineParents.com, Inc. for the care package project and $.50 from each card goes to a wounded soldiers organization.
Continue reading ""Wishes from Home" Talking Holiday Card" »
Andrew Patten was one of 10 to die Thursday in a roadside-bombing attack in Iraq.
LYNN - Susan Eldridge has already sent her son and his Marine comrades 30 pounds of fudge, but her real gift to them this holiday season is love and her prayers.
Continue reading "For this mom, supporting Iraq troops is a must" »
YOAKUM - One mother's interest in sending her Marine son a taste of home has grown into an effort to make sure a lot more Marines will receive care packages from the States this Christmas season.
Continue reading "Rotary Club collecting items for Marines" »
Cutting the ratlines and quashing the insurgency in Western Iraq.
(Submitters note: This article includes LtCol Bryan P. McCoy, one of Marine Parents.com's member on our board of directors.)
Ranging from fear to anxiety to frustration with little communication, John Milek, a resident of northwest Houston and father to Marine Josh Milek, says family and friends of our armed forces oftentimes need support themselves for their loved ones facing the rigors of boot camp to the dangers of the frontlines of war.