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The video below touched my heart this morning.  As the first Gulf War was starting we went to some air races in Denver. There were not many military planes present as most of them had been sent over to the middle east.  There was however one F-15 that shot straight in to the sky as they played "I'm Proud to be an American" by Lee Greenwood. I have never forgot hearing the song as I saw the jet soaring straight up in to the sky.  It just made me so proud to be an American.

Since then I have seen many videos using Lee Greenwood's music but this one just touched my heart.  It is a tribute to the American GI and ends with. "Only two defining forces have ever offered to die for you Jesus Christ and the American GI.  One died for your soul, the other died for your freedom."

When we went to the Air Races our son was just a little guy.  I had NO IDEA at the time that he would go on to join the Army and serve two tours of Iraq. I'm one of the lucky ones as he came home and is now a college student.

Please pray for our men and women who stand in harms way to protect us as.  Freedom is not FREE!!

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If you are buying or relocating to Spring Texas or Tomball TXand need help from a professional REALTOR®, Marchel can be reached at Marchel@AgentwithResults.com or by phone at 832-721-8332.

If you would like information about Spring-Tomball TX please visit my websites at www.AgentwithResults.com and at www.ResultsRealtytx.com. The AgentwithResults site is rich in Content about Spring and the surrounding areas of Tomball, The Woodlands and Magnolia. If you prefer pictures with your content then visit my ResultsRealtyTX site.

Want to find out about new Spring-Tomball TX properties immediately as they come on the market, then click here to sign up for a free automatic notification of new listings.

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Copyright © 2010 Marchel Peterson, All Rights Reserved. *I'm Proud to be an American - A tribute to the American GI!!* 

Last year was my first time to attend the Memorial Celebration that is held at Houston National Cemetery.  Last year was also one of the most meaningful Memorial Days that I ever remember.  I just wish I had made this a family tradition when my children were small.   I an planning on going again this year with a neighbor as both of our husbands have to work that day.  The pictures below are from last years ceremony.  I'm sure I will have a new batch of pictures after Monday.

The ceremony is a beautiful tribute to our fallen soldiers.  It was somber yet meaningful!  This year Governor Rick Perry will deliver the key note speech.  Governor Perry is a Veteran of the United States Air force.  He served between 1972 to 1977 flying C-130 tactical airlift aircraft in the US, Europe and the Middle East.  The event will also feature a parade of colors and wreaths by numerous local Veterans organizations, ROTC units & Boys & Girls Scout Troops.  There will also be a flyover by the US Coast Guard, a performance of "Taps", a riderless horse procession, a white dove release and a rifle salute. 

This is free to the public and like I said it was the most meaningful Memorial Day I have ever celebrated.  We just lost a local Tomball Marine in Afghanistan and so this is a bit bittersweet.  It makes me realize I'm one of the lucky ones whose son came home safe and sound after two tours of Iraq and is now out of the Army and a college student. 

We have such a debt of gratitude for those who are serving in our Armed forces, those who have served and particularly those who made the ultimate sacrifice.  Freedom is not FREE!!

_________________________________________________________________________________________________

If you are buying or relocating to Spring Texas or Tomball TXand need help from a professional REALTOR®, Marchel can be reached at Marchel@AgentwithResults.com or by phone at 832-721-8332.

If you would like information about Spring-Tomball TX please visit my websites at www.AgentwithResults.com and at www.ResultsRealtytx.com. The AgentwithResults site is rich in Content about Spring and the surrounding areas of Tomball, The Woodlands and Magnolia. If you prefer pictures with your content then visit my ResultsRealtyTX site.

Want to find out about new Spring-Tomball TX properties immediately as they come on the market, then click here to sign up for a free automatic notification of new listings.

Click the button to the left to search our local MLS.

Subcribe in a reader

Copyright © 2010 Marchel Peterson, All Rights Reserved.*Houston National Cemetery- Memorial Celebration - plan to attend!!!!*

Yesterday when I attended my monthly meeting of the Tomball Business and Professional Women I found out that a young Tomball marine had been killed by an improvised explosive device while on tour in Afghanistan.  They mentioned that a motorcade would be bringing his body to Klein Funeral home that afternoon.  As I was driving home I saw everyone lined up so parked my car and with my flip mino in one hand and a flag I carry in my trunk in the other hand I waited to pay my respects.

A marine helicopter followed the hearse as it traveled from David Hook's airport down Main street to Klein Funeral Home.  The video I shot is a bit long at 7 minutes but I could not bring myself to cut any of it.  There was a 100 car/motorcycle motorcade with people lined on both sides of the street waving flags saying their goodbye to our fallen Tomball hero.

As many of you know our son just got out of the Army this last June.  He did two tours of Iraq and this is something that is always in the back of your mind.  I feel so sorry for this family.  Cpl. Jeffrey Johnson was just 21 years old and left a wife, father, mother, stepmother and three siblings.  Please keep this family in your prayers as well as all our brave soldiers who serve to protect us.  Freedom is not free and Jeffrey made the ultimate sacrifice.

To see a full story by one of our local news stations please click here.

The first thing I did when I got back in my car was to call our son; because I could.

It is hard for out troops being away from friends and family during the holiday season.  This makes it an ideal time to send them a flat rate package. Last year at this time our son was in the middle of his second tour of Iraq and he loved getting goodies from home.  With him doing two tours I learned the ins and outs of sending him flat rate packages. On our son's first tour he was based at a town called Hit just northwest of Ramadi; the base was so small they really didn't even have a PX to speak of.  For 6 months of his tour he was on the graveyard shift so if we didn't send food he was pretty much stuck eating MRE's.  Needless to say I became an expert at sending care packages so I am going to pass my knowledge forward as I know there are many other soldiers like him who would love some extra care packages.   

If you don't know a soldier but  would like to help a soldier you can adopt a soldier through Soldiers Angels. You adopt them for the duration of their tour though, it is not just a one time thing. Our son told me there are a lot of soldiers that are alienated from families for one reason or another and don't receive much.  Soldier's Angels sounds like the remedy for that problem. 

You must mail your package to a particular soldier. You cannot send a package without a soldier's name or it will be just discarded.  Another way to find a soldier is to ask friends and family if they know anyone.  You will be amazed at how many people know of someone that has been deployed.

Figuring out how to send these packages was a learning experience. The first time I sent one I arrived at the post office with this big heavy box and spent something like $30 in shipping. I happened upon a really nice postal worker.  He saw I was shipping to an APO in Iraq and turned me on to Flat rate shipping provided by our USPS.  He told me that I could send several of the flat rate boxes for less than it would cost me to send the one big box. 

When I sent him boxes on his first tour there were only two sizes available but there are now four different sizes of flat rate boxes.  The two smaller boxes hold about the same amount but are made totally different. One is long and narrow and the other is short and squatty.  The new larger box holds about 50% more and since I found out about it I have used it exclusively. It cost me $10.95 to ship using this box and I can make it as heavy as I want to.  Normally this flat rate box cost $12.95 but the postal service gives a $2.00 discount when you ship to an APO.  To be quite honest I'm not even sure what the current charge is on the smaller box as I now only use the large one. Any amount of material may be enclosed as long as the box is not modified and the contents fit inside.  .

These boxes are provided to us free from our USPS and you can pick them up at most post offices prior to shipping. The only time I had trouble finding them was the Christmas season as the post office was having problems keeping them in stock. At the same time you pick the flat rate boxes up you will also want to pick up some "Customs Declaration and Dispatch Notices" and some priority mail address labels.  You will need to fill out the Customs Declaration and you are going to need to put in a description of what you are sending.  It says detailed but you can just write things like 6 cans of soup, 2 packages of crackers, candy, 3 cans of tuna etc.  That will suffice for detailed.  You will need to put in a value and I always marked treat as abandoned. You will then need to date and sign the form.  You have to press hard as there are 6 copies to go through. I always filled out an address label also and put it on the box.  I had a postal worker tell me to fill both out just in case the customs declaration came off. 

I am sorry but there are no short cuts to standing in line. YOU CAN NOT USE THE SPEEDY CHECK OUT MACHINE.  My neighbor did that the first time she sent a package to her son and it came back to her because she had not added the customs declaration page. 

The soldiers love getting useful stuff.  Our daughter is a flight attendant for a charter company that moves our troops and she told me that someone sent some marines off with lei's which they proceeded to give to the flight attendants. The thought was nice but I think they would have preferred something that was useful to them. I sent things like soup, tuna, crackers, summer sausage, non-perishable cheese, candy.  You get the idea anything that is non-perishable. At Christmas I always sent homemade cookies and candy to our son.  He isn't that crazy about sweets but he always shared them. You can be assured that if the soldier you are sending to doesn't like what you sent they will pass it on to someone that does. 

So should you hear about someone that is stationed over in Iraq or Afghanistan you now know how to mail them a box of goodies using these wonderful flat rate boxes provided to us by our postal service. 

Amazingly I found these packages typically got to their destination in less than a week. Whether I was sending them to Germany (as that was where our son was first stationed) or Iraq they always arrived. One time I sent the package to his old Germany APO address and the package went back to Fort Hood and then on to Iraq (it took about a month but it arrived safe and sound).  About the only time I did not us the flat rate boxes was when I sent Ramon noodles or the time I sent an air mattress bed as it didn't fit.

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If you are buying or relocating to Spring Texas and need help from a professional REALTOR®, Marchel can be reached at Marchel@AgentwithResults.com or by phone at 832-721-8332. 

If you would like information about Spring TX please visit my websites at www.AgentwithResults.com and at www.ResultsRealtytx.com. The AgentwithResults site is rich in Content about Spring and the surrounding areas of Tomball, The Woodlands and Magnolia.  If you prefer pictures with your content then visit my ResultsRealtyTX site.

Want to find out about new Spring TX properties immediately as they come on the market, then click here to sign up for a free automatic notification of new listings.

Click the button to the left to search our local MLS.

Subcribe in a reader

Copyright © 2009 Marchel Peterson, All Rights Reserved. *How to send flat rate packages to our troops!!*