Panelists: Sandra from SewMuchComfort (http://www.sewmuchcomfort.org), Roxie Merritt from the Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Public Affairs (OASD-PA, http://www.defenselink.mil, http://www.americasupportsyou.mil), Patti Patton-Bader of Soldiers' Angels (http://www.soldiersangels.org, this blog), and MaryAnn Phillips of Soldiers' Angels Germany (http://www.soldiersangelsgermany.org)
Chuck Z's list of the top 11 things to come out of California
11. Coolio
10. Jerry Garcia
9. Sally Ride
8. Jack London
7. Gen. James H. Doolittle
6. President Richard M. Nixon
5. John Steinbeck
4. Gen. George S. Patton, Jr.
3. President Ronald Reagan
2. Sandra (on the panel)
1. Patti Bader (on the panel)
Patti noted that there are more than 150,000 registered adopting Angels. Including the others who work with specific programs, etc., there are about a quarter of a million.
Patti, Sandra, and MaryAnn all noted that what they do comes from donations.
Chuck asked Roxie about the issues at Walter Reed - some of the regs that came out of that have, he said, severely limited the ability of the public to support the heroes there. Volunteers can no longer just show up to visit, and there is no mail to "any soldier" on the ward. Chuck asked Roxie if the OASD(PA) is willing to work with charities like SA and the others to make sure that these agencies can do what they do.
Roxie said that http://www.americasupportsyou.mil was started for just that purpose. The office is also looking at putting up offices, similar to USO stations, to facilitate assistance at some of these places.
Labels: Milblog Conference 2007
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