1. When you see a person in a military uniform, shake their hand and say, “Thank you for serving our country.”

Find out what time it is any place in the world.

Answer from the USPS about sending mail to the troops.

Send a book to a soldier.

Maps and list of facilities in Iraq.

The current list of causalties in Iraq.

Send a card to a wounded soldier:
Wounded Soldier
Red Cross - Walter Reed Army Medical Center
6900 Georgia Avenue NW - Heaton Pavillion - 3EO5
Washington, DC 20307

or send a card to a soldier through the Let's Say Thanks program www.letssaythanks.com.

more resources . . .

2. Allow plenty of time for packages to arrive for holidays.

3. Invest in a detailed map of the Middle East so you hear news reports, you'll be able to identify the exact location of activity.

4. Keep a list of discussion topics near the phone so when your loved one calls at 4 am, you won't waste time collecting your thoughts.

5. You can live on "Iraqi time" with the click of a computer mouse. Go to worldtimeserver.com.

6. Make sure you have as much communication technology as you can afford. The more often you communicate, the better you will both feel.

7. The Red Cross will help you make arrangements for your soldier to come home for certain emergencies, such as a death in the family.

8. Find a support group of other people with deployed loved ones. If you can't find a support group, start one.

For more tips, click here to read "20 Practical Ways You Can Support the Troops in Iraq and Elsewhere"

Dr. Laura knows what its like to have a son in harm's way, her son is in the Middle East. She know how tough it is, but she also know she has to be strong for her son. She commented to Bill O'Reilly, "...when you're the warrior's wife or the warrior's mom, as I am, because my son's deployed in combat in the Middle East, you can bitch and whine and moan to each other — but never to the warrior, because that distracts them. It demoralizes them, and that puts them more in harm's way."

I visited your website and truly enjoyed everything you've posted. It is evident that with you having the experience of a child being deployed, you have a heart for helping others through those hard times. That is wonderful! Unfortunately, the military doesn't do a very good job of educating us family members and we are forced to learn the hard way -- through experiencing it.

I am the wife of an Army SSG, who is currently deployed to Iraq for 15 months (only 10 more to go! *sigh*). Sometimes you start to wonder if you'll even survive to see that day come. With that being the highlight of my biggest dreams, it is the only hope I have, so yes, I try to keep my head up and know that the day will be here before I know it. We have 3 children (16, 12 and 5), so I never find myself bored, with nothing to do! It's go, go, go all of the time, which can be a real blessing!

Part of the reason for my e-mail is to ask you to consider adding a link on your website, that leads readers to a free, downloadable E-book entitled "101 Ways to Support Our Troops". I have downloaded it myself and feel that it is on the mark with creative ideas for people to take on. I also feel that it would benefit those out there who want to do something, but just don't know WHAT they can do to make a difference. I too, thought that it had lots of great ideas that many people probably have never thought of. It certainly clears up any misconceptions on what it takes for people to show their support. It doesn't take much....sometimes, it's just showing that you care and as you said, acknowledging the sacrifices that are being made for the freedoms we all enjoy. With it containing 101 ways, they are sure to find something they can do!

Sometimes it's hard for people to put themselves in your place, especially when they've never had a loved one go to war, so I believe the more they know from those who have actually been there, it's all the better. Your book is also a wonderful example of that. I am going to share your website and book with everyone in my FRG, as well as other parents/family members of soldiers I am in contact with. We have a MyFamily website for our members and share lots of helpful information with eachother, which really helps. Some of these parents are so very worried and grab on to any piece of news or information they can get their hands on. Us wives, seem to "be in the loop" a little more than the parents of single soldiers.

Thanks for listening and God bless you for all you're doing! You are truly making a difference!

Sincerely,

Dana M. Wonsowski

As I mention in the book, Mom's Field Guide: What You Need to Know to Make it Through Your Loved One's Military Deployment, it is no longer possible to address mail to "any servicemember." It is still possible though to support the troops and their families. Ask your friends and acquaintances. Ask your local churches and community organizations. Ask at your local National Guard Armory. Search online for "support the troops." Or hook up with one of the many organizations I mention in the book. Just a few of these are www.booksforsoldiers.com, www.sgtsmom.com, and more. Each one of these contains links that will lead you on to other support groups. It’s not hard to find a way to contribute once you start to look.

The latest one I’ve run across, and a really easy and simple thing to do is at www.letssaythanks.com. Check it out. You go there and sign a card to send to a soldier. You can do this every day. It costs nothing, but you know you touched a life that might be in need of a kind thought. You choose your card, choose your message or type in one of your own, and an actual postcard is mailed to a soldier--signed by you with your hometown and name on it. It’s easy, it’s free, and it’s supportive. You see how easy this can be?

Don’t forget to ask friends and acquaintances for the names of soldiers and a list of their needs. Get an address and send a package. You will brighten the day of someone who is doing a dangerous, hot, dirty, and often thankless job. And you’ll feel so good about yourself. I can’t even begin to tell you.

Here's a song my youngest son, Scott Boshears wrote about mothers of soldiers--well, okay, about me. I can listen to it now without crying out loud, although I do get a little choked up still. When David came home after his tour of duty in Iraq, we all went to Nashville to watch Scott play on Broadway.

You are more aware than at any other leavetaking that this could be the last time you see your son or daughter alive.

How can you help your child through this ordeal? How will you yourself survive it? Where will you turn for help? The answer is standing beside you, also waving and crying. There is strength in numbers, and you are about to need all the strength you can get. Introduce yourself and get to know your peers. You’ll all need each other in the months to come.

Perhaps you didn’t get to attend your child’s leavetaking ceremony. Perhaps you, like me, were 2,000 miles away. Perhaps your good-byes were said at home a few weeks earlier. You can still find ways to contact the families of other troops deployed with your loved one. Make the effort to reach out to them. You'll be grateful for their friendship in the coming months.

Aside from the all-important question of how your child is going to survive this deployment—literally and figuratively—another issue needs to be addressed: How will you survive it? This may be the greatest ordeal of your life, and you’re going to need some help.

You need information. You need support from the families of other deployed soldiers—those who have been through it before, and those who are going through it with you right now.

There are things you can actually do that will make this year go by relatively quickly and with less stress for you. Working on projects, individually and as a group, writing letters, setting up stations in your home that will make mailing packages easier, making sure your phone/communications system is set up so that you don’t miss any phone calls or e-mails, recruiting your friends and co-workers to help provide needed supplies for your soldier and his buddies, and more . . . things that I will explain in detail how to do that will help you make it through this “year of fear.”

I survived it and so can you. When it’s over, you’ll be stronger for having lived through it. You will know what needs doing, and you’ll do it. In the Army, a mission is a task you’ve been assigned to complete. Your child has a mission and so do you. That mission is the thing that will save your sanity and keep you going.

For this reason, I've written Mom’s Field Guide: What You Need to Know to Make it Through Your Loved One's Military Deployment. Here you will learn all about how to complete your mission safely and with pride.

--Sandy Doell