Last week I mentioned that occasional
correspondent FbL had told me about a project she knew of -
one designed to get low-cost laptops and voice-activated software solutions to
soldiers injured in the Global War on Terror. As a way to keep them connected.
Just like you and I are. Right now.
First, the
good
news: They've settled on a name: ValourIT - Voice-activated Laptops for OUR
Injured Troops
Finally, the
really great
news: You're a part
of the business. Oh, just a small part of the business really. You
didn't have to leave all that you loved to go far away to a distant land in the
service of your country. You didn't have to come home, having left important
parts of yourself behind in that service. You don't face long months and years
of agonizing recovery trying to become the best you'll ever be again. Which very
sad indeed to say, is likely not as good as once it was and you only a young
person with an otherwise bright future in front of you, and all of this because
you were strong and free and yet you still decided to leave the comforts of home
behind, and stand for all the rest of us in a place where death and cruel
maiming sneaks up like a thief in the black of the night, with the inexplicable
randomness of a roadside bomb or sniper's bullet. You don't have to wonder at
how a person could go from being the pride of American youth to being someone
who could use a voice-activated way to gain access to the rest of the world, if
only they had the chance.
No, your
job's easy. You hit the link, and do what you can because you're
grateful that we have young men and women like this. You maybe also download the
Public
Release flyer here , and put it around your place of work if that's not too much to ask.
To spread the word. And let other people
help.
Because in spite of the fact
that the folks from Soldier's Angels have done their bit and gotten some truly
great deals from industry, there's still a great deal of money that must be
raised to make this happen. And in fact, the
Army has stolen a march on us naval folks, once again, the rogues that
they are, with their cammies and face paint. So I'm talking to you, and you, and you, and you, and you, and
you, and you
(because Marines have the advantage of being naval infantry, which some would
say is the best of both worlds). Do what you can: Put the word out, give if ever
you might, and for heaven's sake Beat Army just this one more
time.
Eleven of you have been generous to me over the
course of the last year or so, or one of you has been generous eleven times, or
something in between. But I'm giving half of that back up (the rest is spent,
alas), and encouraging you to do what you can, because you are all empathetic
readers who know what it might mean to those who stand to gain just a little bit
back from what has been taken so unkindly
away.
Not because we feel sorry for
them. But because we are grateful to them. And because they deserve
it.
You that have spent any time
about this place, you that know me: You know that I am not the type to flog away
at readership for every cause that sneaks in over the transom. We have spent
some pleasant moments together over the last cuppla, and I have done for you
what I could in my own small way. I have not asked for much.
I'm asking for this: Do what you
can.
Do
it.
And tell them it was from the
Navy.
Posted @
08:42 PM
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Posted in
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Sendit
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Credo
"Sign on, young man, and sail with me. The stature of our homeland is no more than the measure of ourselves. Our job is to keep her free. Our will is to keep the torch of freedom burning for all. To this solemn purpose we call on the young, the brave, the strong, and the free. Heed my call, Come to the sea. Come Sail with me." - John Paul Jones
"Pardon him, Theodotus; he is a barbarian, and thinks that the customs of his tribe and island are the laws of nature" --George Bernard Shaw, "Ceasar and Cleopatra"
"And those who were seen dancing were thought to be insane by those who could not hear the music."--Friederich Nietzsche
