rapid fire
Retiree Spotlight
Brig. Gen. William Thielemann, USAR (Ret), a MOAA Life Member and chair of HeroBox’s board of directors, helps guide and advance HeroBox’s mission to provide support to servicemembers. HeroBox* began when a servicemember stationed in Iraq noticed not of all his comrades were receiving care packages from home. He came up with the idea to match servicemembers with sponsors to send them the exact supplies they want or need. The nonprofit now sends more than 10,000 such packages annually.
Why did you become involved with HeroBox? Two things impressed me about the organization. One is that the servicemember can get the specific things he or she needs, and the other is ... the sponsor commits to sending a monthly package. There is a one-on-one relationship, so that sponsor can communicate directly with that [servicemember] — which has built some great stories, a lot of morale, and the opportunity for involvement with people [who] might not be directly impacted by what’s going on overseas.
Do servicemembers and sponsors develop friendships? Absolutely. They can develop lasting friendships. As a matter of fact, we’ve had some sponsors that have built such a good rapport with the [servicemember] that they ask if they can support the servicemember’s family as well.
How are recipients and sponsors paired? [Servicemembers] sign up and we verify their email addresses, and we do the same thing with the sponsors. ... [A sponsor] is paired with the next person in the queue. ... The choices a sponsor has are a male or female servicemember, the duration of the boxes — anywhere from one month to the entire year that the [servicemember] is deployed — and whether they want to sponsor a deployed [servicemember] or a wounded [warrior] hospitalized in the States.
How can groups get involved? First of all, we would like them to sponsor a servicemember. Also, ... we can do hero days, so if they’re in an organization that would like to send a group of packages, we can support that.
— Kenya McCullum
Attention!
Check out these military-related entertainment offerings.
BOOK WHISKEY TANGO FOXTROT: THE REAL LANGUAGE OF THE MODERN AMERICAN MILITARY (Skyhorse, 2013) The American military arguably has produced more colorful terms than any other profession. Servicemembers’ words, phrases, and acronyms express everything from raw emotion to complex technology. Author Alan Axelrod looks at the meanings behind the terms.
DVD SOLDIERS OF FORTUNE (Roadside Attractions, 2013) Former Army Capt. Craig McCenzie (Christian Slater) is hired to protect a group of millionaires who want to experience firsthand the kicks and thrills of war. When the mission goes terribly wrong, the men get more than they bargained for.
BOOK ELEVEN DAYS (Knopf, 2013) Author Lea Carpenter explores in her first novel the life choices central to many a servicemember’s career. The story is told through a Navy SEAL’s letters home to his mother and his mother’s reminiscences. MO
*online: Find out more about HeroBox at
www.herobox.org.
30 MILITARY OFFICER SEPTEMBER 2013
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