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NASHVILLE, Tenn., Oct. 4 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The Grand Ole Opry, the U.S. Postal Service, and the U.S. Department of Defense's program "America Supports You" are teaming up to launch on Oct. 6 what is being billed as the "World's Largest Care Package."
Country music fans and top country artists, with the help of some of America's most recognized corporate brands, will show support for America's military overseas by contributing to the packages, which will be shipped by Veterans Day, Nov. 11, to arrive in time for Thanksgiving.
"Never before have so many people from all walks of life, including country music fans, U.S. Postal Service workers, platinum-selling music artists, and others come together to send packages to our troops overseas," said Pete Fisher, Opry vice president and general manager. "We hope that by including this project as part of our 82nd birthday activities throughout October, we can give something tangible back to those who defend our freedoms abroad every day. We're excited to give those who visit us the opportunity to participate in this endeavor."
The Postal Service is providing 1,000 Priority Mail Flat-Rate boxes for the troops, which will be sent to U.S. military bases around the world. Included in the packages will be letters written by fans visiting the Opry House throughout October, gifts from artists, greeting cards from Hallmark, GI Roses gift certificates --- which allow overseas military personnel to send a dozen roses to loved ones back home --- and country music CDs from Cracker Barrel Old Country Store. The Postal Service created the special boxes, which feature Grand Ole Opry and "America Supports You" logos. "Mail is a great morale-booster for our troops," said Postal Service Vice President of Public Affairs and Communications Joanne Giordano. "We're proud to be part of an effort to connect our brave men and women in uniform with their friends and families back home."
The giant package will be unveiled onstage at the Opry House during the evening's first performance. Funds for postage to ship the packages overseas were raised by the Opry through an online auction.
Items will be packaged by Tennessee Marine Family, an "America Supports You" group, whose founder is the mother of a Marine who has served three tours in Iraq.
"The partnership between the Grand Ole Opry, one of our earliest supporters, and the U.S. Postal Service, is an excellent example of how organizations can come together through the 'America Supports You' program," said Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense Allison Barber. "We're grateful to the companies for the gifts. We know the cards, gift certificates and CDs will make Thanksgiving a little easier for our troops serving away from home. The way all these organizations have come together, I believe, is truly representative of the support of our nation for our military family, and we're grateful for their generosity."
The Grand Ole Opry is presented by Cracker Barrel Old Country Store. Opry performances are held every weekend of the year, and the "Tuesday Night Opry" continues through Dec. 18. To plan an Opry visit, call 800-SEE-OPRY or log on to opry.com. Opry performances can be seen and heard each week on the American Forces Network.
About the Grand Ole Opry
The Grand Ole Opry presents the best in country music live every week from Nashville, TN. A uniquely American experience for more than 80 years, the Opry can be heard on 650 WSM-AM, wsmonline.com and www.opry.com. The syndicated weekly program, "America's Grand Ole Opry Weekend," airs on more than 200 country radio stations across the country and on the Armed Forces Radio Network, and "Opry Live" airs each weekend on Great American Country. The Opry will debut on XM Satellite Radio on Oct. 20. The Grand Ole Opry is owned by Gaylord Entertainment (NYSE:GET) , a Nashville-based hospitality and entertainment company that also owns and operates Gaylord Hotels. For more information, visit http://www.opry.com/ or http://www.gaylordentertainment.com/.
About the U.S. Postal Service
An independent federal agency, the U.S. Postal Service is the only delivery service that visits every address in the nation, 146 million homes and businesses, six days a week. It has 37,000 retail locations and relies on the sale of postage, products and services to cover its operating expenses, not tax dollars. The Postal Service has annual revenues of $75 billion and delivers nearly half the world's mail. For more information, visit http://usps.com/.
About "America Supports You"
"America Supports You" is an ongoing, nationwide program organized by the Department of Defense to showcase Americans' support for the men and women of the armed forces and their families. Since its launch in November of 2004, "America Supports You" has welcomed nearly 300 home-front organizations and more than 35 corporations to the program. Many "America Supports You" home-front groups demonstrate their support for the troops through letter-writing, care packages, helping the wounded when they return home, assisting military families, sending e-mail, or making a kind gesture. To learn more about how you can support military personnel, please visit http://www.americasupportsyou.mil/.
Source: U.S. Postal Service
Web Site: http://www.americasupportsyou.mil/
http://www.gaylordentertainment.com/
http://www.opry.com/
http://www.usps.com/
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A Salute to Our Nation's Heroes - Veteran's Day honors the courage and patriotism of all men and women who have served in the United States armed forces. In 1919, President Woodrow Wilson proclaimed November 11, Armistice Day; it became a national holiday in 1938. Congress changed the name to Veteran's Day in 1954 and President Dwight D. Eisenhower signed the bill into law, "to honor veterans . . . a day dedicated to world peace."
11/11/11 Tradition - In 1921, an unknown World War I American soldier was buried in Arlington National Cemetery, the nation's highest place of honor. These memorial services took place on November 11, which was the anniversary of World War I's end, and were observed at 11:00 a.m - the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month.
Tomb of the Unknown Soldier - the focus of the nation's tribute to veterans centers around this monument at Arlington National Cemetery, outside Washington, D.C., where thousands of service personnel are buried. An Army honor guard, the 3rd U.S. Infantry (The Old Guard), keeps day and night vigil. At 11 a.m. on November 11, a combined color guard representing all military services executes "Present Arms" at the tomb, and the nation's tribute to its war slain is symbolized by the laying of a presidential wreath and the playing of "Taps"by a bugler. The rest of the ceremony takes place in the amphitheater. On Memorial Day in 1958, the bodies of two othe unknown soldiers who had died in World War I and the Korean War were buried in the tomb. In 1999, the Pentagon announced that no new remains would be placed there because of technological advances like DNA testing made identification of unknown soldiers easy. The inscription carved on the monument reads; "Here rests in honored glory, an American soldier, known but to God."
1968 legislation changed the national commeration to the fourth Monday in October; however, because of the historical significance to Americans, Congress returned the observance date to November 11 in 1978.
Throughout the country, observances are held in the form of prayer services, rallies, parades, patriotic speeches, assemblies, and grave-side flag displays. Veterans Day ceremonies at Arlington and nationwide are coordinated by the President's Veterans Day National Committee. Chaired by the Secretary of Veterans Affairs, the committee represents national veterans organizations.
There are many U.S. veteran organizations chartered by the Congress, including the American Legion, Veterans of Foreign Wars, and Disabled American Veterans. Their primary purpose is to aid veterans and their families in time of need and to support patriotic and moral values through special schools, hospitals, and civic programs. They focus on protecting the rights of veterans by providing medical care and preserving the memories of those who have been in the armed forces.
Arlington National Cemetery - occupies 612 acres in Virginia on the Potomac River, directly opposite Washington. This land was orignially part of the estate of Martha Washington's son. In 1864, it became a military cemetery; more than 240,000 service members and their dependents are buried there. Expansion began in 1966 with the use of a 180-acre tract of land east. Famous and distinguished people buried there include presidents Taft and Kennedy, supreme court justices like Earl Warren and Thurgood Marshall, explorer Robert Peary, civil rights leader Medgar Evers, and 3,800 Civil War "contrabands," (fugitive liberated slaves).
Department of Veterans Affairs National Cemeteries - the National Cemetery Administration maintains 119 national cemeteries in 39 states (and Puerto Rico), as well as 33 soldier's lots and monument sites. This listing is in alphabetic order by state.
*Veterans Administration estimate. Source: Department of Defense and Veterans Administration, May 2001.
American Revolution (1775-1783); 4,435 battle deaths
War of 1812 (1812-1815); 2,260 battle deaths
Indian Wars (1817-1898); 1,000 battle deaths
Mexican War (1846-1848); 1,733 battle deaths; 11,550 other service deaths
Civil War (1861-1865); 140,414 battle deaths (Union); 224,097 other service deaths (Union); 74,524 battle deaths (Confed.); 59,297 other service deaths (Confed.)
Spanish-American War (1898-1902); 385 battle deaths
World War I (1917-1918); 53,402 battle deaths; 63,114 other service deaths; 2,503 living veterans
World War II (1940-1945); 291,557 battle deaths; 113,842 other service deaths; 5,451,378 living veterans
Korean War (1950-1953); 33,686 battle deaths; 20,560 other service deaths; 3,913,749 living veterans
Vietnam War (1964-1975); 47,410 battle deaths; 42,788 other service deaths; 8,300,106 living veterans
Gulf War (1990-1991); 148 battle deaths; 1,149 other service deaths; 1,753,530 living veterans
Americas' War Total
Military service during war 42,348,460
Battle deaths 650,954
Other deaths in service 243,514
Nonmortal woundings 1,431,290
Living war veterans 19,421,266
Living veterans 25,497,691
My country 'tis of thee,
Sweet land of liberty,
Of thee I sing.
Land where my father's died,
Land of the Pilgrim's pride,
From ev'ry mountainside
Let freedom ring."
My native country, thee,
Land of the noble free,
Thy name I love.
I love thy rocks and rills,
Thy woods and templed hills;
My heart with rapture thrills
Like that above.
Our fathers' God, to Thee,
Author of Liberty,
To thee we sing,
Long may our land be bright
With freedom's holy light;
Protect us by Thy might,
Great God, our King!
O beautiful for spacious skies
For amber waves of grain,
For purple mountain majesties
Above thy fruited plain!
America! America!
God shed his grace on thee
And crown thy good with brotherhood
From sea to shining sea!
O beautiful for pilgrim feet,
Whose stern, impassioned stress
A thoroughfare for freedom beat
Across the wilderness!
America! America!
God mend thine every flaw,
Confirm they soul in self control,
Thy liberty in law!
O beautiful for heroes proved
In liberating strife,
Who more than self their country loved,
And mercy more than life!
America! America!
May God thy gold refine
Till all success be nobleness
And every gain divine!
O beautiful for patriotic dream
That sees beyond the years
Thine alabaster cities gleam
Undimmed by human tears!
America! America!
God shed his grace on thee
And crown they good with brotherhood
From sea to shining sea!
Aunt Sue has a head full of stories.
AuntSue has a whole heart full of stories.
Summer nights on the front porch
Aunt Sue cuddles a brown-faced child to her bosom
And tells him stories.
Black slaves
Working in the hot sun,
And black slaves
Walking in the dewy night,
And black slaves
Singing sorrow songs on the banks of a mighty river
Mingle themselves softly
In the flow of old Aunt Sue's voice,
Mingle themselves softly
In the dark shadows that cross and recross
Aunt Sue's stories.
And the dark-faced child, listening,
Knows that Aunt Sue's stories are real stories,
He knows that Aunt Sue nevergot her stories
Out of any book at all,
But that they came
Right out of her own life.
The dark-faced child is quiet
Of a summer night
Listening to Aunt Sue's stories.
Mine eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the Lord;
He is trampling out the vintage where the grapes of wrath are stored;
He hath loosed the fateful lightning of his terrible swift sword:
His truth is marching on.
I have seen him in the watch-fires of a hundred circling camps;
They have builded him an altar in the evening dews and damps;
I can read his righteous sentence by the dim and flaring lamps;
His day is marching on.
I have read a fiery gospel, writ in burnished rows of steel:
"As ye deal with my contemners, so with you my grace shall deal;
Let the Hero, born of woman, crush the serpent with his heel,
Since God is marching on."
He has sounded forth the trumpet that shall never call retreat;
He is sifting out the hearts of men before his judgment-seat;
Oh, be swift, my soul, to answer him! be jubilant, my feet!
Our God is marching on.
In the beauty of the lilies Christ was born across the sea,
With a glory in his bosom that transfigures you and me:
As he died to make men holy, let us die to make men free,
While God is marching on.
Four score and seven years ago, our fathers brought forth upon this continent a new nation: conceived in liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal.
Now we are engaged in a great civil war. . .testing whether that nation, or any nation so conceived and so dedicated. . . can long endure. We are met on a great battlefield of that war.
We have come to dedicate a portion of that field as a final resting place for those who here gave their lives that this nation might live. It is altogether fitting and proper that we should do this.
But, in a larger sense, we cannot dedicate. . .we cannot consecrate. . . we cannot hallow this ground. The brave men, living and dead, who struggled here have consecrated it, far above our poor power to add or detract. The world will little note, nor long remember, what we say here, but it can never forget what they did here.
It is for us the living, rather, to be dedicated here to the unfinished work which they who fought here have thus far so nobly advanced. It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us. . .that from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion. . . that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain. . . that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom. . . and that government of the people. . .by the people. . .for the people. . . shall not perish from this earth.
I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all."
O say, can you see, by the dawn's early light,
What so proudly we hailed at the twilight's last gleaming?
Whose broad stripes and bright stars, through the perilous fight,
O'er the ramparts we watched, were so gallantly streaming!
And the rockets' red glare, the bombs bursting in air,
Gave proof through the night that our flag was still there:
O say, does that star-spangled banner yet wave
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave?
On the shore, dimly seen through the mists of the deep,
Where the foe's haughty host in dread siloence reposes,
What is that which the breeze, o'er the towering steep,
As it fitfully blows, now conceals, now discloses?
Now it catches the gleam of the morning's first beam,
In full glory reflected now shines on the stream:
'Tis the star-spangled banner! O long may it wave
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave!
And where is that band who so vauntingly swore
That the havoc of war and the battle's confusion
A home and a country should leave us no more?
Their blood has washed out their foul footsteps' pollution.
No refuge could save the hireling and slave
From the terror of flight, or the gloom of the grave: And the star-spangled banner in triumph doth wave
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave!
Oh! thus be it ever, when freemen shall stand
Between their loved homes and the war's desolation!
Blest with victory and peace, may the heaven-rescued land
Praise the Power that hath made and preserved us a nation.
Then conquer we must, for our cause it is just,
And this be our motto:"In God is our trust."
And the star-spangled banner in triumph shall wave
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave!
South Carolina secedes from Union, December 20
WASHINGTON, Oct. 12 /U.S. Newswire/ -- U.S. Secretary of Labor Elaine L. Chao today invited employers and hiring executives from across the country to participate in the first-ever National Veterans Employment Summit to be held Nov. 9 at the Scope Arena in Norfolk, Va.
"Today's veterans are talented, disciplined, results-oriented and skilled workers ready to reconnect with America's civilian workforce," said Chao. "They were there for us. Now it's our turn to be there for them. Matching veterans with employers looking for highly skilled and accomplished workers is a win-win for everyone."
The one-day summit will team senior hiring personnel from businesses across the nation with senior government officials to examine recruitment, retention and leadership strategies for employers to take advantage of veterans' skills in the workforce. The summit will be held from 8:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. and attendance is free. Employers and human resource personnel wishing to attend the summit can register at http://www.hirevetsfirst.gov/summit.
Veterans and transitioning service members are encouraged to register and attend the HireVetsFirst Job Fair, which will be held in conjunction with the summit. The job fair will run from noon to 4 p.m., with registration and pre-fair resume assistance available online at http://www.hirevetsfirst.gov/jobfair.
Some 65 companies are expected to have recruiting booths at the job fair.
Both events will be held in the Norfolk Scope Arena, 201 E. Brambleton Ave. in Norfolk.
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U.S. Labor Department (DOL) releases are accessible on the Internet at http://www.dol.gov. The information in this news release will be made available in alternate format upon request (large print, Braille, audio tape or disc) from the COAST office. Please specify which news release when placing the request. Call 202-693-7765 or 202-693-7755 (TTY). DOL is committed to providing America's employers and employees with easy access to understandable information on how to comply with its laws and regulations. For more information, please visit http://www.dol.gov/compliance.
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http://www.usnewswire.com/
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