Best Christmas Gifts for Deployed Military

Ever wonder what a deployed military person might want or need?

It's Christmastime, so let's take a look at some practical gifts first.

Top Practical Gifts for Military
Hand sanitizer.
Name brand, solid, comfortable sunglasses.
A bulletproof, well-built pen.
Bags and backpacks that are very durable.
Tough, indestructible small, bright, reliable flashlight.
Top of the line, portable multi-tool.
Memory foam pillow, made to be carried, lightweight, comfortable.
Fingerless gloves.
Cotton socks and/or underwear.
Snacks, hot chocolate packs, gum, energy bars, non-perishable jerky, etc.
*Note that all products above are called to be very, very durable to withstand the hard life of a military

Other gift ideas for deployed military
Headphones, earphones, noise-cancelling.
Bluetooth, water-proof speaker.
Tablet, complete with amazon prime, hulu, netflix, and anything else you can stuff on it.

There are thousands of organizations that claim they help veterans and send care packages. However, we have come up with two that we have seen that they actually get care packages to troops. We are not knocking others, but we have chosen only two that we have found have good reputations. We are confident that if you give to either of these, it will get to our troops.

Operation Care and Comfort: https://www.occ-usa.org/

Operation Gratitude: https://www.operationgratitude.com/

Hank Gowdy, Baseball and Army Veteran

Hank Gowdy was a darn good baseball player in 1914. He was catcher with these "Miracle" Boston Braves. They beat the highly favorite Philadelphia Athletics led by Connie Mack. Hank batted a hefty .515 in this World Series, as well as hitting the only homerun. During this so-called "dead ball" era, the role of catcher was quite difficult. Bunts and stolen base attempts were very common. Gowdy twice led the leagues in putting base stealers out. Pitchers made the catcher's job even more difficult, as doctoring the ball was legal and prevalent.

But we think his best claim to fame is the fact that he was the first Major Leaguer to enlist for World War I. He enlisted in 1917 and saw considerable combat. He returned to baseball in 1919 at his old position.

Hank Gowdy spent time with both the Braves and Giants, totaling 17 years in the Majors.

Of course that's not all. Mr. Gowdy, at the age of 53, enlisted into World War II. He was promoted to major. Serving at Fort Benning, near Columbus, Georgia, the baseball field was renamed Gowdy Field.

So, Hank Gowdy is the only Big Leaguer to serve in both World Wars.

Gowdy's talent as catcher and longevity, could be grounds for The Hall of Fame. But of course not putting up sensational offensive numbers have hurt his cause. Even though he was great defensively.

He actually broke a Hall of Fame custom. Players are only supposed to get 15 chances, but he received votes in 17 years.

He does hold that record. The most times on a ballot, and never being voted in.

Perhaps the Veteran's Committee should be retooled, somewhat.

17 years in the Big Leagues, .270 hitter.

>>Hank Gowdy stats on Baseball Reference

>>Baseball and Steroids

Joe Arpaio? Obama commuted the sentences of a terrorist and a leaker of classified files

So, much is being said in the media about President Trump's pardon of Joe Arpaio. The news media and certain political leaders, seem to have a very short memory.

The photo on the left shows Obama after he paid for the ransom of an Army deserter. Where was the news media?

Remember Bradley Manning? He had a sex change operation paid for by taxpayers. He changed his name to Chelsea Manning. This fool was an Army intelligence analyst. And he gave classified material to wikileaks. He was convicted of various espionage charges, and sentenced to 35 years in prison.

Along comes President Obama, and commutes his, er....her sentence and she is released.

Nobody on the left cared much about that, did they?

Ever hear of Oscar Lopez Rivera? He was a convicted terrorist from Peurto Rico. His organization did over 130 bombings. He was released from his 55 year sentence. Yes, a convicted terrorist.

Obama also released hundreds of Gitmo prisoners. Half of the ones he released have returned to their terrorist ways.

Where was the news media when President Obama was disrespecting military members? Where was the news media when Obama was setting free terrorists and secret leakers?

Obama set records for monthly pardons. He pardoned more people than anyone since Harry Truman.

Literally hundreds of convicted felons have been released and pardoned by Obama.

Nobody seems to care.

And yet, Donald Trump pardons one person and the news media goes ape.

Arpaio was convicted of a  misdemeanor. Yes, a misdemeanor.

All Veterans Can Shop Online at Military Exchanges

There is a brand new benefit starting up for all, yes, ALL, honorable discharged veterans. Starting November 11, 2017, they will all be eligible to shop online at military exchanges.

One huge benefit of this is that it is essentially tax-free shopping.

If they can offer free shipping and store-pickup, it could be a way to compete with amazon, and help our vets with a small, but generous perk.


However, you should also know that this is only online. If you are not now eligible to shop in person, you still cannot do that.

You can probably immediately verify your eligibility online at https://www.vetverify.org/ If you are a rather recent armed forces member, you might not be in that system yet.

There are four online exchanges you will be able to shop at:

https://www.mynavyexchange.com/

 http://www.mymcx.com/

https://shopcgx.com/

http://www.shopmyexchange.com/

We hope this little benefit will be useful and helpful to our veterans and their families.

Forgotten? Pearl Harbor

December 7, 1941, is a day that will live infamy. Sadly, the day is being quickly forgotten. Have you heard anything today about it? Probably not. Wedged between Thanksgiving and Christmas, most people are thinking about other things. But this day changed the world.

In 1994, Congress made this day National Pearl Harbor Remembrance Day.

Many veterans of World War II are dying. Soon, only a handful will be left. The Greatest Generation will soon be gone. We can only hope that as Donald Trump takes office, that America will make up some ground that was lost over the past eight years. We have made the world less safe.

But our men and women in the 1940's, defeated world powers of evil and made this country a true world leader.

2,403 Americans lost their life in this attack.

The USS Arizona was left underwater. Alone, 1,777 crew members were among the casualties.

The USS Oklahoma lost 429 men.

USS Utah lost 58.

Did those lives die in vain? Think about this. The very next day, The United States declared war on Japan and became part of World War II. Without the United States entering the war, where would we be today?

This wartime era of America, and the some of the world, became life with sacrifice, willingness, strength, and courage to defeat evil. Perhaps this was the last time this will ever happen.

We salute The Greatest Generation.