My Blue Star Banner Day

Blue Star Banner Garden Flag on Amazon

As Veteran's Day approaches, I am reminded of all of our family members, friends, and neighbors who have served our country throughout the history of our country  November 11th is Veteran's Day. This date is a Federal holiday in the United States. A day to honor and thank all of our veterans who have served in the armed forces - some of whom are currently deployed to foreign lands.  

In fact, my oldest son is currently deployed. Between my two sons, this is the fourth deployment. Fortunately, the location he's in is much lower risk that the other countries they've been sent to.  For that reason, I am trying to remain relaxed.  As he recently prepared to deploy, I remembered an incident that happened a year or so ago.

I was driving through a neighborhood of single family homes with my friend. The lawns were nice and the homes were cared for.  Not a thing was out of place. It was a lovely day, our windows were down, and we were enjoying the pretty yards, weather, and each other's company. As we drove past a house, my friend began laughing and pointing.  She laughed so hard that if the doors had been off the Jeep, she might have fallen out.

"Look at all that junk" she hooted and laughed.  She couldn't believe it and had never seen such a sight. How in the heck did they get all that crap in there, she continued.

I looked as I circled the cul-de-sac, on the way to my friend's home.  I saw what she was referring to. It was a HUGE amount of stuff. A two car garage stuffed to the gills. The door was open, and I'm not sure how it was able to open because the boxes and things were stacked to the ceiling in most spots. It was astonishing that they had gotten all of that stuff into that garage.

But I saw it as something entirely different.

"They have someone who is deployed" I said softly, nearly a whisper. I don't think she heard me, as I said it mostly to myself.

The ranch house was a neat as a newly polished silver spoon, the yard manicured to perfection.  And in the middle of the huge expanse of picture window hung a blue star banner. 

I didn't see that stuff as crap being hoarded in a garage. I saw that as someone's life, waiting for it's owner to return to resume life in-country.  Because of the blue star banner, I imagined an older couple, waiting for their adult child to return to safety.

I nearly cried then.  I am choked up and becoming teary with the memory as I write this now.  As we drove past that house, I too had a son deployed to some sandy and dangerous land, a long way from home.  I had just learned about the blue star banners in that same year.  I understood the significance of the belongings being stored in the garage.

The blue star banner has a long history. It is a banner that was designed and patented in 1917 by Army Capt. Robert L. Queisser when his sons were deployed.  This banner and it's red border, white field, and blue star in the middle, became the symbol of parents who had children in active military service. One blue star symbolizes one child in service.  A banner can have up to five blue stars to represent five children in active service.  A blue star banner with a gold star represents a child who was killed or who has died.

While my friend saw a neat, but huge, hoarding situation, I saw a family who was likely lovingly storing the belongings of their child until their safe return.

I hope that you too watch for blue star banners and send thoughts of support and safety to these parents and their children.  

And to our beloved Veterans... I thank you.

Thank You For Your Service Military Greeting Card by ForEverProud
Create card designs on Zazzle

**If you are interested in helping a service person by fostering their dog during assignments and deployments, check out my post about a wonderful organization that helps civilians foster dogs so their military owners don't have to relinquish ownership.  No dog should be without a home because it's owner is being deployed.**

Written by Dawn Rae 
Disclaimer: In affiliation with Zazzle and Amazon.com, Dawn Rae is a blogger and content 
writer who may earn compensation from the sale of Zazzle or Amazon products. 

No Dog with a Loving Family Should Have to be Relinquished to the Animal Shelter

As a child, I brought home every stray animal I crossed paths with. I was about 7 years old when I was feeding that big stray cat that came around.  Even when he bit my thumb and hung on for dear life  as I tried to make him let go, and even after the drama of trying to find out whether or not I would need rabies injections, I couldn't be dissuaded.

I continued to bring animals home and add members to our family.

Alaskan Malamute Portrait by Lynn M Stone

As a pre-teen, I found a large, angry Malamute dog in the neighborhood where my friends lived.  He
had clearly been abused or neglected. And would growl and snap at any adults who approached. If you imagine a cross between a junkyard dog and a wolf, you would be close to what he appeared to be.  I begged my mom to let me have him.  Fortunately, my mom was a bit, um, impulsive.  Despite his clear aggression toward adults, she told me that if I could get him into the hatchback of our small Vega station wagon, I could bring him home.  I did and she kept her promise.

As a parent, I'm not sure I would have done the same. I would have given more than a second thought to putting an angry dog in my car and driving miles down the road.  My child in the back of the steel and glass trap with this unknown beast. That scenario could have turned out badly.

I'm glad she was a bit unpredictable like that.  And I'm really glad that he didn't bite my face off as we drove those miles home. King turned out to be the best dog we had for many years and lived his life into old age with us.  He was never aggressive with any of our family members; adult or child but he was the best guard dog a farm family could ask for.

As an adult, I have limited the number of pets in my home. My focus was on raising my children.  I've also lived in limited space with limited finances.  Even so, I daydream about the day that I can continue to give animals in need a loving and safe home.

Friendship

My children grew up and opened my eyes  to some of the difficulties of life in the armed forces.  I watched as our soldiers gave up their cars, their personal items, and worst of all, their pets, due to relocation and deployments.  The ongoing daydream I had about stray animals began to shift.  I began to dream of the day that I could own a kennel of sorts. A place to keep family pets while their people were deployed.  I kept thinking, "some day, I can do something to help."

Imagine my surprise and excitement when I recently found a way I can help now!  The opportunity comes through an organization called Dogs on Deployment.  I immediately signed up.

People register on the site to "foster" pets in the short term, while the service persons are sent to trainings, have to relocate, or are deployed. Service persons can list their pets that will soon need temporary homes. I won't rehash all of the information on the site, because there is so much information there, But I encourage you to register and have a look around. 


If you need proof that a program like this is important or you think that dogs aren't happy when their family members return, watch this.

I am limited with the size and breed of pets that I can foster due to living in an apartment.  But I have signed up. And I look forward to having a visitor while the owner is deployed.  It is the very least I can do for our service people who don't want to relinquish their pets to the shelters while they are serving our country.


written by Dawn Rae
Disclosure: In affiliation with AllPosters.com, Dawn Rae is a blogger and content writer who may earn compensation from the sale of Allposters products.


Don't forget to stop by Ruth's PAWSit Blog Hop today for more dog related blog posts!