Some great Support Our Troops ideas!

I was thinking about one of my heroes, Eleanor Roosevelt, and all she did to support the war efforts "in her day". She took a country of housewives, and got them in factories (with federally funded childcare, or course!) She had women saving gas and oil and sparing their tires by walking to the store. Women saved their "waste fat", or cooking fat, to help make explosives. And she had women saving their old nylon pantyhose to help make strong ropes for the deployed troops. I was also thinking about another favorite lady of mine. My granny. My granny, who, at a very young age, left her home in Wisconsin and moved to Akron, Ohio to work at the Goodyear plant, which had been converted into a plant that made airplane wings for military planes. How scary that must have been! This young, extremely shy girl, moving states away to live in a house of other young girls and work in a factory, just because her country needed her to. Well, if she hadn't, I wouldn't be here! That's where she met my grandad, the handsome young ladies man who only had eyes for the shy young thing from Wisconsin!

So, as I was thinking of all these events, and all the ways the entire country helped out, I decided to look up some of those old WWII propaganda posters. gotta love the internet!
I'll share a few that I liked a lot:

{This one is great! If the soldiers can walk and carry their big weapons, I can walk and carry my little ol' groceries!}

{This is obviously nothing more than a good way to get your kids to eat their broccoli. As mom wipes a tear from her eye, she sniffs and sadly says, "Kids, Uncle Bill is fighting for our country, the very least you can do is eat your broccoli!"}

{This is a propaganda poster to urge Americans to get in the factories and help build/manufacture the supplies that the overseas troops need. Now what young 20 year old Miss could resist making bullets for this GI? Sign me up! Oh wait, I have my own strapping young GI. I'll let someone else have this one!}

{I can imagine my granny seeing something similar to this and hearing "the call".}

{War Bonds... War Bonds... War Bonds.... Was this a good idea? Did it work? If it did, why don't we still do it?}

{Because the fear of being known as a communist that spread through this country in the 1940's was so absolute, of course the government exploited it! The last thing you want is for your neighbor to think you're in cahoots with the evil of all evils!}

{Sheesh, first you have your own mom nagging you to walk to school instead of riding the bus, and to save your holy pantyhose, and now you have someone else's mom nagging you not to take a vacation!}

{*Snicker snicker* ~ *Giggle giggle*

I hope this one isn't lost on any of you. It's just too darn good!}

It's so interesting to me how the theme during WWII was "conserve, conserve, conserve!" and the theme for this war is "spend, spend, spend"! I'm sure I'm not the first person to notice that.

One thing I love about having my blog, and knowing that at least one or two people out there are reading it, is that chance for me to spout off about projects that I'm excited about. For instance, the America Supports You website has a great New Year's Resolution idea for everyone in this country. This downloadable calendar for your Outlook, or in .pdf form, has ideas on how you can help the troops all year long! Of course, I'm all for that! I fall into the "my husband is deployed, that's all the help I need to give" attitude way too often when Husband is gone. This is a good way for me to get at least a monthly idea of other stuff I can do. Even us Army and Military wives need to do for others.
This month's idea: got an old computer sitting around? We all know we can't throw electronics in the garbage. So... if it's still got a leg to stand on, why not donate it? Go America Supports You for more information. And download the calendar for monthly ideas on how you can help. (do I sound like a commercial?! i feel like one.)

Another one of those things I like to tell people about is my wristband I wear. Everyone always asks where I get it, and although I bought a few extras to give to some special friends, I didn't buy enough for everyone! So, here's where to get it: Defending Freedom website. And what I like about them is that they are a small military version of United Way where they distribute money as needed to some of my favorite military charities such as the Snowball Express (that took a friend of mine and her girls to Disney the year their daddy was KIA), the Children of Fallen Soldiers Relief Fund, and because sometimes moms & dads come home, but have to stay in the hospital awhile, Fisher House (just to name a few!)

Lastly, have you heard of A Million Thanks yet? If not, click on the website to find out how to send Valentine's to our deployed troops, and be a part of sending them a Million Thanks!

If for some reason, none of those ideas appeal to you, and you still want to do *something*, go to this list on the America Supports You website. So many great ideas, that it may be hard to choose just one. Many are even free, or asking for donations of stuff that you already have around the house.

{This picture only serves the purpose of being for my friend Snowflake, because her husband is a submariner, and she's a raven haired beauty like the one in the picture!}

{And remember, with everyone's help:}

{Couldn't have WWII propaganda posters without Rosie the Riveter!}