Holiday Spirit

Today in my First Year Seminar my classmates and i wrote in Christmas cards to send to soldiers on active duty and/or wounded. It was a pretty simple and quick process of writing a short "thank you, have a happy holiday" sort of message in a Christmas card but it felt much bigger. although letter have been around for a very long time and were one of the first types of communication soldiers could have with their family, they are still used today. They might not be as effective for communicating with loved ones as newer technology but I think a combination of both is the best route, because while its nice to see your loved ones face in real time and be able to communicate face to face when they're so far away, its also nice to have a tangible thing you can hold on to sent by a loved one. Even though the soldiers who will receive our letter don't know us and probably never will I know from my cousins that just receiving mail puts a smile on their faces. Over thanksgiving I talked to my cousins about communication and what they thought about it while they were away. My cousin Dan said that "not getting a letter on mail day was the worst thing about being away. Any kind of mail was better than none at all." With that in mind, sending letters to the soldiers currently serving felt really good and that's why when I saw this commercial on television the other day I knew I had to incorporate it into my blog. This commercial is a Hallmark advertizement introducing their new recordable book. In the commercial a soldier overseas receives a book that contains his sons voice reading the book to him. I felt this was a really touching example of how much communicating with family means to soldiers. This new book is another example of the way technology is advancing the tools of communication between families and their service member.

Times Are Changing

Cpl. Frank Buckles 1917

      I recently read an article commemorating the life of the last living WWI veteran who died in February of this year. Cpl. Frank Buckles was 16 years old when he joined the First Fort Riley Casual Detachment of the U.S. Army and sailed for Europe on the HMS Carpathia in 1917.   The article describes Buckles experience overseas as an ambulance driver during WWI and of becoming a prisoner of war during WWII. A couple of years ago some one got the notion that they ought to get as many WWI veterans together to tell their stories while they still had a chance and as they were conducting interviews they lost 4 men before having the chance to tell their story and another 5 shortly after telling theirs. I think this shows just how important it is to learn from people and to listen to people while you have a chance because one day they will be gone and their stories lost forever. one thing I thought about when reading this story is whether or not this will still be an issue in another 100 years from now. In 100 years from the people who are reaching the age of Mr. Buckles will have had technology their entire life. Will it still be necessary to ask for their life stories or will it already be posted for the world to see, will nothing be private anymore? 

Frank Buckles December, 2009

      When I think about the life of Cpl. Frank Buckles and all he has done for this country I feel proud. Proud to know that there are people in the world who are willing to risk and give their lives for the freedoms we have today.  I know that this post is a little off the topic of technology but I strongly felt it was important to commemorate the story of Cpl. Buckles and all the soldiers who have given their service to the U.S. armed forces. On another interesting side note: that boat that I mentioned that Cpl. Buckles took over to Europe; the Carpathia. This is the very same boat that had rescued the survivors of the Titanic in 1912, just 5 years before Buckles sailed to Europe on it. That's pretty cool.


source: http://www.army.mil