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A Citizen’s Eye View of Public Preparedness

On Veterans Day: Thank You, Fifth Avenue Parade, Special DHS Website, Red Cross’ “Holiday Mail For Heroes”

November 11th, 2009 · No Comments

To all veterans, thank you. I had the great opportunity to attend today’s Veterans Day parade on Manhattan’s Fifth Avenue.

MARCHERS AT TODAY’S VETERANS DAY PARADE ON FIFTH AVENUE IN NEW YORK CITY

A relatively big (though not nearly big enough) and emotional crowd lined the parade route shouting “thank you” to the marching veterans, young and old. There were also a number of home-made “thank you” signs (below).

On this day, I wanted to mention a couple of initiatives by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and the American Red Cross. DHS yesterday launched a new website designed to provide a one-stop location for veterans and veterans organizations to learn about veteran hiring and contracting opportunities as well as how to get involved in community-based efforts such as Citizen Corps.

The site, at www.dhs.gov/veterans, features information for veterans about how to find employment opportunities at DHS, ways to get involved in community-based efforts like Citizen Corps (list here), and special veteran programs such as Operation Warfighter and Wounded Warrior, which provide employment opportunities for severely wounded or recovering service members to assist their transition back to the military or civilian workforce.

DHS’ civilian workforce includes approximately 47,000 veterans, comprising 25 percent of all employees in addition to the 42,000 active duty members of the U.S. Coast Guard.

Also, today the Red Cross launched their program, “Holiday Mail For Heroes,” which solicits cards for the military and their family. If you are interested in participating, send your cards to this address:

Holiday Mail for Heroes

P.O. Box 5456

Capitol Heights, MD 20791-5456

Once the cards arrive at the Red Cross chapters, they are sorted and reviewed by volunteers who then distribute them to service members, their families and veterans in communities across the country. For more information, go to www.redcross.org/holidaymail.

Holiday Mail for Heroes

And again, thank you.

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Tags: Department of Homeland Security · Red Cross

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