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Issue #9, SEPTEMBER 2006 Issue Date: September 11th, 2006 Total Active Subscribers: 38 From: Tom Ruley, President, NROTC Dear Readers, Welcome to our monthly newsletter. This newsletter is viewed by the general public entering from our website and is emailed directly to our subscribers. If you haven't subscribed yet, please do so. As a subscriber, you will be informed monthly on our charitable activity. Its easy, just look for the sign up area on the left margin of our website. This newsletter marks the fifth anniversary of the terrorist's attacks on America and the official beginning of the Global War On Terrorism. As President of the NROTC, I have refrained from making personal statements regarding whether I favor or oppose our country's deployment of troops to Iraq and Afghanistan because I did not want my opinions to be considered as NROTC policy. I believe Americans should be able to support our troops and their families REGARDLESS of their opinions of the war and the policy of NROTC on the war should be neutral. I do however have the right to my personal opinions and today I feel the need to speak out. I am a news junkie and as I watch the anniversary commentary and programs on TV, I become even more enraged and even more steadfast in my opinion that as much as I deplore war, the violence, destruction, injury and death, WE MUST BE THERE!... Can you imagine Iran or Al Qaeda, the Taliban, Al-Jihad, Hezbollah, Hamas or any other radical Islam country or organization, who has sworn to do us harm, having nuclear weapons or other weapons of mass destruction to use against us?... One prominent politician I listened to recently warned Americans that if we do nothing, next we could be losing major cities to terrorism. Vice President Dick Chaney stated it pretty well on CNN yesterday when he said, "If Al Qaeda would have had nukes instead of airplanes five years ago, American deaths on 9-11 instead of being 3,000 would have been in the hundreds of thousands." These are tough times that require tough decisions and the future may not be a pretty picture. The risk of escalation is real. As you most probably realize, there is also a World War III scenario. Remember, it only took one assassination to spark World War I. If we can take action now to prevent the next terrorist attack, we may just snuff out that spark before it ignites into a firestorm. Here at home we must remain on constant alert and also guard against complacency. If it is war they want, let it be on their own turf!... To those who say we should pull out now, my question that remains is, "If we pull out now, how long will it be before we MUST go back in." On another subject entirely, we are still not having very good success in our fundraising efforts. There were no donations received in August. Probably the biggest reason is not that our cause is not worth supporting, but that we haven't asked enough people to support us. To date I have also refrained from saying the following but I need to say it now. So far I have been able to fund service banner requests from my own pocket when donations have lagged behind. We had a moderate spike in banner requests this past month and my financial resources are now gone. I will be on the phone myself this month trying to raise some donation dollars. I hope we will not have to put anyone requesting a banner on a waiting list. We could really use some donations although we do not want donations from our service banner recipients. Accepting donations from them belittles our whole charitable purpose. We are still hiring "Work At Home" telemarketers to conduct our fundraising. The job of telemarketing for donations is not easy. I have hired over a hundred telemarketers since January 2006 but none of them have lasted more than a couple weeks. We urgently need to figure out how to successfully solicit donations and soon. Otherwise, we will have to shut our doors. We continue to touch people in a special way every time we deliver a service banner. Following is a sampling of the comments we received this past month: THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR YOUR SUPPORT. THEY NEED ALL THE SUPPORT THEY CAN GET WHILE SERVING OUR COUNTRY. I'M SO PROUD OF ALL OF THEM FOR BEING SO BRAVE. My husband just rejoined the service in January 2006. He volunteered for Operation Iraqi Freedom. I am VERY proud of him. I think what you are doing is awesome too!!! It is very kind of you to do this. Very nice service you are providing! Thank you! As one of the proudest Army moms in the world, I thank you. I thank you so much! I was looking for one of these. Awesome way to support the families and especially the soldiers... thank you so very much Thank you for providing this service!!! It is hard for a mom to have her boy in Iraq. Thank You and God Bless! My son is in Iraq, thanks for the flag. He's currently over in Iraq and myself and his unborn child await him back home. Thank you so very much. Thank you so much. I will display it with honor. My son is currently in Iraq, serving with the 2-77th FA, 4th ID out of Fort Hood, TX Each of you reading can do NROTC a really big favor by going to our website and looking for the banner link to R. Lee Ermey. You know, the Marine Drill Sergeant from the history channel... Please click his banner and give NROTC a vote!... It moves us up higher on his link back list and will help us get more visitors on our website!... You are allowed to vote every 24 hours and voting for us daily or at least often will REALLY BE APPRECIATED!... We are currently number 19 on the list. In August and early September '06, it was our honor to fulfill 36 Blue Star Service Banner requests. Two Blue Star Service banners had two stars. A Gold Star Service Banner was recently sent to the son and widow of Lance Corporal Travis James Layfield, of Fremont, California, who was age 19 at the time of his death. He was with the 2nd Battalion, 4th Marines, 1st Marine Division, 1st Marine Expeditionary Force. Following is the comment which was made on his Gold Star Service Banner application: "Travis was killed in action in Al Anbar Province, Iraq. He was in Operation Iraqi Freedom. Please send his only son a token showing the appreciation our country has for his father's death. I am the mother - He is only 4 so I am requesting it for him. Thanks..." We honor Lance Corporal Travis James Layfield as we honor all of those who have died in service to our country. We note with sorrow that according to the Department of Defense figures as of September 8th 2006, America has lost 2,983 brave troopers so far during this Global War On Terrorism. We hope that the surviving loved ones of these true American heroes will be comforted in knowing that countless Americans share their sorrow and would offer their condolences if they could. According to other Department of Defense figures as of September 8th 2006,... 9,621 troopers have been wounded in action and did not return to duty in 72 hours. We do not know specifically how many of these troopers eventually returned to active duty and specifically how many returned home with debilitating permanent injuries. To those who have sustained traumatic battlefield injury and those who care for them, we recognize your dedication and sacrifice. These Department of Defense death and injury figures can be authenticated here: http://www.defenselink.mil/news/casualty.pdf On this, the fifth anniversary of the tragic attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, as well as the foiled terrorist plot aboard United flight number 93, we also mournfully and respectfully remember the deaths of those 2,973 Americans who perished on that fateful day. Official numbers of the dead include 2,602 in the World Trade Center, 125 in the Pentagon, 88 aboard American Airlines flight 11, 59 aboard American Airlines flight 77, 59 aboard United Airlines flight 175 and 40 aboard United Airlines flight 93. These 9-11 figures can be authenticated here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/September_11,_2001_attacks The Japanese air raid of December 7, 1941 on Pearl Harbor resulted in the deaths of 2,117 Americans. Following is a listing of our August and early September 2006 Service Banner donees. For the protection of these recipients from those who might want to do them harm, we do not provide names or exact addresses. Thank you for reading. That is all, Tom Ruley, President, NROTC
(34) Single Star Blue Star Service Banners We pray that your loved ones return home safe, and soon.
XXXX Zephyr Road
XXXX STATE HWY 79 SOUTH
XXX W. Northpoint Rd. Apt F
XXXX Shiloah Church Road
XXX Summers Drive
XX A Faculty Drive
XX Pearl Street
PO Box XXX
XXX S Pitchers Court
XXX Lockett Lane
XXX San Pedro Apt.X
XXX Buttercup Way #XX
XXXX Pembroke Lane
XXX Osborn Ave.
XXXX Memorial Court #XXXX
XXXX Alpine Court
XXXXX Metts Road
XXX Campbells Creek Drive
XXX Campbells Creek Drive
XXX Michigan Avenue, Apt XXXX
XXX South State St.
XXX Gateshead Drive
XX Brigtmore Drive
X Willenhall Lane
XXX E Darby Rd. #XX
XXX Ashley Street
XXX Kingsbury Avenue
XXX County Road 1297
XXX Cherry Road
XXX Riesling Way
XXXX W. Beeler Rd.
XXX Greenlane Trail
XXX Co. Rd. 258
XXX Vaughn Street (2) Two Star Blue Star Service Banner
XX Lapham Drive
XXXX State Road 91 (1) Single Star Gold Star Service Banner
The son and widow of Lance Corporal Travis James Layfield Rest in heavenly eternal peace Travis.
 Click here to go to our website
The National Remember Our Troops Campaign, Inc. 111 North Stuart Street Baltimore, Maryland 21221 http://www.nrotc.org
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