 |
Honor Soldiers Through The Year With Heroes' Tree
(January 2, 2010) | 
|
|
|
Some of the first ornaments hung on the inaugural Our Heroes'
Tree in 2005, shimmer in the light. The ornaments honor deployed servicemembers.
Courtesy Photo |
|
WASHINGTON (ANS, December 29, 2009)
"Reflect. Remember. Rejoice," is the slogan of
the Our Heroes' Tree program, an initiative
honoring the service of all military members.
Through a display of ornaments on a tree, the
program hopes to recognize and remember both
servicemembers and their families.
Stephanie Pickup, an Army spouse and Marlene
Lee, the mother of Soldier, founded the Our
Heroes' Tree program in 2005 as a way to stay
connected to their Soldiers and bring their
communities together.
The program is for everyone connected to the
military in some way, Pickup said. "You don't
have to be an Army wife to have a hero on the
Heroes' Tree," she said.
Lisa Harman teaches at the Morris R. McBride
Elementary School at Fort Benning, Georgia. This
year, when the 3rd Brigade, 3rd Infantry
Division deployed just before the holidays, the
school put up a tree and held a dedication and
going away ceremony for the Soldiers. |
|
"We decided to do this because one of our major units here
at Fort Benning was deploying," Harman said. "So we did it
as the Soldiers deployed."
The students and their families made two ornaments: one to
hang on the Heroes' Tree in the lobby of the school, and one
to send on deployment with the Soldier. The Soldiers also
wrote letters to their children, and the school compiled
them in a book that is available to the students whenever
they miss their loved-one.
"It just really makes the kids see that no one has forgotten
their dad is gone. It lets the whole community see that
McBride school is here to support the families of our heroes
that are deployed," Harman said. She added the program and
ceremony also made the Soldiers feel special, and like they
were truly a part of the school.
"I think it also made them realize we weren't going to
forget them at all," Harman said. When the Soldiers return
home, there will be another "un-trim" the tree ceremony, and
they will be able to take their ornaments home.
"Our Heroes' Tree program is a community based program that
honors the service and sacrifice of our nation's military
and their families," Pickup explained. The underlying
principles allow people to adapt the program to their
communities' needs while still maintaining a theme, Lee
added.
There are three main principles to the OHT, the founders
explained: start a tradition, share community spirit, and
join the community together in patriotic pride. The program
honors Soldiers and helps to bring their families together
to support each other during deployments, or when a Soldier
is lost.
The requirements for OHT are two American flags at the top
of the "tree," a yellow ribbon, individual ornaments for
Soldiers (or other servicemembers), and the recitation of
the "Our Heroes' Tree" poem during the tree dedication
ceremony, Lee said.
"Whatever we did, we wanted it to be positive and uplifting,
and a way to bring people together to support each other,
and get to know each other, and to be in this together," Lee
said.
The program, while suited to the holiday season, is also
ideal for Veterans Day and Memorial Day, or as a farewell
for deploying Soldiers, Lee added. The "tree" does not have
to be a tree, either-as long as it has flags and a yellow
ribbon, it can be a bulletin board or some other static
display for the ornaments.
As the New Year approaches, take time out to honor a Soldier
or another servicemember and start a Heroes' Tree in your
home or community.
Starter kits for the OHT initiative can be downloaded for
free from the program's Web Site, www.ourheroestree.com. In
each kit there are guidelines for how the tree should look,
a timeline for the dedication ceremony, and suggestions and
ideas on how to start your own OHT traditions. | |
By Jacqueline M. Hames
Copyright 2009
Reprinted from
Army News Service / Army News Service
Comment on this article |
|
