Objective Rally Point Oct 28 DC - Inside Account of Benghazi

If you're in the DC area you don't want to miss this.

Join Us October 28th

You are invited to join us on October 28 for our monthly Veteran networking event. This networking event is a forum for military Veterans in business and those who support them, or wish to team with them, to meet and connect. We have grown from a small group of Veterans to more than 75 in attendance meeting for breakfast the 4^th Tuesday of each month.  Don’t miss out on an opportunity to network with other Veterans committed to success in business.

Although the focus of ORP is on the connections made between and with Veterans, we do have a speaker each month.  This month we are deviating from our usual business speaker to present a timely presentation from the co-authors of 13 Hours: The Inside Account of What Really happened in Benghazi.  Mark "Oz" Geist, Kris "Tanto" Paronto & John "Tig" Tiegon, security contractors for the CIA in Lybia, will present their story and answer questions. This story continues to be an ongoing topic of discussion and debate, especially in the Veteran community. It will continue to be a subject that is discussed frequently in the upcoming Presidential election and as such it is the duty of all Veterans to be informed so that we can educate the public on this sensitive issue involving our community. Books will be available purchase as well as an opportunity for the authors to personally autograph attendee’s books.

Get registered! This event is filling up very quickly and if you do not register early you may miss out on this fantastic opportunity to hear this inspirational story of courage.  Even more importantly, don’t pass up this opportunity to network with other Veterans focused on success in business. If you are a company looking for a VOSB or SDVOSB to team with there is no better place to find qualified Veteran owned businesses than at DC-ORP.

DC-ORP is hosted by Lee Dougherty, a service connected disabled Veteran and Principal practicing Government Contract Law at Offit Kurman, Attorneys at Law.

When: Tuesday, October 28, 2014  

Time: 7:15 am until 9:15 am

Where: Army-Navy Country Club

1700 Army Navy Drive  

Arlington, VA 22202

*Non-Veterans, please contact the host at ldougherty@offitkurman.com  or (703)745-1819 to request information on attending the event.

Cost to attend this event is $35. Full breakfast provided.

Limited seating available--register today*

https://october2014-dcorp.eventbrite.com

Your Friend and Fellow Veteran,

 Lee Dougherty

Gold Star Mothers Day - the last Sunday in September

Gold Star Mothers Day is tomorrow.

Enacted June 23, 1936, "Gold Star Mother's Day" was identified by the 74th
United States Congress as a day of national commemoration for the American
people to pause and honor women who have been forever changed through the
ultimate sacrifice of their sons and daughters who died in military service
to our Nation. (Read more)

Gold Star Mothers in front of the tribute to fallen Rangers at Kevin Barry's in Savannah, Georgia

Perhaps the most famous letter written to a Gold Star Mother:

Executive Mansion, Washington, November 21, 1864.

Mrs. Bixby, Boston, Massachusetts:

DEAR MADAM: I have been shown in the files of the War Department a statement of the Adjutant-General of Massachusetts that you are the mother of five sons who have died gloriously on the field of battle. I feel how weak and fruitless must be any words of mine which should attempt to beguile you from the grief of a loss so overwhelming. But I cannot refrain from tendering to you the consolation that may be found in the thanks of the Republic they died to save. I pray that our Heavenly Father may assuage the anguish of your bereavement, and leave you only the cherished memory of the loved and lost, and the solemn pride that must be yours to have laid so costly a sacrifice upon the altar of freedom.

Yours very sincerely and respectfully, Abraham Lincoln

The 1st Ranger Battalion Commander honors Gold Star parents (Just Cause)

I am honored to know too many Gold Star Mothers, Fathers, Spouses and Children, and I treasure my friendship with each of them.  Remember them every day, but on this special day make sure and share with someone who might not know the significance of the Gold Star.

Gold Star coin given me by a Gold Star Mother

RLTW  Karl

Related:

Honoring Gold Star Mothers and Families

Shine lights to the moon

Mountain Air Country Club Morning Hike - Asheville NC THIS SATURDAY

Jonathan Sellers writes:

I have posted this to the FB groups which I'm a member of.  Would you mind copy and paste this to your network/timeline and share this event on Sunday?  here is the message:

Any veterans who wish to participate in this hike on Sunday in Asheville need to send me a message so I can get you on the list for "The Old Fort Lodge" ... This list will get you in the gates of the country club after I send it to "No Barriers" staff. The description of the event is as follows:

Hi, Jonathan. We are excited to meet you and some of your veterans this weekend.

As we discussed we'd love to have you and some of your vets join us on Sunday at Mountain Air Country Club for the morning hike. Please plan to arrive at 8:00 a.m.

It would help Memmy if you emailed us some names for clearance at the gate in advance. We are asking our hikers to donate $35.00 when possible.
Let me know if you want to join us for the meet and greet and Sunday night. Dinner is on your own but it might be a nice time to get to know some of our team.

And if you want to join us for the luncheon and keynote on Monday the cost per person is $25 for lunch. I know you are also a non-profit and am sensitive to that. Whatever you can do to help cover our costs would be greatly appreciated.
Here's the link to the info and you have my cell. At this point I'll plan on you joining us on the hike and sending us names of your team members coming. Please try to do so by Friday afternoon so we can have enough lunches made.

Thanks again for reaching back out.
http://www.nobarriersusa.org/outdoorclassic/
Cindy
--
Cindy Bean | Chief Development Officer
Donate today: http://www.nobarriersusa.org/give-step-1/
WE'VE MOVED! PLEASE NOTE OUR NEW ADDRESS:
224 Canyon Avenue, Suite 207, Fort Collins, CO 80521
OFFICE: 970.484.3633 TOLL FREE: 877.627.1425 FAX: 970.672.1073
www.nobarriersusa.org

If you're interested, contact Jonathan by Facebook, email or call/text 828-707-7173 ... He needs to have the names by Saturday night.

Invisible Wound

Friends of Veterans,

I am writing to you on behalf of Invisible Wound, a Loudoun County, VA based non-profit organization that supports Veterans suffering from Post Traumatic Stress (PTS). Our President is two time Iraq War Veteran, CPT Veseth-Nelson (RET), a 3-time Bronze Star recipient- with one of those Bronze Stars awarded for Valor in combat. Here is his story: 

http://www.dcoe.mil/blog/11-05-11/Army_Captain_Shares_Experiences_with_PTSD.aspx

As a known supporter of Veterans in our community, we are asking you for your help. We are having a critical fundraiser on the 28th of September to support the IW mission, and we are asking you for your support.  Tomorrow is Patriots Day- and we are appealing to you as a Patriot.

An Incredible Event:

On September 28, we are invited 100 Heroes to join us for a VIP Skybox Party, overnight stay at Mohegan Sun to see Five Finger Death Punch- a wildly popular and pro-Military rock group that is campaigning for PTS awareness, and has invited us to be their guests.

How You Can Help:

We are asking local businesses to do one of two things to support our mission: 1.) Start your own campaign. Select a goal and push your team to reach that goal.  2.) Donate to an existing campaign. Veterans, families, friends have started pages and are fighting to reach their goals. 

The reality is: We need financial support to help these Veterans and to put these programs into place. I would be happy to provide you information on what those programs are, and what your contribution can affect- and below is the link to our campaign site. The first three teams or individuals to reach $3,000, will receive 2 tickets to join us on this extraordinary event. We want you there. 

Here is the link to the campaign and video:

https://www.stayclassy.org/events/no-one-gets-left-behind-five-finger-death-punch/e36894

Diana Veseth-Nelson

Executive Director, Invisible Wound

www.InvisibleWound.org

Veteran's Wellness Challenge - Give us a lift!

We Just Need 10 Donations...

The VOW Veteran's Wellness Challenge is in full swing and we'd love your help to win an extra $2500 for our cause this week. If we get just 10 donations by September 23rd at 12pm ET, we'll be entered to win a $2500 donation to our cause.  Please Click Here and give what you can. If just 10 of you donate to our cause, we're in the contest. Or, one person can donate ten times. That works too. And, if you have any questions, please Email CrowdRise and they'll be ready to dig in. Thanks so, so much. GallantFew

New Job!

After many months of waiting and attempting to be patient I landed a job within the Federal Government. It took a ton of patience and many resume updating iterations but I finally landed a job. I interviewed back in June with the Social Security Administration for a GS position within Customer Relations. Since the VA had it as a direct hire position the Social Security Administration was able to create a position for me. Thankfully, it worked. Although I had to wait a few months for everything to come back and check out okay, it was worth it. I started on September 8th and am glad it has worked out.

During my first week I have had the chance to get to talk to many of my co-workers. All of whom have family or friends that have served. It has been a blessing to break the ranks of the Federal Government since my ultimate goal was to do just that. So what I'm saying is this, if you set goals and work towards them diligently you will succeed. My path since leaving the military has not been easy. The VA has had some success in helping me but it has not been smooth. During my time working with the Vocational Rehabilitation program, I have been discouraged by many people and have had many "moments." The program ultimately lived up to what it is designed to do but I had to call my Congressperson a few times to make sure they were not losing track of the mission. I found that I had to advocate for myself in order for them to do their jobs. It worked and hopefully they can utilize the lessons learned from my case and make adjustments for the many other veterans out there seeking employment.

If you want to be successful you have to follow through with what your goals are. You have to create goals in order to meet them. I have had the opportunity to make my goals become a reality and am thankful for it. My knowledge of becoming employed is something I possess to pass on to other veterans. If you need some help, let me know. Although the VA has its many flaws, find the correct people that will do their job and confide in them. Share your goals, and if the person is not on board, fire them. Or call your Congressperson. They seem to pick up the pace after they get a call from the main boss. I will be visible a lot less on social media due to this job but I will continue the mission to help my Warfighter Family. If you need anything or know of anyone that needs some life orientation, contact me. GallantFew has given me the tools I need to succeed. I suggest anyone that has a need for success to reach out. This is not a good bye but a see ya later.

RLTW!

JD

We're very proud of Jay and his accomplishments, and of his work to help Veterans.  He's an example of success through hard work.  Work as hard post-service as you did to become successful in the military and you'll do well.  RLTW  km

Did you miss these events?

Did you miss Bonnie-Jill on TNAV?

This week I talked with the guys behind the Veterans Art Wall.

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More Marauders news (we now have proclamations from every state EXCEPT California - can you help us there?):

Nation’s governors proclaim National WW II Merrill’s Marauder Day - News - Gates-Chili Post - Gates, NY

National WW II Merrill’s Marauder Day - Office of the Governor of Alabama

Today is Merrill's Marauders Day in... - Governor Rick Snyder

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GallantFew, Run Ranger Run, Descendants of Sparta and The New American Veteran are now trademarked!  Thank you to Whyte Hirschboeck Dudek S.C.!

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VA releases a report on veteran unemployment - and notes that post 9/11 veterans remain above the national average.  The charts I've maintained the past year show that on a twelve month average, the post 9/11 veteran is 34% more likely to be unemployed that a non-veteran, and this month he or she is 25% more likely to be unemployed.  The overall numbers are going the right direction, but there remains a disconnect among those who answered the post 9/11 call and those who did not.

Source

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Check out Run Ranger Run 2015 and the Spike TV competition, and if you know a Ranger that has passed on for any reason, honor him here.

RLTW  Karl

Spike TV's Veteran's Wellness Challenge

$3000 + VOW Challenge...

We're excited to let you know that we're part of an amazing campaign called the VOW Veteran's Wellness Challenge. The Challenge is a fundraising competition that runs through October 13th and the charity that raises the most for their cause during that timeframe will get a grand prize of $20,000. To win would mean so much to our cause so we're out to make it happen. In addition to the grand prize donations, there are weekly opportunities to win Bonus Challenge donations to our cause. Our first one just started and if we raise at least $500 by September 16th, we'll be entered to win an extra $3000 donation to our cause. We could really use your support to win and any amount, large or small, can make all the difference so please give what you can. Please Click Here and give what you can. We'll be messaging a lot throughout the campaign and just want to thank you in advance for all your support. It really means a lot. And, if you have any questions, please Email CrowdRise and they'll be ready to dig in. GallantFew