HERO UPDATE

The purpose of my HERO Search is to acklnowlege our women and men whom have served or are currently serving. These brave souls have made it possible for us in having freedom. Freedom ultimately has a price.

I would like to also acknowledge the families. My heart goes out to the many families whom are handling the role of both mom and day, while maintaining strength on a daily basis with their families wait until their loved ones return. These family members are forced to being mentally tough by maintaining positive spirits not knowing what the the future holds. In addition, I would also like to recognize soldiers that are immigrants. They along with their families believe in the American Dream; some will return as citizens in caskets . Another reason is to promote the history of Latino's in the military.

Our youth and community needs to know that we have a history of many contributions. I therefore have added websites links and encourage submissions from military folks. Visit Eddie Morin, Purple Heart Awardee, Author of "Valor & Discord,. Learn about Latino Soldiers whom recieved 10 Medal of Honors.

One of the judges, Rita Armendariz is a 5th generation Mexican American from Orange County, California. She is a proud mother of two U.S Active Duty Servicemen, a daughter of a WWII Veteran and has a long history of military family members. Her personal experiences with military family life has inspired her to support the troops in a very unique way. In 2003 she created the first Spanish-speaking military mother s support group in the nation, Madres Militares. The group was formed with only six members and to date has grown to over 70 members. In addition, Rita has formed two other chapters in California. Rita is an advocate for military mothers and their families who otherwise would have been unable to find the proper resources and support. The group empowers mothers and their families to adjust to the military life.

Fourth of July is coming soon, our family attends the Fourth of July Celebration Parade in Hunington Beach. I remember seeing some of the veterans and how proud they wore their uniforms . It was great to see how the crowd cheered for them, some veterans had tears in thier eyes. This is what I hope to accomplish, a feeling of pride and honor for our military soldiers and their families.

Here are some sites

Authors

http://www.valiantpress.com/ Eddie Morin & Raul Morin
http://www.chusmahouse.com/new_releases.htm , Charlie Trujillo
http://utopia.utexas.edu/explore/latino/index.html, Dr. Maggie-Rivas- Rodriguez
Covert Ops , James E. Parker, Jr

Military Websites

http://www.vva785.org/ (Veterans from Orange County, CA)
http://www.snopes.com/military/military.asp#turnhead, Urban Legends
http://www.houstonculture.org/hispanic/memorial.html, Vietnam Veterans
http://www.agif.org/, GI Forum

http://www.purpleheartchapters.org/Chapter392.htm

Hispanic's in the Military - great resources and indept research

http://www.houstonculture.org/hispanic/memorial.html , Hispanic America USA, "Award winning"

http://www.houstonculture.org/hispanic/memorial.html , Hispanic Contributions
http://utopia.utexas.edu/explore/latino/index.html, Dr. Maggie-Rivas- Rodriguez
http://www.somosprimos.com/, Mimi Lozano

In preparation for this, I did research on Military websites ...wow... what true valor. If you have any websites, you would like me to add email me at hsjewels@msn.com and I will include your sight on this blog.

Special Thanks to Dr. Maggie Rivas-Rodriguez, author Legacy of Honor: The U.S. Latino & Latina World War II for allowing us to use a photo's in recognizing our Hero's. http://utopia.utexas.edu/explore/latino/index.html

Stay tuned for more as Addy rides away in the Addy mobile with Bling & Sparkle.