Anyone with Sailors/Soldiers/Marines in War Zones and Combat Areas

They have a memorial service today for one they lost in Afghan.  That will be somber for them.   I hope to see him in a few weeks, though.  Thanks for all the kind words!!!

Nicksmom, I just returned from vacation and was so excited to hear boots down. I feel your pain - my son wouldn't let us come either. His wife was disappointed we couldn't join her that day but we had to honor his wishes. I just focused on the important fact that he was back in the states. His main goal was to get out of there as fast as he was allowed and return home. Still decompressing but I'm sure that is a lifetime goal. That's what we are all here for - venting to each other. God Bless.

Looks like Thanksgiving now.  Darn it!  But, it'll get here soon enough.  At least I can text him whenever I want to now.  :)

Darn, Nicksmom. It hopefully will come quickly though and he has boots on ground.

We are so excited to have our Corpsman home for Christmas this year for the first time in two years.  And although we will enjoy the holiday with him, I am sad that there are a lot of families that will not be together.  One of his friends from bootcamp has left for a year long underway.  He has a wife and four small children.  How incredibly strong you have to be in order to continue on!! 

Thanksgiving is just around the corner NicksMom! 

Nicksmom...my son was on that same time frame, Lajuene in October and home to us for Thanksgiving! very thankful that Thanksgiving!! We were very blessed the 7 years he was in, it just timed out that he was able to come home every Christmas even if it was for a couple of days and the only time all year. I kinda really enjoyed one leave in March with no holiday stuff going on!

Welcome, Emily, to the group no one ever wants to join but always sticks with...please make sure any other moms with kids deploying on that mission knows that they are welcome here. May be a different type of mission, but the feelings and the fear is still the same. You will find strong support here and moms who will make sure you know you are not alone. 

Welcome to the group Emily.  My son is a corpsman currently attached to a marine unit out of Oahu Hawaii.

Welcome, Emily!

My son didn't need either one when he was deployed to Iraq or the MEU. He's going there as military. I would doubt it. His CO will give him a list of everything he needs to have and to do before he leaves. Make sure your email address is on any mail lists that might be going around while he is deployed. 

When my son was deployed to Iraq, the parent coordinator had a mail list for us parents. Frankly, the only photos I saw of my son in Iraq were on that list! Some moms in the unit didn't get it because their kids didn't add their email addresses. So just tell him if they ask for your email address to give it to them. 

Emily, If he needs a passport, the military will get it for him.  As to birth certificate, all adults should have an official copy of their birth certificate and social security card. 

If I were you, I would take him his birth certificate and order another one to be at home just in case his should be misplaced (my adult children misplace things all the time while I just forget where the heck I put them).   Same with social security card if he doesn't have it with him. 

Keep his tourist passport home until he has a place to keep it safe.  I still had my 28 year old daughter's until last month when she realized she would need to renew it for her honeymoon. 

When my son was deployed a couple of years ago, the only thing I ended up sending him before he left were the socks I ordered him.  Later, I sent him care packages but they had to be sent a strange roundabout way as he had no "real address" because it was a weird deployment.  

He had a month's training beforehand and did need the better socks for his boots.  Someone please remind what they are called.  Fox something?  

Fox Sox....http://www.foxsox.com/  My son got a dozen pair in 08, took them on deployments and still has about a half dozen left. He treasures them! They do not do good in water, but in the heat and cold they are wonderful. Like putting clouds on your feet. 

My son was told to not carry anything that could be stolen and used for identity theft, including SS care or birth certificate. They will give him a list of what he needs to take when he leaves the country. 

I need to clarify, Emily.  I didn't mean he will need his BC or SS card on deployment but he should have them wherever it is that he is stationed, stowed away with other important papers he could need at a moments notice.  Here in Florida, a sailor getting a driver's license would need his BC. 

I agree with TexasDocMom that he probably won't need any passport to travel on this mission.  But, for my son's last deployment, he did need a tourist passport rather than an official passport but it was the Navy's needs, not his, so they paid for it.  It was kind of a hassle because it was really short notice and it had to be mailed to me to mail it to him. 

Also, financial info. When my son deployed he put me on his bank account so I could track if any funds went missing. It was a good thing, right before he deployed our credit union shut down his debit card due to unexplained purchases. I had to go to the bank to do the paper work and they overnighted one to him before he left. Also, make sure that if he can't have his phone on this deployment, that it gets turned off so he isn't paying on a phone he can't use. 

Emily, if memory serves me (which it doesn't so often!), I think I ordered from Fox Sox and they mailed them to my son at the training site.  I remember it was some kind of preparation for ground combat training although it didn't apply to his deployment, he still had to take it. Think it was at Camp Something?? with Ft. Jackson, South Carolina. 

Yes, if you have a good military address, Foxsox will mail directly (and at no charge, I think). Also give the website to all those who want to "do something" at Christmas. All those there with your son could use fox sox!  

TNM, I am so excited for you! hug that Doc, tell him how proud we are of him and his brothers, and then hug him again. Enjoy those good night sleeps!! You are so welcome, if I can do anything to repay the moms that stepped up for me, I am really happy to do so!

TNM, Hooray! I feel like another of my sons is back.

So happy your Corpsman is back in the States TNM!!  Now you can breathe easy and enjoy the time with your son.  Hugs, hugs, hugs!!

Awe Tenn NM...I am sooo happy for your son's safe return!!! 

Emily....my son just returned from Africa. I'm sure they are at different locations, and do different assignments, but I know with my son, it was harder for him to receive mail over there, then it was to receive it in Afgh. He rec'd it eventually, but it was a different system and more difficult. 

On another note, my sister has been taking care of my parents for 3 years now in her home. My dad has parkinson's and my mom was pretty healthy up until 2 months ago. My beautiful beloved mom passed away last week from Septic Shock due to a bladder infection that we thought was cleared up a few weeks ago. The dr's thought her fluid built up was from a leaky valve causing congestive heart failure, but when my sister brought her into the ER last wed, they said it was to late to save her. She made all the phone calls to me & my 5 siblings. Three of us live in different states.They made her very comfortable until all of my siblings could arrive. I was the last one to arrive. They all kept telling her to hang in there and I was on my way. My oldest son (dressed in his Navy whites) & I flew in on Thurs, arrived at the hospital 2:40 pm. Even though she was heavily sedated, I kissed, hugged, talked & held her hand until she passed away 25 minutes after we got there. I told her my oldest was there dressed in his uniform as my parents were always proud of our 2 sons in the military. My mom heard and felt me b/c all of my siblings told me later how much her heart rate increased on the monitors as I was talking to her. I didn't know b/c I was just focused on her. My oldest sister who is a nurse said, she has seen it with some of her patients, but she was in awe when she witnessed it from my mom. My youngest wasn't able to come and took it very hard, but I explained to him how very proud both of my parents are of all that he does for us and our country and she would understand. It's still hard for him, but I know he will always know she's up there watching over him.   

JerseySusan - I'm very sorry to hear about your Mom.  It's never easy to lose a parent. Peace to you and your family during this time.

I hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving....even with the empty chair there. You were all in our blessing that day (like every other day!!)

I'm sure everyone has seen the warnings about ISIS targeting military personnel and their families. It is one reason we follow OPSEC on this board and refer to our kids as "my son" or "my daughter". No names. Do not let any one, including con artists and wanna be terrorists, connect you to your son or daughter. Lock down your facebook and other social media page including N4Mom.. Check your friends list periodically to make sure you know each and every person. 

On this page, remember no dates. No arrivals or departures or countdowns, none. No locations of any military  unitis including your child's. If you have any questions or need to talk and don't want to do it here, private message me or any of our experienced moms on this board. We will respond and we will always listen. You are not alone.

ISIS is not going to isolate you from those who support and care about you and your kids. We are here, we are not going anyplace and we will make sure you are not alone.

Very wise words.  Thank you both.  I have a navy mom car tag and was reading on a blog that it should be removed for safety reasons.  I just haven't brought myself to do it yet. 

I am assuming that our military will not be wearing their uniforms on planes coming home for the holidays. I know when my son was coming home for holidays, he never wore his uniform on the plane either to or from his station. He said that way, anyone on that plane didn't know who was military trained and who was not. 

I always thought that unless they were traveling under orders they did not wear their uniform anyway.  This may have been an Army rule.  My son has never worn any of his uniforms home either.  However, when we pick him up there is always a lot of military traveling in their uniforms so hopefully we'll see less of that.  It is a very strange world we live in now.

I agree, Emily.  I am not taking my stickers off either.  I also have my large military Santa in my front yard.  When we travelled in October, we did see many with street clothes but the book bags and short hair cuts gave the away.  I still like to thank them for their service whenever possible so I keep a lookout always.

Ladies, please do not underestimate this threat. It's all good to stand up for what you believe in, but not paying attention to a real threat to our country and those that serve can cause real and very dangerous, problems for not only just yourselves and your own children, but for those with whom they serve. I don't think bumper stickers make much difference personally  but the attitude that OPSEC is not important will not be tolerated by the military. Do not doubt that they will be paying attention and that your sons and daughters will also be paying attention. After all, they are the ones the military will hold accountable for any actions by those of us who communicate with them. It is not "support" to ignore orders from the Navy.  If you don't want their COs to see what you say about your kids on your social media pages, shut them down to the public. Pay attention. Pay attention to any extra attention from strangers inquiring about your kids and their stations, no matter how proud you are of them, do not share info. Loose Lips Sink Ships. As real today as it was before. 

We all have to do what ever takes to make sure we are all safe and that nothing we do here on this board or anyplace else that can be read publicly will put into motion anything that might bring harm to our military in uniform. Ever.

From the USN: Secure Your Social Media Presence

• Establish and maintain connections only with people you know and trust. Review your connections often.
• Assume that ANYONE can see any information about your activities, personal life, or professional life that you post and share.
• Ensure that your family takes similar precautions with their accounts; their privacy and sharing settings can expose your personal data.
• Avoid posting or tagging images of you or your family that clearly show your face. Select pictures taken at a distance, at an angle, or otherwise obscured. Never post Smartphone photos and don’t use your face as a profile photo, instead, use cartoons or avatars.
• Use secure browser settings when possible.

In reference to the avatar profiles, I had changed mine to a flag ornament with a Christmas tree in the background last week on FB. This past week, I rec'd 2 unknown friend request, Mind you, I have "less" than 60 true family & friends that I only know very well. I am not one to friend strangers that I personally have not met in my life through groups or anything else on FB. I re-checked my settings and changed the "friend requests" to "friends of friends only", & changed my "messaging" from "public" to "strict" filtering. I also changed my "patriotic ornament" to a "non patriotic" ornament. No, I didn't "want" to do that, but after I changed those few things, I haven't rec'd anymore "unknown request". I'm not thinking about myself making those changes, I'm thinking about how taking precautions will affect the "rest" of my family. I am now going to change my profile pic on N4M's.

Well, as much as I loved my old profiles picture, I love my son more.  And I dropped part of my profile name.  Safety always comes first.  Now on to FB.

Those of you who know me on FB know I'm pretty outgoing, but the name on my FB account is not my married name. I started on FB after my son enlisted and did not want anyone to connect us through social media. Now, it's just my name and since I do a house concert series in that name and have so many musician friends, I just leave it. My son is out of the Navy but very connected to his friends still in and to his young vet friends of course. His page is pretty much shut down. We just can't take unnecessary chances to be connected and approached by strangers. I wish N4M would mention something about not having a straight connection to one's Sailor in a profile name. Some of the new moms and sailors can be a little naive about the ability of con artists, crooks and bad guys connecting with them early on and using it later. 

TDM, I tried changing my last name to just an initial a while ago, & wouldn't allow me to. I just tried it again, and it still won't. It states that I can only use names that are on actual legal documents.  

You're talking about FB? maybe use your middle name or maiden name? sounds like it wants a full name, not an initial. 

Yes, I was talking about FB. It does want a full name, but now I'd rather not give more of my identity out than I really have to, so I'll just stay with what I have for right now. It is frustrating though that FB doesn't allow you to just use initials.