Yesterday was a banner day for the program. I started the day glum, having not slept well the night before, as the numbers were going flat (and the Navy Team was having our “parts” handed to us). By lunch time, I will admit, safe from the public’s eye, I engaged in some snarking via “backchannel” comms to the other teams.

Then the evening settled in, and I saw the meteoric rise of the flag of those who go down to the sea in ships had done something aviators generall cringe at, because, we al know from the good Captain, “speed is life.” The only good part of our journey, is when we have stalled, nose high, hearing the wind nosie silencing itself, we don’t get overcome by the law of gravity that has ended, prematurely, the lives of many good men and women who has tried to slip the surly bonds of earth. We at least hang there.

In any environment, being a stationary target is never good, for it takes the delicate computations of relative motion out of the mix and makes it much easier for the targeter to snipe at the targetee.

This morning’s numbers show us all, stalled short of the goal, just inching past the wonderful preformance of last year.

Let’s redouble our efforts, bolstered by one more tall cup of extra caffinated Starbucks and work the phones and keyboards.

In the meantime, enjoy what “Gazing at the Flag” blog writer sends to us, a story of a sacrifice, small as it is to some, it’s a statement worth considering., Read it here and consider: What’s IT (not an intended pun, but a reference to Valour-“IT”) worth to you?

Can you trade a the date dinner before the movie this Friday or Saturday night (in the $25-45 range for lots of the middle class incomes) to propel someone from a hospital bed, wondering through the phantom pain of a missing limb, just how they will support their spouse and later send their children to a better life than they had, to help this person, whom you will most likely never know their name?

How about a day’s wages? Maybe we could all grab a calculator, do some reasonably quick math, and figure out what we make for a day and pledge (well, pledge via a click on the donation button) that value (gross or net, depending on how you are feeling at the moment) to this nation’s future, because, when you peel this onion apart, layer by layer, it’s about helping people be productive now, and to be there to launch the next generations.

How about it? If not putting it directly into the kitty, maybe figure that much to one of the auction items? And… I would further challenge everyone who bids on any items, that if you are not the winner, no matter if you bid a $1 or $500, that you figure you would have paid that much to get a Challenge Coin, wine goblets, or a hard copy “blogvel,” it’s money you considered putting towards Valour-IT, so when the final gavel drop is heard and “SOLD! TO THE (fill in not you description) WITH THE FUNNY CAMOFLAUGED HAT!” resounds, log in and donate it via the service team you love most (psst! The Navy is ahead…spread the love elsewhere! (I don’t want them feeling left out and Waaaayyyy behind!)).

Can I count on you? Ok, forget me, can they, our wounded and their families and families to be, count on you for one day?

Think about it…

Revillie, REVILLE! All hands heave out and trice up!

Today is a decision day. Yes, local and national seats are up for election, but the inertia imparted in that mess rolling downhill has been imparted and with minor exception, the die is cast. We will jst have to wait out today to see the results.

My directive of the day: Do something constructive and forget about chewing your fingernails down to the quick, trying to figure out which party will control the House and the Senate, or the 30+ governorships.

What to do? Get back on task, because, Sgt Hook told us a few days ago, there is a more important mission. Nothing like a crusty old senior enlisted, tempered in the fires of the school of hard knocks to get he “Os” back on focus.

Valour-IT. Huge success last year. Beth said “Goal of $22K.” The Type As among us took that to read “$22K per service team.” Wisely she kept her mouth shut and kept us in the dark until the end, then told us what she really meant, about $108K later. we didn’t have a lot of press coverage, we had bloggers contacting everyone they knew and posting about it. My point? This year, we’re not on the flight path for a smooth landing.

Smadanek’s blog has been tracking our progress, as a whole and as teams. Capt Lex, with all his years of staring at “ROGER, BALL!” on the blunt end of a big gray thing (called “Mother” and kept afloat by those unnamed heroes wearing black shoes), would, metaphorically see himself looking at a red lower half of a circle and be hearing a frantic Landing Signal Officer on the radio yelling “Power! POWER!” if his plane is where we are now.

It comes down to this: We need to consider the warrior pledge, where soldiers, sailors, airmen and Marines know no one gets left behind. We can’t afford, after the sacrifices these wounded men and women have made, to psychologically leave them on that battlefield where their wounds reshaped their lives forever. we have the means to help them see they can be productive in the job market, and they are no less important than Steven Hawking. We can give them a voice to express their ideas, to write reports, to carry on conversations, to tell their stories, to rech out to others, to provide hope where there seems to be none.

Enough for now. get to the polls, cast your vote and get back on task. If you’re signed on as part of the Navy Team and you don’t have a lengthy email titled “A few days left” from me, get me your address, and I’ll forward it.

One idea has come in overnight worth sharing: Enrevanche says try matching funds. For those who can afford it, it may pull a few more dollars through the door.

The last thought: Make contacts, today and throught the end of this drive, like some service member”s future depends on you.

Update: 8/11/2006: More thoughts here.

Trackbacked to: Outside the Beltway, Sgt Hook.

Comms are down!

My domain hosting service is on again/off again for email at the moment.

Sending in the blind: Keep chasing everyone you know down and flaunt the auction (it may be our saving grace for crossing the finish line)

Operate independently: No captain who lays his ship alongside that of the enemy will be wrong (or something like that!)!

On PRWeb, the official Valour-IT press release exists.

How about spread it about liberally. Send it to any and all radio/TV station managers web address, or, if you can’t find any one in particular, try sending it to the postmaster or info or webmaster address, asking that it be relayed to the appropriate office. The larger and/or more active sites will most likely see it in time to get the word around the coffee pot (or Coke machine n this era) before Saturday.

Get over to Ken’s Blog,a href=”http://smadanek.blogspot.com/”>Smadanek (when this is over, I’ll ask him where that moniker came from…) to see how we are trending towards the goal. The Official Valour-IT bean counters site! WOOOHOOO!

Get on it…and…get people pointed at the auctions, and shameless promote Lex’s hard copy of “Rhythms!”

Update: I misspoke: From My Position and Home Front Six are not related….but…have complimentary stories that link together.

A two milblogs, “From My Position” and “Home Front Six”, chronicle the beginnings of the Valour-IT program, not directly, but by telling the story of a wounded man, who has had to work his way back. He’s one of the fortunate ones, most of what he had before the IED hit his HMMVEE will be restored through the miracle of modern medical advances. Some of our service members will not ever be this lucky and may be user of the Valour-IT advances and adoption for the rest of their lives.

To bring the point home of how important and effective a program we have been pushing for 5 days now, Valour-IT, is so important, take a few moments and read a post by an Army wife, here.

The “teaser:”

Here is the bulk of the post that I made for the Project Valour-IT fundraiser last year. It still holds true today.

One of the things that MacGyver and I have talked about it how we would handle things should he be injured in the line of duty. It’s not a pretty conversation – things like that never are. But I am not a fan of surprises so I’d rather discuss this now, before he deploys.

Those of you who know MacGyver know what type of person he is. He is a very “hands on” type of person. He works a LOT with his hands.
[…]

In that post’s comments, Chuck, with a year plus of time since his wounding, comments in more detail about what it was like:

Let Macgyver (and your friend) know that it really isn’t the end of the world, it’s a setback. I love working with my hands, and do lot of projecs too… everything from brewing beer to refinishing furniture. It takes longer, and I have to take my time and actually watch what I am doing, instead of working by feel, and I think my playstation days ended a long time ago, but the hard thing to get through my head was that it wasn’t the end of the world. You have tyo adapt, and the fixes are neither immediate or easy.
Things that used to be easy, or even so simple I didn’t consider them, are now often insurmountable (like buttoning a cuff or collar.) I was once completely unable to bathe myself, my hands were so sensitive I couldn’t hold the poofy soap things.
[…]

Go and read that, too.

Fuzzilicious Thinking, the other person behind Valour-IT posted comments on Chuck’s comments, to add more depth to the discussion here. It’s also worth your time to click and to understand the issues better.
Read the rest, which is graphic, but it tell of the reality of those who suffer.

We made it! Wide area coverage (kinda like and E-2C on station – only a lot bigger!)

From Army Times:

“Bloggers compete to raise cash for computer charity” by Karen Jowers, Staff writer

A competition is raging among Internet bloggers to see who can raise the most money for voice-activated laptops that will be given to severely disabled service members.

The Veterans Day competition, which is organized by Valour-IT, began Monday. It’s goal is to raise $180,000 in 10 days; as of Thursday morning, the total was up to $51,068.
[…]

Thanks, Karen, for taking an interest!

Note: I take no pleasure is seeing someone suffer. One’s misforutne, in this case helps teach us all how lucky we are and I’m passing it along.

A member of Soldier’s Angels cuts one of her pinky fingers the day before Valour-IT starts it’s drive this year.

She gets it. Not a good thing to have to suffer to understand, but this thinker and blogger sees how even a minor disability to her typing skills is but a mere shadow of what many suffer from.

“Lessons Learned – Project Valour-IT”

As you know, I cut my finger pretty severely over the weekend, and am still waiting to find out whether or not I’ll need surgery. The pain has been manageable, but what’s driven me nuts is the impediment to my typing. I normally type about 100 or so words a minute, and now I’m back to feeling like a geek while I try to adjust to not being able to use my pinky. Doing everything with my hands requires some adjustment. I can’t get the stitches wet, so I need to shower with a plastic bag over my left hand. Add that to all the other times that I hit it on something, or have to adjust to the temporary loss of that digit, and it’s annoying at best, pretty painful at worst. At the most, I’ll need surgical correction. Either way, I’ll be splinted for several weeks, and will need physical therapy.

And that’s just one pinky, on one hand. A couple of months, and it’ll likely be back to normal. I can still type, although I have to adjust, and I can still do most things with relatively minor inconvenience. And my injury was do to a moment’s stupidity – my fault.

Read the rest here… and think about it.

Many of us respond to the graphical representations of things far more quickly than a nice tabular green line, wide format data sheet.

Ken of SmadaNek has posted tracking in PICTURES (you know, for us people who didn’t do well at skool and can’t rear or rite):

See it here!

Part I, the kick off, is here!

We’re off! Thanks to those who have joined the fray on Day 1.

I’m going to create a universal email list of the Navy bloggers and email it out, along with Secret/No Other Service hints to get the funds flowing.

In case you didn’t see on the program blog, as of today, the 650th (WOW!) laptop for Valour-IT was delivered! That’s a lot of roll up your sleeves, engage your brain and open your wallet support from many people to make that happen.

Math, for those who are busy pounding the virtual pavement for $$$: To attain the goal of $45K in 13 days, we need to pull in $3461.54/day.

Between all of our friends, families, friends who have kids who made you buy Girl Scout cookies, band candy bars, or Boy Scout Jamboree tickets, this is a perfect time to pay them a visit, or at least ring them up on the phone/email.

At the moment, the laptops are in the medical facility libraries, but….with luck, one day they will be in the hands of the people who need them for the rest of their lives.

Think up how to get in contact with local radio stations and see if they’ll post the info on the program on their websites and include it in some of their programming.

Email to follow. If you don’t see one in your inbox, email me and I’ll catch you up (providing you’re not a plant from one of the Army sites, looking for good ideas).

Begin by checking in with your closest contacts today/tonight. Plan for the broader reach soon.