Thursday, December 6, 2012

Christmas is a Time for Giving Blog Hop

Welcome to my blog and the Christmas is a Time for Giving/Wounded Warriors Blog Hop.


  

On this the 71st anniversary of the attack on Pearl Harbor, I salute the men and women of our armed forces. And especially those who’ve been wounded in service, and of course those who gave their lives for their country.

I also would like to take this time to salute a member of my own family who I never knew, my mother’s cousin Joseph Gordon of Brooklyn New York. My mother spoke fondly of Joe, who was her age and like a brother to her and her sisters. I knew from family pictures that as a teenager, Joe was a sharp dresser in his Zoot Suit and loved to lindy hop. 

When WWII broke out, Joe, like many of my mom’s friends, enlisted in the air force. They were eager to fly, and wanted to be Tuskegee Airmen, which was the black division of the U.S. Air Force. After graduating from flight training at Tuskegee Army Airfield in Alabama, he was deployed to Italy with the 99th Fighter Squadron, part of the 332nd Fighter Group. I recall vividly seeing pictures of him in his goggles in the cockpit of a plane, proudly displayed on my Grandmother’s bureau.


Unfortunately, 2nd Lt. Joseph E. Gordon was the only one of my mother’s circle of friends who did not come home. He was one of the 66 Tuskegee Airmen who gave the ultimate sacrifice for their country. According to a news article, on August 12, 1944 his plane was shot down over France, after escorting bombers to Toulon, France, to destroy radar stations. Fighters from the 332nd Fighter Group began to draw ground fire. P-51 Mustangs flown by 2nd Lt. Gordon and 1st Lt. Langdon E. Johnson were hit; both pilots were killed.
They are buried at Epinal American Cemetery and Memorial in France. According to a government database, Joseph Gordon was awarded a Purple Heart. He was his parents’ only child, and was loved very much by my mother and her three sisters. My said since she never attended a funeral for Joe, she found it hard to believe he was truly gone, and used to search for his face on crowded streets.

I am very proud to honor our veterans, and grateful for their service to our country. The holiday season is a time for giving. I’m asking for at least 30 comments on my blog, and I’ll be donating $30.00 to the charity WoundedWarriorProject.org at the end of the blog hop. So please help by showing your support for an excellent cause, and saying thanks to our wounded military men and women. As a thank you, I’m giving away two copies of my holiday short story, My Holiday House Guest, which is on sale on Amazon. Please leave your email address with your comment to be contacted if you win. It’s a great way to start the holiday season. Thanks for stopping by. 

To return to the Secret Cravings blog hop page to read more blog posts http://secretcravingspublishing.blogspot.com/

If you would like to make a donation yourself to WoundedWarriorProject.org here is the link https://support.woundedwarriorproject.org/Default.aspx?tsid=66

Update - I just made my donation to Wounded Warrior Project!

Dear Carolyn Gibbs,

We want to thank you for your generous donation to Wounded Warrior Project®. Your gift enables us to provide comfort and aid to injured service members and their families.

Please help us spread the word about injured warriors’ needs and encourage your friends to learn more about Wounded Warrior Project by sending an email or posting on Facebook and Twitter.

Thank you again for your gift. This is a summary of the information that you provided.

40 comments:

  1. What a fabulous salute to the Armed Forces!

    Dawne

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  2. Thank so you much for sharing this great story, Carolyn. Wow, your own family WWII hero. He must have been a very brave man. Great post!

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  3. a true military hero. Thanks for supporting this great cause!

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  4. How emotional! I commend your family member! And here's another comment to help you on your way.

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  5. A lovely tribute for a true hero!!!

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  6. I'm sure every member of your family is very proud of your Joe, as would I if he were part of my family :) Thanks for being part of such a great cause!

    evitap67(at)gmail(dot)com

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  7. The men and women who give their lives can be nothing than honoured. Thank you for the great cause and bloghop!
    tessa dot bamberg at kolumbus dot fi

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  8. Happy Holidays, Carolyn!

    jsimpkins91 at yahoo dot com

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  9. It's always the hardest when you know someone made the ultimate sacrifice

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  10. What a great charity to choose! Merry Christmas to all our military personnel and their families!
    sugerlady@aol.com

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  11. What a touching story! Thanks for sharing!

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  12. May God bless you and yours this Christmas and bring peace to your hearts. Thanks for being part of this worthy effort.

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  13. Beautiful story Carol, thank you for sharing it with us.

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  14. What a nice story. Thanks for sharing, and thanks for supporting this very worthy cause!

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  15. Stories like this one must continue to be told. This is the way we remember.

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  16. Such a touching story, thank you for sharing it.

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  17. Beautiful post <3 Merry Christmas <3

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  18. Thanks for sharing this information, Carolyn. Lovely.

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  19. Wonderful tribute. Thanks for supporting our troops as well. Happy Holidays and much success to you.

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  20. Great tribute and wonderful support of our troops and wounded....Good luck!...Tabs

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  21. Thank you for participating in this wonderful cause. Happy Holidays <3
    msromanticreads(at)gmail(dot)com

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  22. Thank you for your post and for participating in such a worthwhile cause! Wishing all a very Happy Holiday Season!

    laylahunter(at)gmail(dot)com

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  23. A beautiful tribute, this is such a cause.

    vampiremistress2010(at)gmail(dot)com

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  24. Wonderful post! Thanks for doing this for such a wonderful cause.

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  25. So sorry for the loss of your family member. The Tuskegee airmen were amazing.

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  26. Very touching story! Thank you for sharing, and thank you for your support with the Wounded Warrior Project!

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  27. Thank you so much for being a part of such a wonderful project! I'm so proud of the SC authors for doing this!

    Barbara
    bbsbooknook@gmail.com

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  28. Thanks for honouring these men and women in a special way

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  29. God bless our troops!

    storimom2@aol.com

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  30. Great project. Thanks for doing this.

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  31. The Wounded Warrior Project is one of my favorite charities. I am so happy to see all this support for our military heroes. Thanks everyone. Merry Christmas

    margie.hager@yahoo.com

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  32. Thank you everyone for participating and commenting, and supporting our troops.

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  33. I join you in your salute of 2nd Lt. Joseph E. Gordon. May his sacrifice never be forgotten. My grandfather & 2 of his brothers served in WWII. One of them never made it home, after being hit by a sniper. I'm so proud of our family for continuing to send our loved ones into service, knowing that not everyone comes home.

    drainbamaged.gyzmo at gmail.com

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  34. Wow, what an amazing and touching story Carolyn. Thanks for sharing!

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  35. Thank you for sharing your mom's story. One of my uncles spent 18 months in a military hospital after a landmine explosion in Vietnam. Thank you to all of our military!

    suz2(at)cox(dot)net

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  36. Thank you for sharing your story with us. Very touching! Thank you! This hop is so sweet!! I love that your doing this! Ya all are amazing! Best wishes and many blessings to all of you!! :)
    shadowluvs2read(at)gmail(dot)com

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  37. What a great share. It's amazing how much soldiers sacrifice for people they don't even know and never will. Thank you.

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  38. Thank you all for your lovely comments. I enjoyed reading of all the contributor's posts as well.

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  39. http://metallica-shop.blogspot.co.id/2012/01/listen-to-music-can-control-mood.html

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