(Originally Published Sunday, January 19, 2014 – Blogger: One Daughter’s Point of View)
The DAR has a long history of supporting the military and their families as well as major war efforts such as World War I and II. Following are some great examples of the work our Society has done in this area.
- The DAR Hospital Corps certified 1,081 nurses for service during the Spanish-American War. DAR later funded pensions for many of these nurses who did not qualify for government pensions.
- During the Spanish-American War, DAR purchased a ship’s tender for the USS Missouri to be used as a hospital launch for transporting the wounded from shore to ship.
- To help with the war effort during World War I, DAR loaned its National Headquarters land to the United States. The federal government used the land to erect a temporary war office building that provided office space for 600 people.
- During World War II, DAR provided 197,000 soldiers with care packages and sponsored all 89 crews of Landing Craft Infantry ships.
- During World War II, the use of the DAR buildings was given to the American Red Cross. A children’s day nursery was set up in the basement of Constitution Hall for enlisted men’s wives who had to go to work.
The tradition of this type of service continues today under the guidance of the DAR Project Patriot Committee and is part of our patriotic work. The activities range from purchasing phone cards for injured servicemen and women at Landstuhl Air Force Base in Germany to providing special care packages for deployed women.
I’ve participated in various projects – some orchestrated by our chapter as a group project and some I elected to do on my own. Again, that’s part of the uniqueness of our organization. Daughters can simply choose to do something on their own as they are led by their own passions. For a couple of years, I sent various packages to deployed soldiers full of Christmas decorations, to include several 12-14-inch-tall Christmas Trees. I always selected the wire ones that would bend to conform to the shipping box and then stuffed the box full of Christmas treats, decorations and finally tinsel which was used to fill in all the extra spaces. Another time I packed a ‘party in a box’ with all the supplies necessary to celebrate a birthday. It included hats, party favors, plates, cups, banners, and of course a special hat or tiara for the birthday soldier.
It’s a joy to be part of an organization that is so supportive of our military. And our chapter has been part of that for 110 years. Outstanding!
In honor of our military and their families serving at overseas bases, today we’re asking the Daughters of Colonel Joseph Winston to cut the coupons in today’s Sunday paper to mail to these families. Through programs such as Troopons, we can send the coupons to military families to use up to 90 days past the expiration date. Every little bit we can do to be supportive helps! You can participate too! Join us in this day 6 activity of our “110 Years in 110 Days” and be a part of Project Patriot.
A Robynn’s Chirps 