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A desire to give back is helping veterans
Date published: 3/30/2008
PHILADELPHIA-- Credit three things for the creation of A Hero's Welcome, a fast-growing nonprofit that wants returning vets to know their efforts are appreciated.First, there was Sharon Hyland Keyser's fiance, serving with the 173d Airborne Brigade in Afghanistan. Then there were the vets she saw marching last year in the Fourth of July parade in Pottstown, Pa. A sailor from World War II, easily fitting into his old uniform, carried a huge flag, a reminder of a time when the country rallied behind its troops and a cause. Farther back were the Vietnam vets, evoking memories of a very different era. Third was the decision. Stay with a full-time, six-figure sales career, or fulfill a "strong desire to give back"? Keyser, 28, went with fulfillment, investing her life savings in A Hero's Welcome in August. After only a few months, the local nonprofit has been featured on cable news shows and has chapters and organizers around the country. The goal is simple enough: to thank those who serve. Here's Keyser's challenge: "Put your political thoughts aside, and honor our troops when they come home." Too much to ask? For some, yes. When people find out you have a loved one overseas, Keyser says, they often want to come over and say they don't support the war, but they do support the troops. "They always want to tell me we shouldn't be there," Keyser says. "Well, I don't care what you think about the war. I. Don't. Care. You're worried about telling me your two cents about the war, and I'm worried about an unfamiliar car in my parking lot. I'm worried about the phone ringing with bad news." She's not saying march in lockstep, just that it would be nice to put the troops before the politics. She wants communities to know when a hometown hero is back. To thank vets when they see them in the grocery store. To pick up the tab for them in local restaurants. When Keyser gets a call from a family member about a soldier, Marine, sailor, or airman coming home, she tries to find out what the vet is like, what he or she has missed the most, what one thing would make that homecoming complete.
Date published: 3/30/2008
Good Job..
(posted by
Ranko
, Mar. 30, 2008 4:10 pm)
Sure wish you were here when my little Marine came home from Afghanistan and then Iraq. When people were there to thank him for his service it meant a lot to him and to us the parents.
Mrs. Keyser-Thank You
(posted by
fireball
, Mar. 30, 2008 2:30 pm)
If only the media would focus a little more effort on the thousands like you around the country, going about their business quietly, and a little less on the politicians and anti-war activists in their never-ending pursuit of a TV camera or microphone..........
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