A word from the Garritrooper, just so you’ll know where we intend to go with VeteransTales.org. and the Veterans 15:13 Foundation
A Little Background
In the mid-80s, when I was in industry, a second-shift floor mechanic came up to me and said, “If you’ll put me on first shift and give me a little raise, I’ll work harder.”
No, really. He said that.
Yet here we are begging for a raise, without a proven product, or for that matter, any indication we can actually deliver the goods.
The wise donor has to first agree that what we want to accomplish at VeteranTales is worthwhile, but also uniquely so; that it is not something you can pick off the shelfnice at Walmart. We prove that here.
Then second the donor to assume that no one else out there with greater bona fides isn’t attempting the same thing. Arguably this can be proved anecdotally by simply stating this Veterans USA 15:13 effort is swimming in waters no one in the veterans’ world is exploring. What we offer is different, the opportunity to trade on”being American”, which almost no one pays attention to anymore, yet is so important to our future.
It would also be nice if someone more notable than us could vouch for us. What if someone like John Kerry had agreed to serve as our Honorary Chairman? He’s a veteran, you know, and I think he still holds the combined service record for most Purple Hearts received without ever drawing blood. Would that help?
Third, you have to believe that we have the skills to cause this project to take shape according to our Mission Statement, below.
We have resumes, found in our writings and stories, at UnifiedPatriots.com and VassarBushmills.com, on subjects far afield from veterans’ affairs, but very near and dear to the heartbeat of ordinary Americans.
We are what we seem, with over 50 years in observing the world from the ground up, and most of it with veterans, their families and the poorer peoples of the world. We are very interesting in our own right.
Right now we are only asking for enough money to open the mine shaft, about $35,000 this first year, and to begin digging. The vast majority of that money will go to paying for moderators and some writing in the first phase of our plan. A status update will be available in early 2019.
We need a minimum of $2000/month to cover planned overhead. Please join our list of Founding Donors
Note the art, by William Morris Hunt (1824-1879)
In the Civil War, 365,000 US soldiers died, 282,000 were wounded, and all but a few were volunteers.
In Civilization’s 5000 year history, no nation had ever sent its sons to die to rescue or liberate other peoples, people they had no kinship with, did not know and had never seen.
OUR MISSION PLAN
VeteransTales.org was begun in March, 2018 by two veterans, a retired Army paratrooper-Master Sergeant, Allen Ness and myself, Vassar Bushmills, an Army JAG trial lawyer. We represent two eras of US military history, dating from the Vietnam War to Global War on Terrorism.
OUR NEAR-TERM MISSION here is to provide veterans a venue to tell their stories, as the name implies, and even to provide them help in doing so. The teller-of tales-won’t have to be able to write or even spell well, to get his/her story published.
We have people, also veterans, lined up to be able to assist.
We believe, once that barrier has been knocked down, we can begin relaying stories from thousands of veterans who would otherwise be silent.
Having counseled troops for years, I know many of those stories are sad, poignant, even angry, and need to be shared for a variety of healing reasons. We place story-tellers under very few limits about what they can say, or how they can say it.
OUR LONGER TERMED MISSION, under the auspices of The Veterans USA 15:13 Foundation, is to make the “American veteran” the hallmark of “American Exceptionalism”. To be American.
Because wars are getting smaller, which is a good thing, we have fewer and fewer Americans, and their families, with the kind of “skin in the game” that has always defined this American exceptionalism.
We firmly believe veterans should step to the front of the line in paving the way for future generations.
Both of us have 20-plus years of observing life on the ground around the globe, with a long string of essays and analyses at UnifiedPatriots.com and VassarBushmills.com on a variety of cultural and constitutional subjects, many trending back to the uniqueness of America why it is an absolute necessity for mankind that it be saved.
But VeteransTales is not political, nor can it be, for protecting the essence of American culture has to be a bottom-up endeavor.
American veterans should lead the way.
Our 501c3 non-profit, Veterans USA 15:13 Foundation, will be fully operational by year’s end. We have a small first year budget, $35,000, but also have a 5-year plan,
