Community Corner

Veterans Thank AOL for Support, Urge More Corporate Support

Employees boxed care packages for deployed soldiers, present award to Ashburn youth.

A trio of men from the military joined employees at AOL’s Dulles facility on Veterans Day to thank them for their support and urge continued support for all branches of the United States armed forces.

The AOL Military Support Group was preparing care packages with a variety of items soldiers do not have ready access to overseas.

“You guys are actively engaged and we appreciate that,” said U.S. Navy Commander Stephen Tomlin, who addressed the employees along with other military representatives.

Find out what's happening in Ashburnwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

“These kind of events become more and more important as the country evolves,” said U.S. Navy Rear Admiral Tom Wears.

A third speaker said its difficult to describe the pride serving gives soldiers.

Find out what's happening in Ashburnwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

“You just don’t even know until you’ve served in the military how it feels,” said Brigadier General Scottie Dean Carpenter, of the Military Police, recalling when he stepped off the plane after serving in Desert Storm and hearing God Bless America. “I could feel the hair on the back of head stand up. I couldn’t hold back the tears. My wife was there, my son.”

The primary concern of most deployed soldiers is the wellbeing of family back home. Wears said soldiers are able to focus on their jobs because they know the communities at home are helping their families and keeping them safe. He said men and women in the military are relying more and more on the non-service population.

Carpenter hit in the same theme.

“Not only do soldiers make tremendous sacrifices, but their families do, too,” he said. “Not only do the [families] make sacrifices, the community does, too. We’re all in this together. It’s important for me to come out here and tell you folks how important it is for you to be here.”

Wears said the percentage of citizens currently in the military is about .8 percent, with fewer than 10 percent having ever served. Tomlin struck a recent news trend when he reiterated that point by saying, “One percent of all people of America is making sure the freedoms we take for granted are protected.”

Meanwhile, of the men and women serving, 18- to 24-year-olds returning from deployment “are twice as likely to be homeless or unemployed as a high school drop out,” Tomlin said, thanking the AOL employees who were participating in the care package program.

Wounded to Work helped sponsored the event, along with APLAWD (AOL People Living and Working with Disabilities).

But Carpenter, Tomlin and Wears hope to encourage additional support for veterans who need help getting back on their feet.

“We’re looking for people that want to help,” Tomlin said. “We’re looking to corporate America because this isn’t something the military can do alone.”

To learn more about helping out, visit the Wounded to Work website.

During the ceremony, AOL also presented an award to Ashburn resident Anne Kickert for her work collecting sweets for the troops that were included in the care packages. See .


Get more local news delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for free Patch newsletters and alerts.

We’ve removed the ability to reply as we work to make improvements. Learn more here