Tell Us Your Story

We want to hear from you how the military has changed your life.  Post your very own stories and experiences about you and the military.  You can upload your stories, post videos, and/or pictures. From all the stories we receive, 3 winners will be chosen to receive 2 free tickets and 2 backstage passes each to the 2009 American Freedom Festival being held on November 7, 2009 at the Patriot Center in Fairfax, VA.  One Grand Prize Winner out of the 3 winners will have the opportunity to tell his or her story on stage that night.  Don’t wait, submit your story now!



    Wednesday, Nov 4

  • Behind the Lines and Behind the Uniform

    So, the task is to tell our story. I struggled with how to start this story because you see, it’s not just mine. My story is the story of every man and woman in uniform, every father, mother, son, daughter, friend and parent. My story spans generations. It crosses racial boundaries, political gaps, economic situations, and time. Mine is the story of a young couple, fresh faced and innocent who made the decision to dedicate their life to their country. Who lived under the stairs of an apartment building before taking a leap of faith. Out of that faith, that hard work and dedication, came me and my sister. Those kids were my parents. And nineteen years later those kids were me and my friends. I grew up in a household where pride in our country was first, next was our faith in god, and then our family. I was taught perseverance, dedication, faith, discipline, hard work and integrity. Values that I still carry with me to this day. Values that I carried with me through turbulent years as an army brat that spanned the globe. Values that I tried to disregard in youthful ignorance in college, and then reclaimed as a young woman serving in Iraq. Twenty six years, a wonderful husband, and two fantastic children later, those are the values I hope to pass on to my own children. I hope to document those values and lessons in my writings to my children and books I collect about my husband and I’s time with the 1st Calvary Division in Iraq. I hope to instill in them the same pride in the uniform that my father instilled in me. I hope to pass on those values and beliefs to my friends, coworkers, and everyday Americans I encounter in my day to day life. I am continually inspired and awed by the job that I did and that my friends and husband continue to do everyday. You ask me, How did the Army change my life? I don’t really know how to respond other than this; The Army was, is and always will be my life. It’s not a part of it but the whole. It gives me purpose everyday when I wake. It inspires me to be greater and do bigger and better things than those before me could have ever dreamed possible. It is me. It is my friends who fell in defense of this great nation. It is every man, woman, and child in this great nation of ours who strive for a better tomorrow. It is all of us. That part of our soul that hopes and dreams and believes. The Army didn’t change my life… it gave me life. And I only hope that by being a part of that, I gave someone else that same hope, faith and belief that I have been privileged to have known.
    - posted by Gena Hernandez