Former California Democratic Party State Chairman, State Senator Art Torres (Ret) and Former California Republican Party State Chairman Duf Sundheim pose for a California State Capital picture in a “Macy’s & Gimbels” moment. To help launch at the California State Capital “Operation Christmas For Our Troops & Their Families” Annual Statewide and National Christmas Drive.

“Operation Christmas For Our Troops & Their Families” is a sponsored community outreach project of Our Nation’s Heroes Foundation and the Yellow Ribbon America News & Campaign for America’s Military members and their families. Our Nation’s Heroes Foundation is a California public benefit nonprofit corporation, with tax-exempt status under Sections 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code, EIN: 46-4762128.

Merry Christmas!

North Pole: USA HQ:🌲🌲🌲Operation Christmas For Our Troops & Their Families!🌲🌲🌲

Santa Clause here, We Need your Help, Support and Prayers America to help assist thousands of Our Military with their Families this Christmas!

This is a partial listing of the US Army Reserve, CA, NV Army National Guard, US Navy, US Marine Corps, US Coast Guard and US Air Force Units we are now helping to support with their Unit Christmas Party food, beverage, event venue costs and Toy support in 5 States: California, Arizona, Nevada, Utah, and Texas at this time…  With your Great and Much Needed Help We will be supporting more of our Wonderful & Amazing Military Unit’s and their Families in the coming weeks!

1. The 358 Military Police Company, United States Army Reserve, Tustin, CA. – Event date is: Nov 3 -4, 2018.

2. The 11 Military Police Brigade, United States Army Reserve, Los Alamitos, CA – Event dates is: Nov 30-Dec 2, 2018.

3. The 11 Military Police Brigade, United States Army Reserve, Los Alamitos, CA – Event date is: January 12, 2019. This will be their Family Readiness Day/Resources event.

4. The 382 Military Police Detachment, United States Army Reserve, San Diego, CA – Event date is: December 2, 2018.

5. The US Army Military (Career Branch) Los Alamitos, CA – Event date is: December 2, 2018.

6. The 324 Military Police Battalion, United States Army Reserve, Fresno, CA – Event date is December 2, 2018.

7. The 313th Military Police Detachment, United States Army Reserve, Las Vegas, NV. – Event date is: Friday, November 30, 2018.

8. The 357 Military Police Company, United States Army Reserve, Fresno, CA – Event date is: December 2, 2018.

9. The 326 Finance BDE United States Army Reserve, Los Angeles, CA – Event date is: Dec 1st, 2018.

10. The 311th Sustainment Command (Expeditionary), United States Army Reserve, Los Angeles, CA. –Event date is: Dec 8,, 2018.

11. The 163rd Ordnance Company, United States Army Reserve, Tustin, CA – Event date is December 9, 2018. Knott’s Merry Farm. “America’s Ultimate US Military Unit Christmas Party!!!”

12. The 304th Sustainment Brigade, United States Army Reserve, Riverside, CA – Event date is: December 8, 2018.

13. The 387th Quartermaster Company United States Army Reserve, Costa Mesa, CA – Event date is: December 8, 2018.

14. The 730th Transportation Company United States Army Reserve, Bell, CA. – Event date is Dec 8, 2018.

15. The 366 Military Police Detachment, United States Army Reserve, Huntsville, TX. – Event date is December 8, 2018.

16. 40th Infantry Division HHC, California Army National Guard, Los Alamitos, CA. Event date is: December 8, 2018.

17. 420th Military Police Company, United States Army Reserve, Salt Lake City, UT – Event date is: December 8, 2018.

18. 109th Medical Detachment (VS), United States Army Reserve, Garden Grove, CA – Event date is: December 8, 2018.

19 NMCB-3 Family Readiness Group, United States Navy Seabees, Port Hueneme, CA – Event date is: December, 2018.

20. NMCB-4 Family Readiness Group, United States Navy Seabees, Port Hueneme, CA – Event date is: December, 2018.

21. NMCB-5 Family Readiness Group, United States Navy Seabees, Port Hueneme, CA – Event date is: December, 2018.

22. 974th Transportation Detachment, United States Army Reserve, Buckeye, AZ – Event date is: December 16, 2018.

23. 4222 ESB Bravo Company, Nevada Army National Guard, Las Vegas, NV – Event date is: December 2, 2018.

24. 593rd Motor Transportation Company, Nevada Army National Guard, Las Vegas, NV – Event date is December 2, 2018.

25. A Company, 5th BN, 19th Special Forces Group (A), California Army National Guard
Joint Forces Training Base Los Alamitos, CA– Event date is December 7, 2018.

26. 478th Transportation Company, United States Army Reserve, Camp Pendleton, CA– Event date is December 2, 2018.

27. The 419^th Combat Sustainment Support Battalion, United States Army Reserve, Tustin, CA – Event Date is December 2, 2018.

You too can be one of Santa’s Christmas Elves and Report for Duty for America’s 1# Christmas Drive “Operation Christmas For Our Troops & Their Families”! Help bring local community based support for America’s Best and their Families this 2018 Christmas Season!

The Local Community relationships that we help bring together during the Christmas Holiday Season help to unite and bring much needed community support year round for America’s Military Unit’s & Their Families! This is the whole reason the Yellow Ribbon America News & Campaign for America’s Military & their Families and Our Nations Heroes Foundation’s Operation Christmas For Our Troops & Their Families was created!

The BEST Military Support is Local Community Based Support!

Contact Santa’s Elves at www.YellowRibbonAmerica.org to learn how YOU can Help Support Your Local Military Units and their families this Christmas!

“Operation Christmas For Our Troops & Their Families” is a sponsored community outreach project of Our Nation’s Heroes Foundation and the Yellow Ribbon America News & Campaign for America’s Military members and their families. Our Nation’s Heroes Foundation is a California public benefit nonprofit corporation, with tax-exempt status under Sections 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code, EIN: 46-4762128.

Merry Christmas!

November, 2018 Carson City, Nevada: The Great State of Nevada, USA Recognizes Operation Christmas For Our Troops & Their Families!

“In Honor of Operation Christmas For Our Troops & Their Families. As Governor of the great State of Nevada, I commend your commitment to support those who are selflessly serving our nation and their families. Given under my hand and by the Seal of the Great State of Nevada on this 6th day of November, 2018. Brian Sandoval, Governor of the State of Nevada…”

“Operation Christmas For Our Troops & Their Families” is a community outreach project of Our Nation’s Heroes Foundation and proudly supported and sponsored by the Yellow Ribbon America News & Campaign for America’s Military members and their families. Our Nation’s Heroes Foundation is a California public benefit nonprofit corporation, with tax-exempt status under Sections 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code, EIN: 46-4762128.

On November 13, 2018 Operation Christmas For Our Troops & Their Families Elves presented a special Award to the City and Citizens of Newport Beach California on behalf of the Yellow Ribbon America News & Campaign for America’s Military and their families and Our Nations Heroes Foundation.

“We are here today to honor and pay tribute to the City and Citizens of Newport Beach California who every Christmas has consistently gone above and beyond the call of duty as a citizens of the United States of America to help and honor America’s heroes and their families through our annual community Christmas Drive, Operation Christmas For Our Troops & Their Families.” This beautiful Signed American Flag of Honor took a 2 year journey to complete we present to you today the 2^nd US Flag of Honor. Presented at the November 13^th City Council Meeting, 2018, Newport Beach, CA.”

History of Veteran’s Day 

1918

World War I, then normally referred to simply as The Great War (no one could imagine any war being greater!), ended with the implementation of an armistice [temporary cessation of hostilities-in this case until the final peace treaty, the infamous Treaty of Versailles, was signed in 1919] between the Allies and Germany at the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of November, 1918.

1919

November 11: President Wilson proclaims the first Armistice Day with the following words: “To us in America, the reflections of armistice Day will be filled with solemn pride in the heroism of those who died in the country’s service and with gratitude for the victory, both because of the thing from which it has freed us and because of the opportunity it has given America to show her sympathy with peace and justice in the councils of the nations.” The original concept for the celebration was for the suspension of business for a two minute period beginning at 11 A.M., with the day also marked by parades and public meetings.

1920

On the second anniversary of the armistice, France and the United Kingdom hold ceremonies honoring their unknown dead from the war. In America, at the suggestion of church groups, President Wilson names the Sunday nearest Armistice Day Sunday, on which should be held services in the interest of international peace.

1921

Congress passes legislation approving the establishment of a Tomb of the Unknown Soldier in Arlington National Cemetery. November 11 is chosen for the date of the ceremony. According on October 20, Congress declares November 11, 1921 a legal Federal holiday to honor all those who participated in the war. The ceremony was conducted with great success.

1926

Congress adopts a resolution directing the President to issue an annual proclamation calling on the observance of Armistice Day. Throughout the 1920s and 1930s, most states establish November 11 as a legal holiday and at the Federal level, an annual proclamation is issued by the President.

1938

Congress passes legislation on May 13 making November 11 a legal Federal holiday, Armistice Day. The United States has no ‘actual’ national holidays because the states retain the right to designate their own holidays. The Federal government can in fact only designate holidays for Federal employees and for the District of Columbia. But in practice the states almost always follow the Federal lead in designation of holidays.

1941- 1945
1950- 1953

World War II and the Korean War create millions of additional war veterans in addition to those of the First World War already honored by Armistice Day.

1954

On June 1, President Eisenhower signs legislation changing the name of the legal holiday from Armistice Day to Veteran’s Day.

1968

Congress passes the Monday Holiday Law which established the fourth Monday in October as the new date for the observance of Veteran’s Day. The law is to take effect in 1971.

1971-1975

The Federal observance of Veterans Day is held on the fourth Monday of October. Initially all states follow suit except Mississippi and South Dakota. Other states changed their observances back to November 11 as follows: 1972- Louisiana and Wisconsin; 1974- Kentucky, Arkansas, Connecticut, Georgia, Maine, South Carolina, West Virginia; 1975- California, Florida, Idaho, Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, New Hampshire, Oklahoma, Oregon, South Carolina, Utah, West Virginia, Wyoming

1975

Legislation passed to return the Federal observance of Veteran’s Day to November 11, based on popular support throughout the nation. Since the change to the fourth Monday in October, 46 states had either continued to commemorate November 11 or had reverted back to the original date based on popular sentiment. The law was to take effect in 1978.

1978

Veteran’s Day observance reverts to November 11.

The Official Birthday of the United States Marine Corps, on 10 November 1775, was when the Second Continental Congress decreed:

That two battalions of Marines be raised consisting of one Colonel, two lieutenant-colonels, two majors and other officers, as usual in other regiments; that they consist of an equal number of privates as with other battalions, that particular care be taken that no persons be appointed to offices, or enlisted into said battalions, but such as are good seamen, or so acquainted with maritime affairs as to be able to serve for and during the present war with Great Britain and the Colonies; unless dismissed by Congress; that they be distinguished by the names of the First and Second Battalions of Marines.

Tun Tavern, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, is regarded as the birthplace of the Corps as the location of the first Marines to enlist under Commandant Samuel Nicholas, though it is disputed if a recruiting drive may have occurred earlier at Nicholas’s family tavern, the Conestoga Waggon . When the Revolutionary War ended in 1783, the Continental Navy was disestablished, and with it, the Continental Marines. The Corps was re-established on 11 July 1798, when the “act for establishing and organizing a Marine Corps” was signed by President John Adams.
Celebration: John A. Lejeune, author of Marine Corps Order 47.

Prior to 1921, Marines celebrated the recreation of the Corps on 11 July with little pomp or pageantry. On 21 October 1921, Major Edwin North McClellan, in charge the Corps’s fledgling historical section, sent a memorandum to Commandant John A. Lejeune, suggesting the Marines’ original birthday of 10 November be declared a Marine Corps holiday to be celebrated throughout the Corps. Lejeune so ordered in Marine Corps Order 47:

The first formal ball was celebrated in 1925, though no records exist that indicate the proceedings of that event. Birthday celebrations would take varied forms, most included dances, though some accounts include mock battles, musical performances, pageants, and sporting events.

The celebrations were formalized and standardized by Commandant Lemuel C. Shepherd, Jr. in 1952, outlining the cake cutting ceremony, which would enter the Marine Drill Manual in 1956. By tradition, the first slice of cake is given to the oldest Marine present, who in turn hands it off to the youngest Marine present, symbolizing the old and experienced Marines passing their knowledge to the new generation of Marines. The celebration also includes a reading of Marine Corps Order 47, republished every year, as well as a message from the current Commandant, and often includes a banquet and dancing if possible. In many cases, the birthday celebration will also include a pageant of current and historical Marine Corps uniforms, as a reminder of the history of the Corps.  Another modern tradition includes a unit run on the 10th. Marines are reputed to celebrate the birthday, regardless of where they may be in the world, even in austere environments or combat.

In a more somber tradition, Samuel Nicholas’s grave in the Arch Street Friends Meeting graveyard in Philadelphia is marked with a wreath at dawn by a group of Marines annually on 10 November to celebrate his role in the founding of the Corps.

ORANGE COUNTY, CA: Operation Christmas For Our Troops & Their Families Elves are Reporting for Duty for America’s 1# Christmas Drive!

“Operation Christmas For Our Troops & Their Families” is a non-partisan Christmas holiday effort to give community based support to America’s deployed and at home Military Units and their families.

With your help we sponsor our Military and their families with their Unit Christmas Holiday Parties and help pay for their Food and Beverage Costs and when possible provide Toys and Gift Cards for their Children, Teenagers and Single Military personnel.

The effort, which supports the National Guard, Reserve and Active Duty deployed and at home military Units and their families, began in November 2004 and has grown every year since. It is not just the Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen, Marines and Coast Guard members that are affected when they are deployed and away from home but also the families who are left behind.

The Local Community relationships that we help bring together during the Christmas Holiday Season help America’s Military Units and their families get vital community support year round! This is the whole reason the Yellow Ribbon America News & Campaign for America’s Military & their Families, Our Nation’s Heroes Foundation and Operation Christmas For Our Troops & Their Families was created!

Contact Santa’s Elves at www.YellowRibbonAmerica.org to learn how YOU Can Help Support Your Local Military Units And Their families!

“Operation Christmas For Our Troops & Their Families” is a sponsored community outreach project of Our Nation’s Heroes Foundation and the Yellow Ribbon America News & Campaign for America’s Military members and their families. Our Nation’s Heroes Foundation is a California public benefit nonprofit corporation, with tax-exempt status under Sections 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code, EIN: 46-4762128.

Merry Christmas!

*The 2018 “Operation Christmas For Our Troops & Their Families” Christmas Drive for America’s Military and their Families is Now Mobilized!

“Mobilize” – verb: (Of a country or its government) prepare and organize (troops) for active service: “the government mobilized regular forces, reservists, and militia” · Synonyms: marshal · deploy · muster · rally · call up · assemble · mass · organize · prepare generate · arouse · awaken · excite · incite · provoke · foment · prompt · stimulate · stir up · galvanize · encourage · inspire · whip up · enkindle. Bring (resources) into use in order to achieve a particular goal: