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Tag: Veterans Day

  • Carrie Underwood Wows Crowd With Songs, Writes Essay

    Carrie Underwood wowed the crowd with her songs at The Concert for Valor in Washington, D.C. on Veterans Day. She also recently wrote a poignant essay that hit home on Veterans Day, too. It detailed a story that touched her both personally and profoundly.

    The pregnant country crooner was stunning at The National Mall. She wore a black, long sleeve, tuxedo-collar coat dress featuring an empire waist, along with a speckled skirt that draped over her growing baby bump. She paired these pieces with an ivory scarf and black, stiletto over-the-knee suede boots.

    Time magazine reports that Carrie Underwood sang two of her older songs and one new one. She performed her 2013 single “See You Again,” her 2006 hit “Before He Cheats” and her new song “Something in the Water.” She was backed by the Singing Sergeants of the U.S. Air Force for all three.

    The Concert for Valor was broadcast on HBO, and featured Bruce Springsteen, the Foo Fighters, the Zac Brown Band, Metallica, the Black Keys, Rihanna, Eminem, and Carrie Underwood’s fellow American Idol alum and Grammy winner, Jennifer Hudson.

    Time magazine published Underwood’s essay. In it, the country singer talked about how “one brave girl and her mother” had bought tickets to one of her shows for their family.

    “The girl’s father was supposed to be home from deployment by the time the show rolled around,” she wrote. “Tragically, he never made it.”

    Underwood met with the woman and her daughter.

    “The mother told me the story that I already knew, and told me how much ‘See You Again’ meant to them,” she wrote. “I could tell that they both had amazing faith that the most important man in their lives was looking down on them and waiting for them. I guess hearing it in a song solidified that belief a little more.”

    “I am still amazed at how strong they both were,” Underwood said. “They might have found a little comfort in one of my songs. But because of their story and the many others like it that I have heard since, I’ll never sing that song the same way again.”

    Carrie Underwood has lauded U.S. troops and veterans for years. She has performed for U.S. troops in Kuwait, Iraq, and at home–and she has met many times with members of the military and the spouses of servicemen and women who’ve been deployed abroad.

    Did you catch any of Carrie Underwood’s performance on HBO on Veterans Day? Kudos to her and the rest of Tuesday’s performers for honoring U.S. military veterans.

  • Carrie Underwood Pens Heartfelt Essay For Veteran’s Day

    Carrie Underwood recently shared how one military family changed the way she sings “See You Again.”

    The 31-year-old singer penned a heartwarming essay for Time magazine in honor of Veteran’s Day.

    She opened the essay with explanation about the basis of lyrics in country music. One of the things she loves about the genre is how most songs are based off stories.

    “It’s all about the stories. That’s what I’ve always loved about country music. And now that I am blessed enough to make my own contributions to country music, it’s still the stories that I love,” Carrie wrote.

    “But the only stories I love more than the ones I get to write and sing about are the ones that I hear from those who listen my songs,” she wrote.

    Of course, “See You Again” is no different. However, the song now holds more sentimental value to the Grammy Award-winning. She went on to reveal why.

    “I’ve been blessed enough to get to perform for and be involved in various events and projects that support the amazing men and women of our military,” she wrote.

    “I’ve done everything from touring with the USO in Iraq and Kuwait, to playing shows at military bases in the U.S., to writing songs for special projects used to benefit our military members and their families,” the singer-songwriter recalled. I’ve met countless brave souls that sacrifice their time and effort to keep us safe here at home.”

    She continued, “And I’ve met many spouses and children of those who don’t make it back home. Those are the stories that I could never and would never want to forget.”

    The Blown Away singer also delved into makings of “See You Again,” and how the song has had such an impact on her life.

    “See You Again,” a song I co-wrote and included on my last album, tells different stories to different people. It often means something different to each person who hears it,” Carrie explained.

    “To many it’s a song about moving on after the death of a loved one—about wanting to see that person again, and knowing that eventually they will. But I never dreamed that so many would relate to it in such a powerful way,” she wrote.

    Carrie Underwood also performed at The Concert for Valor on Veterans Day.

  • Sarah Jessica Parker Among Many Stars Saying Thanks

    Sarah Jessica Parker, Roseanne Barr, Jimmy Kimmel, Carrie Underwood, and Courteney Cox are just a few celebrities who gave Twitter shout-outs to our men and women in the U.S. Armed Forces in honor of Veterans Day.

    You’ve probably seen a lot of American Flags flying high today on various social media sites. Tuesday, November 14 marks a day to give thanks and show gratitude to the 19.6 million veterans that serve our country.

    Many of our veterans have issues when they return to civilian life. About 77% struggle to get a job, with 25% unable to find a job after one year of searching. There is hope, however, several corporations like Walmart and Starbucks, have started hiring initiatives for vets. Veterans can go to the eBenefits site to help find employment and search for other helpful VA links.

    It’s estimated that 22 veterans kill themselves every day. Their families are also at risk due to the emotional stress of a loved one being deployed into battle. Kristina Kaufmann, executive director of Code of Support Foundation, warns, “If we can’t figure out a way to provide better support for families, the public will pay one way or another.”

    There are many ways to help our veterans. You can click here to learn how to do a few simple things that will go a long way in providing support to the men and women who risk their lives for our freedom.

    Sex and the City star Sarah Jessica Parker gave some advice on how to support veterans by getting involved with fundraising.

    Additionally, many celebrities expressed their gratitude and thanks on Twitter today.

  • ‘Veteran’s Day’ Google Doodle Results In ‘Did You Mean’ Results

    Google has a doodle up for Veterans Day. Interestingly, clicking it takes you to a search for “Veteran’s Day” with an apostrophe, complete with a “Did you mean: Veterans Day” prompt.

    I’m sure it’s a common error, and Google does return results for “Veterans Day,” but I can’t see I’ve ever seen Google point a doodle to a search that required a “did you mean”.

    If you’ll notice on the image of the homepage, Google is displaying a link under the search box. This takes you to a Google Careers page for veterans, which Google says, “make great Googlers.”

    From there, veterans can find more info on opportunities in engineering, infrastructure and data centers, sales, operations, etc., including how to apply.

    This morning, Google is also displaying a bar at the top of the screen asking people to donate to help fight Ebola.

    Image via Google

  • Mark Wahlberg Stars In Peter Berg’s “Lone Survivor” – Trailer

    With today being Veteran’s Day, what a perfect day to check out the trailer for the upcoming real-life military thriller “Lone Survivor”. Based on the best-selling memoir by Marcus Luttrell, the film tells the true story of the 2005 “Operation Red Wings“, which saw Navy SEALs caught off-guard when a simple reconnaissance mission quickly became a fight for their lives against the overwhelming Taliban army.

    Written and directed by Peter Berg, “Lone Survivor” stars Mark Wahlberg, Ben Foster, Taylor Kitsch and Emile Hirsch. Eric Bana also shows up in the film as the lieutenant commander who loses contact with his men, and who ultimately leads the rescue mission for Luttrell, Wahlberg’s character. You can read the official synopsis below:

    “Lone Survivor tells the story of four Navy SEALs on an ill-fated covert mission to neutralize a high-level Taliban operative who are ambushed by enemy forces in the Hindu Kush region of Afghanistan. Based on The New York Times bestseller, this story of heroism, courage and survival.”

    The film will see a limited release on December 27th, before expanding nationwide on January 10th.

    Below you can see the first trailer for the film, which was released this past August.

    (Image: YouTube)

  • Veterans Day Gets A Google Doodle

    Veterans Day Gets A Google Doodle

    Today is Veterans Day in the United States, and Google is honoring veterans with a homepage doodle.

    When the user clicks, they’re presented with a query for “veterans day,” and Google’s quick answer result:

    Monday, November 11 (Veterans Day 2013).

    The top organic search result is from the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, and gives the user a history of Veterans Day. Here’s an excerpt:

    World War I – known at the time as “The Great War” – officially ended when the Treaty of Versailles was signed on June 28, 1919, in the Palace of Versailles outside the town of Versailles, France. However, fighting ceased seven months earlier when an armistice, or temporary cessation of hostilities, between the Allied nations and Germany went into effect on the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month. For that reason, November 11, 1918, is generally regarded as the end of “the war to end all wars.”

    In November 1919, President Wilson proclaimed November 11 as the first commemoration of 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…”

    Click over to read the whole story.

    The second most relevant result, according to Google, is another page from the site, showing a map of community celebrations around the country.

    After that, it gets into news results, the obligatory Wikipedia entry, and results from History.com and About.com.

    Google first began acknowledging the day with doodles in 2007 after being criticized for not doing so in previous years. Here are three past Veterans Day doodles from Google from 2007, 2011 and 2012 respectively.

    Google Veterans Day Doodle 2007

    Google Doodle for Veterans Day 2011

    Google Doodle for Veterans Day 2012

    Bing is also honoring veterans with a homepage image today.

    Veterans Day on Bing

    Last week, Google ran an interesting doodle celebrating the 129th birthday of psychoanalyst Hermann Rorschach. You can see more of Google’s recent doodles here.

    In the UK today, Google is showing a flower on the homepage for Remembrance Day.

    Google honors Remembrance Day in UK

  • Homeless Veteran Gets a Makeover in This Moving Timelapse

    Pull our your tissues, guys. This is a powerful one.

    Sometimes, all you need to make a fresh start is a little help. Jim Wolf, a US Army vet who has struggled with homelessness and alcoholism, was recently given a makeover by non-profit Degage Ministries. The incredible timelapse video of that makeover is below:

    According to Degage, Jim has managed to start attending AA meetings and even has some housing lined up.

    Remember, Monday is Veteran’s Day. You can donate to Degage on online fundraising site YouCaring.com.

    Images via YouTube

    [RobBlissCreative via Buzzfeed]

  • Veterans Day, 11/11/11 & Catvertising

    Veterans Day, 11/11/11 & Catvertising

    Today’s video round-up includes a couple of tributes to our veterans, a couple nods to the whole 11/11/11 thing, and some other things that are being shared around.

    View more video round-ups here.

    Veterans Day 2011:

    11/11/11:

    Eleven heads on 11/11/11:

    Game deaths:

    Catvertising:

    Anaemia by LiteWerx:

    Slicing an image for Google+ scrapbook:

    Photographers vs. videographers:

  • Veterans Day Honored With New “Google For Veterans” Site

    In honor of Veterans Day, Google created a touching Google Doodle to be displayed on their home page. That’s not the only way that they are honoring our military vets, however. Today, they announced a new site called Google for Veterans and a brand new YouTube channel that helps vets find applicable resources as well as connect with other vets across the country.

    Google developed Google for Veterans as a platform where vets and their families can find all the free Google products that can help them while serving and when coming home and trying to transition into civilian life. Here’s how it’s described on the Google blog:

    Today, on Veterans Day, I am proud to share a few Google tools and platforms for the military veteran community. They can be accessed on our website, Google for Veterans and Families, which was created by veterans and their family and friends, who work at Google. This single interface brings together Google products and platforms for servicemembers and their families. We believe it will be useful to all veterans, whether still in the service, transitioning out, or on a new path in their civilian lives

    Here are some of the things that Google makes available to vets:

    Safe access to all their military documents and resume building with Google Docs

    “Reliving” their service with Picasa

    Chatting with other vets on a Google+ hangout

    Google provides real-life uses for many of their products like Google Docs, Google+, YouTube, Maps, Picasa, etc. by giving vets detailed how-tos.

    Another new resource that Google launched today is the new Veterans channel on YouTube. There, vets are encouraged to record videos to share with loved ones, or post videos that give tips to other vets on how to deal with certain issues – like coming home. The channel is also a place for civilians to post tributes to servicemen and women.

  • Veterans Day Honored With A Google Doodle

    Today, as you probably already know, is Veterans Day in the United States. Formerly known as Armistice Day (and still known as that in other countries), Veterans day is a federal holiday that is celebrated every year on November 11th in honor of our military veterans.

    As long at the November 11th falls on a weekday, that’s when it is celebrated. That’s due to the significance of the number “11” when it comes to WWI. The armistice that formally ended major hostilities was signed on the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month. So this year, at least numerically, is a pretty special Veterans Day. The fact that it’s 2011 makes this Veterans day a real 11/11/11 celebration.

    But of course, it’s not about numbers – it’s about the near 25 million U.S. military veterans (and active service members) that work hard every day to promote the well being of the country.

    Google’s Veterans Day Doodle is a simple representation of hope, memory, and vigilance. In the logo, Google is written in the clouds, except for the “L.” That is represented by a tree, bearing the yellow ribbon – a symbol that has become synonymous with remembering our military men and women.

    The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs has released this video to honor the holiday. But they also want to reach out and convey the message that Veterans Day is not just about celebrating our troops on one day a year. It’s about showing gratitude year-round.

    The President will honor Veterans Day with a breakfast at the White House and a laying of a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknowns.

    And Veterans Day will also be celebrated in a unique way today – with a little college basketball. Michigan State will play North Carolina will play the first ever game on an Naval aircraft carrier in front of 7,000 people this afternoon. The game will be played on the USS Carl Vinson, the same ship that carried Osama bin Laden to his sea burial.