mark your calendars!

Mark your calendars for JULY 18-24!!!!!!!!!!!!! We are looking for roughly 12-15 volunteers a day to clean the Cam-Plex Morningside Park grandstands after the morning rodeos throughout the week. We will be making $1,400 dollars that will go toward care packages.

Here’s a rough schedule: (each day should take an hour to two to finish, depending on the number of volunteers)

Sunday, July 18–2:00p.m. (Cleanup must be completed by 3:30pm)

Monday-Saturday, July 19-24–12:30pm

If you can help, please email SOS with your name and number and the days that you would like to work. If you do not live in Gillette, feel free to contact us and we will discuss host home opportunities. 307-660-1861

— the SOS Team

thank a hero: wave a flag

Today dawned a typical spring day in Wyoming: absolutely freezing cold with wind-blown snow. Yesterday had been a bit better with no snow, and I’m glad for that; yesterday was the day most of our friends had turned out to honor fallen soldier Lance Corporal Jacob Ross while his body was brought home. And there we had stood, more than forty-four people on each side of the road, making a red, white, and blue archway over one lane of the road. A total of eight-eight flags had waved in the bitter wind while the motorcade slowly wound its way up the hill. We had all waited an hour and a quarter for it to arrive and were all frozen by the time it went by.

While putting up those eighty-eight flags afterwards, we had made to tell everybody we could to join us again the next day to honor Lance Corporal Ross again as his body was taken to the cemetery for burial.

That was today, and we showed up again. We did, and so did another family and a few others. That was it. A total of six flags snapped in the wind.

The motorcade rolled by. Today it traveled faster than it had yesterday, and we quickly rolled up the flags and got out of the road. One man rolled down his window and yelled a “thank you”. Several others stopped by and thanked us, too. We hadn’t done much, but it had meant a whole lot.

Later on, I learned our local National Guard section had returned home today as well. On the same day we laid to rest an American Hero, we welcomed home many more. And that is the spirit of America — show me any other country whose small towns turn out to honor one single fallen soldier, and then turns around and honors those who made it out alive in the course of a single day, and I’ll consider moving. But I don’t believe you’ll find one. That’s what makes America so great.

So today was a bittersweet day for many of us. And there will be many more. But it was also a day that we could show our true colors — those of the Red, White, and Blue.

Thank a hero today.

— Killeen Partridge

thank a hero: who is a celebrity?

I slid into the computer chair. Finally I had some time to check my email. Ok, so I know I won’t die if I don’t check my email every day, but…

I signed in and cleared out the one or two junk mails that I get once in a while. No, I don’t want a job with eBay! And then I looked at a Facebook update. Does anybody really care that Jane Jones likes chicken sandwiches? Whatever. Into the archives those two went. Two down, one to go. Ahh, this could be interesting. I always enjoy getting updates on my favorite bands, and this one happened to be a Celtic Thunder update. I read through it. They had to be kidding me! So, I read through it again. I shook my head.

This Valentine’s Day, you can win a phone call from your favorite Celtic Thunder sweetheart! After filling out our simple entry form, you will have a chance get your name drawn to receive a call from Damian, Ryan, George, Paul or Keith on February 14th. Winners will be notified in advance on Friday, February 12 and we’ll arrange a convenient time to call you on Valentine’s Day! Good luck!

I choked laughing. It was about as ludicrous as the Bye Bye Birdie! plot! I mean, One Lucky Girl Gets a Kiss (in this case a phone call) from her Favorite Heartthrob!

Is that all we as Americans, can think about? Do celebs really mean that much to Americans that we would die if we got a phone call from them? Would we really care if we won a call from a serviceman or woman? Perhaps we need to really rethink our celebrities and those we fawn all over just for their signature and a picture with them. Can we, in good conscience, raise our celebrities on a higher pedestal than those who have sacrificed their lives for our country?

I once read a quote that said a singing army is a happy army. Now, having favorite bands or singers is not a bad thing. But I am saying that perhaps we need to readjust our priorities, and perhaps we need to raise our opinions of our servicemen and women. We need to raise it up enough it that would make our day if we won a call from a hero.

So thank a hero today. Because they’re celebrities too.

— Killeen Partridge

thank a hero: introduction

I yelled when my team beat their state rival in an edge of your seat game. I cheered when my team won the SEC Championships. I felt angry when they showed Tim Tebow crying at the end of a stressful game, even though he wasn’t on “my team”. I ran home when I suddenly remembered my team was playing in five minutes. I sat back two days ago to witness my team beat the Texas Longhorns in the BCS Championship game. I felt for Texas when QB Colt McCoy had to sit the rest of the game because of an injury to his shoulder/arm. I cheered for my team. The Alabama Crimson Tide had rolled across the Longhorns to a victory of 37-21. At least half the stadium cheered and screamed with me.

In today’s world of plasma flat screen TVs, football, and Super Bowl parties, we seem to have forgotten the real heroes in our country. When I mention the Crimson Tide, you think Mark Ingram. When I mention the Longhorns, you think Colt McCoy. When I mention Denver, you think Broncos. When I mention the Gators, you think Tim Tebow. And I could go on and on. But when I mention the United State’s Armed Forces, you think Pearl Harbor or D-Day. Why is it that the American people have forgotten today’s soldiers and today’s battles? Why is it that football stars are heroes, but our Military men and women aren’t?

But what is today’s definition of a hero? Is it the referees, who make fair football games a reality, or is it the player who makes a winning touchdown? Is it the everyday voters who choose the winner of America’s Got Talent, or is it the contestant? Is it the God who is worshiped Sunday, or is it the band who leads worship? Is it the Military men and women who throw themselves in harm’s way to keep our Nation safe, or is it the President of the United States? What really is the definition of hero?

The Merriam Webster dictionary defines a hero as 1) a mythological or legendary figure often of divine descent endowed with great strength or ability, 2) an illustrious warrior, 3) a man admired for his achievements and noble qualities, 4) one that shows great courage, 5) the principal male character in a literary or dramatic work, 6) the central figure in an event, period, or movement, or 7) an object of extreme admiration and devotion.

Look at the Jonas brothers. What make them heroes? Fans’ extreme admiration and devotion. But look at our Armed Forces. They may not be treated as heroes, but certainly they fit at least two of the definitions of a hero — an illustrious warrior, and one that shows great courage. Why then do we not treat them as heroes?

Trying to watch the BCS Championship game two nights ago, I had to put the antenna on top of a stool (which was on top of a chair) just to get good reception. I then sat down, and promptly got up to get the hot dogs out of the oven. Finally I was able to sit down and stay down to enjoy the game; but you can’t just watch the game through. No, you have to sit through commercial after commercial. And what do a lot of the commercials tell us today? That the average American male is a brainless, chauvinist, child-killing war monger and that there is no way he is a hero; that’s left up to the women. But that’s not all! This theme even presents itself in the news and throughout TV talk shows! The average American person is being brainwashed whenever they turn on the TV. No wonder we no longer treat our Armed Forces as heroes.

What do you think? Are our Military men and women, who protect this country so that I can watch my Crimson Tide crush the Longhorns of a Thursday evening, a hero to you? Without our Armed Forces, we would probably all be speaking German. And what if the government decided this whole “freedom thing” was getting old and decided to make it a law that everyone become fans of the Texas Longhorns? I and a whole lot of others would be in a world of hurt. I don’t even look good in orange!

Take time today to thank a hero!

— Killeen Partridge

I Was With You

I was with you when your son died,
There when his dog tags came home,
I held you in my arms,
Wiped the tears from your eyes.

I was with you when you flew over,
When you watched the trenches take the news,
I guided your plane,
And landed you out of harm’s way.

I was with you December 7th,
When you bravely fired at the bombers,
I helped you to withstand,
And held the machine gun for you.

I was with you on the beach,
When you stormed Normandy,
I was with you when you gave your life,
So that others might be free.

I was with you in the P.O.W. camps,
There I held your hand,
I helped you to escape,
And gave you strength to withstand.

I was with every one of you,
Though you may not have guessed,
I never did desert you,
To comfort someone else.

I loved all of you,
From the bottom of My heart,
I gave My life for you,
So that you might die for others without fear.

I remembered you,
Even though some didn’t remember Me,
I will always be with you,
Even though you may not say, “Come in”.

I will always keep you,
Help you through the trials,
I hope you will let me in,
To live eternally.

“I was With You” by Killeen Partridge

new website launched

It’s been a long time coming, but welcome to the new soscarepackages.com! Make sure to friend us on Facebook, follow us on Twitter, subscribe to us on YouTube, and tell us what you think on any of those channels — and our new blog, too, where we’ll be posting news, updates, and articles to keep you up to date on what we’re doing.

Thanks so much for dropping by, and Merry Christmas!

promo photoshoot

Here are some of the results of our promo photoshoot a few weeks ago. We went to our local war memorial/park for the shoot, which was a lot of fun!