Author: Michael Kidd

Easter Abroad

Michael Kidd

A Life On The Road

It can be hard to be a service member’s kid. Your parent works long hours and gets sent away for weeks and years at a time. They’re often sent to dangerous parts of the world to do a dangerous job. You can either be scared for their safety, or too young to understand the danger their in. Even if none of that happens by some chance, you still have to deal with constantly moving.

Living Overseas

Most military kids get used to moving relatively quickly, even if leaving a friend or beloved location can be heartbreaking. What is harder to adjust to is when you are stationed with your family overseas. I don’t just mean emotionally difficult. Learning about a new culture can be emotionally rewarding to many kids. However, adapting to a new culture is tiring to even the most enthusiastic child. This is especially true during holidays.

Holidays In Other Countries

No country does Easter quite like the US. Although parts of Europe certainly have their version of the holiday that they celebrate fairly enthusiastically, the way they celebrate is markedly different. Being closer to the Vatican and historical Christianity, Easter aligns more with Catholic tradition in Europe. That doesn’t necessarily mean the holiday is overtly religious, so much as the dates, parades, and celebrations incorporate more from Lent, Palm Sunday, Black Friday, and the Pentecost. Also, it shouldn’t be controversial to point out that no one does decadence and gifting quite like the United States. America does Easter big, loud, expensive, flashy, and above all else filled with chocolate.

Homesick

If there is one thing that makes a child homesick, it’s when something they expect to be extravagant is toned down by a new culture. April is the month of the military child, and also a month where many military children are dealing with a nasty case of homesickness. If there is a military child in your life, making sure the Easter Bunny visits is the best way to help them combat homesickness. My Hero Crate offers an Easter Basket loaded with all of the holiday favorites children in the United States have learned to love. Give them all the eggs, chocolates, bunnies, and activities that makes Easter such a special holiday for so many of our hero’s children!

Ukraine Through A Soldier’s Eyes

Michael Kidd

War In Ukraine

As of the writing of this article, the Russian military under orders from Vladimir Putin is continuing its assault on the nation of Ukraine. The news is filled with reports of horrors and of heroism every day. There is a very real fear that if our nation does too much or too little, the situation could spiral out of control and create a devastating war. How did we get here, what do most service members know, and how can you help to support our heroes as we all wait for answers?

A Little Background

There is a lot of complicated history concerning Ukraine and its history with Russia, and it is hard to get into all of it. A full understanding of the dynamic between these two countries would need to include a discussion of a lot of complicated topics. However, the reason the conflict between these two countries is so significant to us is because of our role in NATO. Although Ukraine is not a NATO member, it is bordered by them and does receive regular NATO support. Putin considers NATO to be encroaching on Russian sovereignty, and in many ways, this war is his way of telling NATO to back. If tensions with NATO cannot be cooled, there is a very real possibility that NATO allies led by the US will go to war with Russia.

What Do Our Heroes Know?

Something that is important to keep in mind while all of this is going on is that it’s very likely that any service member you can name knows almost nothing about what the military may be planning to do about Ukraine. Despite the concept many people have of the military being this tightly efficient machine, the truth is that every branch of the military can be a little chaotic. Your hero likely won’t know any earlier than you will if the military is going to deploy to handle the situation.

Taking Care Of Our Heroes

A soldier might not be able to tell you “if” or “when,” but they certainly know “who.” If things continue to escalate, there is a very real possibility that every currently enlisted member of the United States armed forces will be sent into a major war with Russia. That is fairly daunting information to be carrying if you’re a soldier. There’s a decent chance that the hero in your life is more nervous and stressed than they’ve been in years. Now more than ever, our service members need to know that we have their backs. My Hero Crate offers gifts to help the men and women in uniform relax and rejuvenate while they wait for news. These are trying times for service members. Knowing they have support from home makes all the difference.

Celebrating Our War Dogs

Michael Kidd

Celebrating Our War Dogs for National K9 Vet Day

Not all of our greatest heroes were human. Some of the greatest war heroes who ever lived walked on four paws. These heroic pups and pooches have been providing tactical and emotional support to our soldiers, sailors, and airmen for as long as the Armed Forces have existed. This March 13th, we celebrate some of the canine companions who came through under fire.

Smoky

When you think of the world’s greatest war dogs, you’re probably imagining a massive rottweiler or pitbull ripping out throats behind enemy lines. You probably don’t envision a dog small enough to easily fit inside a soldier’s helmet. But during WWII, a tiny Yorkie named Smoky became a bonafide American hero. After being found by Corporal William Wynne while he was stationed in New Guinea, Smoky went on to be a veteran and survivor of over 150 air raids. This 4-pound pooch’s biggest accomplishment came during a mission where engineers had to run a telegraph wire through an incredibly narrow tube. Doing so would have required military engineers to spend days digging in the middle of enemy territory. Who knows how many lives would have been lost? Thanks to Smoky being able to run the wire through the pipes, communications were maintained and casualties were prevented.

Smoky would then go on to live out the rest of their life as America’s first service dog, providing returning soldiers some much-needed emotional support after their combat tours.

Lucca

Some dogs have even been true combat heroes. Bomb detection dogs like Lucca have routinely risked their lives true protect service members from IED’s in Iraq and Afghanistan. Lucca managed to find over 40 bombs and insurgents during her many tours in Afghanistan. On her last mission, she even sacrificed a limb protecting her comrades in arms. Don’t worry though. She was back on her feet in ten days and is happily retired with her owner.

Sgt. Stubby

No list of canine heroes would be complete without Sgt. Stubby, the first dog to carry an official rank and awards in US military history. That’s right. The “Sgt.” in Sgt. Stubby’s name was not decorative. Stubby was officially recognized as a sergeant via their actions in combat during WWI. Stubby aided soldiers by alerting them of incoming artillery fire, locating and assisting wounded warriors, and at one time even subduing a German soldier until help could arrive.

Celebrate Our K9 Heroes

My Hero Crate is here to help you help our heroes by sending them much-needed care packages. The bad news is, we don’t offer much for dogs to enjoy. The good news is, our sister site Happy Pet Crate has everything you need! Why not celebrate K9 Vet Day by sending a K9 vet a great gift, such as a Good Dog Gift Box to thank them for their service. After all, being dogs doesn’t make them any less of a hero!

Working In The Winter

Michael Kidd

A Life Outside

Most people only have a vague idea of what servicemembers actually do day in and day out. Images of the men and women of the US armed forces tend to be centered around battles, boot camp, and maybe even a half-remembered episode of JAG. And although all of those things do happen, aside from JAG officers who look like Catherine Bell and David Elliot, they only tell a small part of the story. In order for any of the exciting heroics people associate with the military to happen, a lot of preparation must come first. And most of that preparation happens outside.

Train as You Fight

To begin with, it’s important to remember that the military is basically always training. They train with firearms. They do physical fitness training. They run obstacle courses. They conduct drills, field ops, and all manner of training exercises to ensure their bodies are ready when they’re needed. On my scariest day in Afghanistan, I could tell you almost word for word my entire panicky inner monologue. I was in the kind of situation where people freak out, and I was freaking out. Without proper training, I would have been a liability. I would have gotten myself hurt or killed at best, somebody else hurt or killed at worst. But because of the constant training, my body was able to act independently of my panicking brain. I didn’t need to think about what I needed to do. I just did it automatically while I was losing it.

Command Maintenance

The only thing that might be more important than constantly training is constantly maintaining equipment. A panicking soldier can drive away from a firefight. A broken vehicle can not. Every day, the military is inspecting, maintaining, and repairing equipment. Everyone from the official mechanics to the desk sergeant of the S-1 has had to do their part in maintaining the equipment that has been assigned to them. 

Wintertime

Almost all of this work is done outdoors, regardless of the weather. A common NCO joke is that “if it ain’t raining, we ain’t training,” meaning that unless training is happening in a torrential downpour, then it doesn’t really count as true training. During the winter, that means soldiers are out all day in the cold. Military-issued fleece caps and jackets, as well as long underwear, help to keep service members warm as they work. There are two major challenges this causes though. 

Limits of Protective Gear

First of all, not all of the work is conducive to protective winter gear. Some nuts, bolts, and screws need to be screwed into hard to locate places soldiers have to find by feel. That means no gloves. And if it is wet at all where a soldier is, whether by snow, ice, or rain, the protective gear becomes useless quickly.

Cold Weather, Hot Work

The other challenge is that the gear that keeps a service member warm can cause them to overheat when doing physical labor. If it isn’t safe to remove a jacket due to it being below freezing, a soldier has to deal with all the problems of hot weather and cold weather all at once.

Helping Our Heroes

Winter is a tough time for our men and women in uniform. They will have to work in the cold, all season long. Sending them a nice gift of tea or coffee could go a long way towards helping them get warm after a long day’s work. And a nice soothing bath can warm them up and let them fix any of the skincare issues the cold causes. Our heroes are working hard this winter. Help them take care of themselves with My Hero Crate.

Returning to Duty

Michael Kidd

The Holidays Are Over

There are no more gifts left to buy. No more New Year’s Eve parties to plan. No more pretending you know the words to Auld Lang Syne (or pretending that you were aware the song they play on the New year is called Auld Lang Syne). Trees are being taken down. Traveling loved ones are returning home. Life is returning to normal.

 A Soldier’s Normal

Some experiences are universal. That subdued dread about returning to a normal work schedule, for example. But when you’re a service member, that return to work is a whole lot harder than usual. Soldier’s days are usually longer, for example. Morning formation is around 6:30 am and soldiers are expected to be shaved, in uniform, and there at least 15 minutes early. If you’re on time, you’re late.

Hairy Times

Virtually every veteran you know will have a beard, especially if they did not do a full career in the military. After twenty-plus years of daily shaving, soldiers are more likely to stay in the habit. Soldiers who only do one term, however, are less likely to be in that habit. If you joined at 18 years old, you might not even need to shave every day at first. This means that most soldiers will return from leave with a certain amount of scruff. This means the first step for every male soldier returning from leave will almost certainly have to be shaving.

Holiday Food

Be honest: How much weight do you gain over the holidays? Studies show that the assertion that people gain five pounds over the holidays is flat wrong. That’s good. They also show that about 2/3rds of annual weight gain that is not lost occurs over the holidays. That’s bad. Service members don’t have a choice about shedding the holiday pounds. The military comes with strict physical fitness requirements. That means that the first few weeks of physical training (PT) after the holidays is by far the most grueling for a soldier. That is when they absolutely must get back into shape.

That First Morning

Picture this: after two weeks of being allowed to sleep in, and not having to shave unless you wanted to, you have to wake up at 6:00 am. Depending on if you had the time or foresight to shave last night, you may have to wake up earlier to make sure you’re in regulation. You head to your first formation. It’s January, and it’s freezing, but military training and discipline means you have to stand there until your First Sergeant dismisses you to conduct PT. You have to start working out on cold muscles that have been used almost exclusively for eating and drinking all December. Because the military is the way it is, you’ll likely be working out outside, and having to deal with being uncomfortably hot and uncomfortably cold at once. And all of that is just the precursor to returning to your full-time job, where you will consider yourself lucky to be released from duty before 6:00 pm.

Taking Care Of Our Heroes

Probably the worst of all is the homesickness. During the holidays, it’s real easy to feel close to the people at home. After returning, not so much. Right now is the time when our heroes need support from home more than ever. A Men’s R&R Gift Box will help them make the transition and speed up their shaving as they fight to stay in regulation. For women in uniform, the Women’s Relaxation Box will help them combat the dry skin and itchiness that comes with the winter season. Right now, our men and women in the service need our attention more than ever. The transition back to work after the holidays is a rough and lonely time.

Things To Think About When Buying Gifts For A Servicemember

Michael Kidd

Supporting The Troops This Holiday

It’s crunch time for anyone still buying Christmas gifts. The stores are running their best sales. The television is bombarding you with ads. Your relatives are making panicky phone calls to ask if you have any idea what your spouse wants for Christmas. The anxiety of those phone calls is making you forget everything you know about your spouse. It’s the most wonderful time of the year. And if you’re planning a gift for the servicemember in your life, you might want just a little bit of help to know what to send. Here is some wisdom to get you started.

Location, Location, Location

If you want to know what to buy a soldier, the first question to ask is where that soldier is stationed. A soldier who is deployed, or a sailor who is at sea, will likely be desperate for things that remind them of home. Things like their favorite candies, or their favorite soda are sure to be a hit. If they’re stationed in a stateside base, however, they’re likely able to just go buy their own. Likewise, to someone stationed in Alaska, snow supplies would be great. To someone in the Mojave desert, they probably just need a normal coat. Know where you’re sending gifts too.

Expect Delays

Breaking the fourth wall for a minute: I served six years in the military. In that time frame, I received mail at six bases spread across three continents with entirely different postal services and mail delivery processes. And in six years, I didn’t ever send or receive a package that wasn’t delayed, and I never heard of anyone who didn’t have the exact same experience. I don’t know why military delivery is delayed so often. It probably has something to do with security. But I can tell you as a fact that your expectation should be that your care package will get there when it gets there.

Service Members Are Still People

This one is the kind of thing that is something that most people know intellectually but tend to forget about when they’re actually planning a care package for a soldier. Most soldiers are men and women in their early twenties. It’s perfectly fine, useful even, to shop for them as such. For example, buying a 19-year-old boy the hottest video game is likely to be a huge hit. The military demands a different style than the civilian world, but not so terribly different that 19-year-olds aren’t fundamentally children who pay their own taxes.

You Can Never Go Wrong With Snacks

This bit of advice is useful, no matter who you’re shopping for. Everyone loves snacks. Everyone. Sending a servicemember a care package full of their favorite snacks, for example, My Hero Crate’s Military Snack Care Package, are guaranteed to be a hit. When all else fails, go with snacks.

Give Them A Break

If a service member can’t come home for the holidays, it’s almost certainly because they haven’t had time to take a break. So if they don’t have time to take a break, send the break to them. My Hero Crat5e has care packages tailored to both men and women to help them take a little time for themselves. Knowing that the people back home care about their well-being when they can’t make it home will mean the world to them.

 

And from all of us here at My Hero Crate, have a very Merry Christmas, and a Happy New Year.

Getting Ready For Your Service Member’s Homecoming

Michael Kidd

Holiday Leave Is Coming Up

Holiday leave. There is no more perfect combination of words in a soldier’s vocabulary. During the month of December, most military bases offer “block leave” opportunities, where entire weeks are marked off in the calendar for service members to visit home. Right around now, thousands of men and women in uniform are turning in their official leave requests and getting ready for a trip home. Here are some important things to keep in mind if you’re expecting a visit from a service member in your life over the holidays.

#1 – Leave is a Complicated Process

Imagine all the difficulties of planning a trip somewhere far away. Keep in mind all of the packing. Finding an affordable flight, or a safe driving route. Figuring out where you’re going to be staying. And so on, and so on. Whatever you’re imagining, go ahead and assume an extra four or five challenges have to be dealt with before holiday leave is even approved, let alone before your soldier can come home to you. And keep in mind that the army runs on paperwork. Every single step in the travel process doesn’t just need to be figured out, it needs to be documented. This leads to the next point.

#2 – Seeing You Took A Lot of Work

Picking someone up from an airport, especially if you don’t live particularly close to the airport, is never fun. And knowing that someone who you missed all year is in town and isn’t making the effort to come see you is frustrating. You have to keep in mind that it likely took weeks of work for a service member to see you. And a lot of that work had to be done during a soldier’s extremely limited free time. A single day driving to the airport or clearing time in your schedule to go to the place the visiting service member is staying is not that big of an ask. And if you haven’t seen them since they left for basic training, bear something else in mind.

#3 – The Military Changes People

The service member who comes home for a visit might not behave the same way as you’re used to. This can lead to a lot of tension between service members and their loved ones back home. The fact that many soldiers are under the age of 25 heightens that dramatically. You won’t get to be around to see them changing, and it might catch you off guard. Be sure to keep in mind that, even if they’ve changed, they are still fundamentally the person you love and were excited to have come home for holiday leave.

#4 – Not Everyone Gets to Go Home

Although the military does make an effort to let service members go home for the holiday, sometimes it just isn’t possible. There could be any number of reasons. They could be deployed somewhere where they are needed in December. Paperwork snafus can happen. They might not have enough leave days or money saved up. When that happens, your soldier is probably at least as bummed about it as you are, if not more. Why not show them you care over the holiday with one of My Hero Crate’s Care Packages? Our Christmas Gift Set is a perfect way to let your veteran know that you’re thinking of them and want to wish them a very Merry Christmas.

 

Whether you are seeing your family this year, or are stuck on base, all of us at My Hero Crate would like to wish our men and women in uniform a Happy Holiday.

Thanksgiving on Base

Michael Kidd

The Holidays Are Starting On Base

 

Military Life Between The Holidays

When you’re enlisted, you go where the military sends you. That isn’t even a rule, so much as a fact of life. Sometimes you get lucky, and you wind up getting a duty station relatively close to home, but just as likely you can wind up on the other side of the country, if not the other side of the planet. This can be really exciting sometimes. Being stationed far away from home is the perfect opportunity to expand your horizons. You can learn what people are like in other countries. You can try foods and restaurants you had never even considered before. You might even pick up a few words in a foreign language. All of that is fun. And then Thanksgiving starts inching closer.

 

Ain’t No Place Like Home

Even if you do have an opportunity to take leave for Christmas, and you don’t always have that opportunity, you probably won’t have enough leave days or money to go home for both Thanksgiving and Christmas. Especially if you’re lower-ranking, it can take just as much time to save leave days as it does to save up vacation money. And without time or money, you’ll be spending Thanksgiving on base. Often the base is hundreds or thousands of miles away from your family. It’s not even possible to drive home for a weekend away. That can be a depressing experience to deal with.

 

Bringing Home To You

However, it’s also a time that really highlights the camaraderie and culture of life on base. All around you, your fellow service members go out of their way to ensure everyone who lives there gets to celebrate the holiday. The cooks put in extra work to make sure every soldier can eat their favorites from home. Decorations are hung all over the dining facility to make it look as festive as possible. All of the base’s administrators work double-time to make sure no service member is forced to miss out on the joy of Thanksgiving.

 

A Day Of Gratitude

Officers don their dress uniforms and serve the soldiers. Good officers show their gratitude regularly, but Thanksgiving is probably the most sincere and human gesture of gratitude higher-ranking service members offer to lower-ranking members all year. They make speeches commemorating the soldiers’ hard work and dedication over the course of the year. 

 

Above & Beyond The Call Of Duty

The service members lucky enough to have their families living on or near the base go even further than that. Many of them invite fellow service members into their homes to join their family’s festivities. These soldiers, uncoerced and without obligation, open up their homes to ensure that none of their brothers and sisters in arms have to go without. Many young soldiers have found themselves embraced whole-heartedly by the families of their squad members. For many service members, Thanksgiving on base can be safer, more comfortable, and less stressful than the Thanksgiving they knew growing up. Everyone is given a seat at the table, both metaphorically and literally. All are welcome. All are loved. All are members of the family.

 

Ringing In The Season 

Being on the base over Thanksgiving is a challenging experience when the base is nowhere near your family. And the beautiful thing about that is that that is when everyone living on base works a little bit harder to make life better for everyone. It’s a phenomenal show of generosity that perfectly heralds in the Christmas season.

 

Thanksgiving Is For Gratitude

Our service members give up so much for us. They make phenomenal sacrifices for their fellow countrymen every day, but especially around the holidays. If you would like to show our men and women in the service how grateful you are for their service this Thanksgiving, My Hero Crate is happy to give a little bit of the holidays back to service members who can’t get home for Thanksgiving. Simply purchase a Thanksgiving Care Package to ensure that a service member can have a little taste of the holiday, no matter where they are in the world.

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