Tag: gifts for military members

Sustainability and Eco-Friendly Practices at My Hero Crate

Jenifer Calandra

Plus, Learn How Your Hero Can Reuse Our Military Care Package Boxes!

Although it isn’t a federal holiday and it doesn’t get much special recognition, one of our favorite days to celebrate is Earth Day. We love it so much, we’ve ensured we’re celebrating it every day at My Hero Crate, while we carefully design, assemble, and send care packages for service members all over the world.

Within the last year, we’ve made important business decisions to ensure our daily operations align with our belief in the importance of protecting our planet and adopting sustainable practices. Your military hero can, too, by recycling their olive-drab care package box and its tissue paper, or by repurposing them for something awesome.

Armed Forces Care Packages Are Kind to the Planet

In early 2020, we transitioned to sustainable packaging for all our care package packing materials, including stickers, which are printed with soy-based ink, and tissue paper.

We source these materials from a company called no.issue, who produces fully-recyclable packaging certified by the Eco-Alliance and plants trees each time customers place an order for their packaging. Our boxes also are certified by the Forest Stewardship Council, which promotes sustainability and restorative practices for forests everywhere. 

Care Package Recipients Can Help Us

When you send a military care package to your loved one in the Army, Navy, Marine Corps, Air Force, National Guard, or Coast Guard, remind them to recycle the box and tissue paper when they’re done enjoying the contents of their gift.

Or, you can give them ideas for how they might repurpose our sturdy care package boxes in their living quarters on or off base. For example, they might use them to:

-Store a first aid kit in their linen closet. Your hero is likely to need bandages for blisters from going on lengthy rucks in their boots. Having a convenient place to keep the necessities makes it easier to start the healing process. Our sturdy camo boxes are perfect for that.

-Keep letters and photographs from home all in one place, inside their footlocker or other dedicated personal storage space.

-Organize their underwear or sock drawer in their bedroom, by using the box to create a divided area for these small clothing items, like Marie Kondo told you to.

-Sort important paperwork, if they have a desk job. Perhaps they’re working on a special project, and they don’t want documents to get lost or end up with a coffee mug ring on them. Our boxes can get the job done.

-Stow away small personal effects so they don’t get lost, like pencils, envelopes, spare eating utensils from MREs, and other mementos.

With a few buddies and some downtime, devise a new game and use the cardboard from the box to create the game board.

Sustainability Efforts at My Hero Crate

Since the birth of our company, our leaders have worked diligently to ensure that all areas of the business adopt sustainable practices to protect the environment, starting with our ordering system, and moving all the way to our behind-the-scenes team members. We’re fully paperless, which means we don’t use tree-based products in our daily office work.

Every time you send a care package to your military member at home or overseas, you’re supporting our efforts to create a healthier Earth. Thank you for doing your part.

Learn More

For more information on green ideas and our Eco-Alliance packaging, visit www.noissue.co, or contact our customer service team if you have any questions. 

Introducing Think Jerky, Our New Brand Partner

Jenifer Calandra

Find Their Products in an Upcoming Military Care Package

We love the idea of incorporating healthier, high-protein snacks in our armed forces care packages because they’ll help nourish hungry heroes as they work hard on base or during deployment. So you can imagine how excited and proud we are to be partnering with American company Think Jerky!

Why Think Jerky is Special

Did you know that most jerky products you find at your local store are high in sugars? That’s what sets Think Jerky apart; it’s both healthy and delicious, and doesn’t include the “bad” parts of other store-bought jerkies.

Think Jerky uses only restaurant-quality, sustainable, 100% grass-fed beef or free-range turkey in their jerky, and never adds any hormones, antibiotics, or genetically modified ingredients. Every turkey or beef jerky product, including the jerky sticks, is gluten free, too, making them a wonderful option for military members sticking to a special diet, like paleo.

One of our favorite parts of Think Jerky products is that we can read and understand every ingredient on the ingredient list. In fact, the Classic Beef Jerky has just eight ingredients, all of which you could find in your own kitchen! Your hero will know exactly what they’re putting into their body, and you can take pride in knowing that you’re sending the very best military care package from My Hero Crate for your loved one in the Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine Corps, National Guard, or Coast Guard.

Our Army Care Packages Include Think Jerky (And They’re For Every Other Military Branch, Too)

Would your beloved service member want to try a Think Jerky product in their next military care package from you? Order them our Sweet & Salty Care Package, which will include Think Jerky beef jerky effective immediately! We think your hero will love the tasty steak flavor with chef-curated spices in flavors like Classic, Sesame Teriyaki, and Sweet Chipotle.

We’ll also be including them periodically in our military care package subscription service, so if you’re sending your hero a monthly service member care package, then they’ll get Think Jerky products to try (and love), too!

Send your hero a care package with Think Jerky today.

Self Care Ideas for Military Spouses

Jenifer Calandra

Reduce Stress and Refresh Your Mind, Body, and Spirit with These Ideas

It can be hard to focus on yourself when your life gets crazy. Perhaps your spouse is deployed, and you’re shouldering the responsibility of working, taking care of the home, raising children, and dealing with all the household issues as they arise.

But even though you’re busy, it’s important that you stop and take some time to practice self care. It will help keep your spirits up, keep you feeling positive, and give you a burst of energy you definitely need as you face down the next big thing you have to handle. 

Try these ideas for self care, and take time out for yourself.

-“Borrow” your child’s coloring books and color a few pages. You’d be surprised how relaxing it is!

-Choose healthier snack options, and encourage your family to make better food choices, too. You can help your service member make good snack choices by sending our April self-care themed subscription box from My Hero Crate.

-Take an extra-long shower and use your favorite and best soaps and scrubs. You deserve it.

-If the weather is nice, take a walk. Bring along a friend or your kids to burn off a little extra energy.

-Visit a state park and go hiking.

-Have a dance party in your living room. Pick out only your favorite songs and get moving.

-Take a yoga class or meditation class on base, or watch an instructional video on YouTube to learn how.

-Go to bed early or on time every night. You’ll be surprised at how much more well-rested you’ll feel.

-Watch your favorite movie or TV show, alone, with no interruptions.

-Utilize on-base hourly child care and spend an afternoon of “you time” doing whatever you want.

-Read a book for fun.

-Get a salon haircut and blow dry.

-Go shopping and pick out something for yourself.

-Volunteer for a cause you support.

-Drink water throughout the day instead of tea or soda. Invest in a nice water bottle that you can carry around with you.

-Try aromatherapy, using your favorite lotions scented with essential oils, like the one in our April military subscription box.

-Pay yourself a compliment every time you have a negative thought about yourself.

-Hug a stuffed animal.

-Take your lunch break outside.

-Clean your bedroom.

-Ban smartphones for an afternoon. Put yours in a drawer and ignore it!

-Spend quality time with your pet.

-Watch a favorite cartoon from your childhood. You can probably find some episodes for free on your favorite streaming service!

-Write your military hero a letter and drop it in the mail.

-Take time off from cooking and order a pizza for dinner one night this week.

-Refresh a room in your home with small upgrades, like a new bath mat in the bathroom, a new set of curtains in the bedroom, and a scented candle for the living room.

-Do some arts and crafts! Try your hand at junk journaling, scrapbooking, painting, knitting, embroidery, and more.

Spread Self Care to Your Loved on in the Armed Forces

Just as self care is important to you, while you’re at home, it’s also important for your military member, wherever they are in the world.

That’s why My Hero Crate is pleased to announce that our April military gift box is full of items that make self care accessible and easy. Your hero will feel their stress melt away, even for a moment, as they enjoy the gift you sent them! And shipping is always free to APO, DPO, and FPO addresses.

Send a monthly care package to your military hero.

The Human Connection: How an Army Vet Provides Support to Today’s Service Members (and How You Can, Too)

Jenifer Calandra

Start with an Military Care Package from My Hero Crate

Ellyse Corbeil is an expert at helping people.

During her seven-year stint in the Navy, during which she was deployed three times on the U.S.S. Ronald Reagan and at Guantanamo Bay, she served as a religious program specialist. She was tasked with helping Navy sailors and officers navigate through big emotions and obstacles related to life — work-related or not.

“I helped people on a human level,” Ellyse explained. “If you were struggling with your career, we could coach you or help you find a better fit.”

She also recalled a time she and her team helped a very young sailor find connections – his peers where he was stationed, dealing with the same things —  to help him feel better and see he wasn’t alone.

“We didn’t always want to give a solution,” she said. “We wanted them to figure it out, with our nudging and guidance.”

Advice for Everyone Enduring Military Life

The most important piece of advice for anyone traversing difficulties while deployed, changing duty stations, or dealing with any other issue, Ellyse said, is to find healthy connections.

These connections include family and friends back home who you should re-establish regular contact with and new people around you, who you share things in common with. 

Healthy connections help you see how others have dealt with similar issues, give you a sounding board for advice, and relieve the pangs of homesickness or loneliness. 

How to Help Your Hero Away from Home

You don’t have to be a skilled counselor or mental health expert to make your military hero feel better about being away from home or missing their family.

“Do the best of your ability to provide support,” Ellyse advises. “And do what you can to not stress out service members while they’re deployed.”

Her top recommendation for spreading good cheer to deployed service members? Sending care packages and mail.

“They make people happy,” she said. “When they receive their packages, they share their treats. A care package is never wasted.”

Ellyse recalls the happiness that comes from receiving an armed forces care package in the mail, which is why she still sends them regularly —  and lots of them —  to her friends who are still enlisted.

“I love the My Hero Crate concept, because it makes sending a care package so easy,” she said. “Especially if you aren’t sure what your loved one wants, or if they aren’t the kind of person to openly ask for items.”

Send a monthly military care package to your service member through the subscription program from My Hero Crate, so your loved one feels connected to home.

Using Military Resources

The Navy isn’t the only branch of the military with a religious program specialist. In fact, the same role exists in the Marine Corps, and in the Air Force and Army, it’s called chaplain assistant, although Ellyse acknowledges being religious had nothing at all to do with her role.

If your service member needs to talk to someone, Ellyse said it was easy to reach out. They could call, email, or show up in the office at any time.

Fleet and Family Support Programs are another option for service members and their immediate family members living on base. Counseling and helping with family issues is their specialty, along with helping people transition to their new duty station and to life in the Navy in general.

Feel At Home in Your Rental with These Decorating Tips

Jenifer Calandra

Make Your Current Duty Station Home Feel Cozy!

Moving from duty station to duty station gets old quickly, and settling into another temporary home is no longer novel or interesting. And it’s hard to make something feel like home when you don’t have much control over the finishes inside your new home. Such is the nature of renting or living in base housing.

Thankfully, there are creative ways you can make your new living space feel more like home, and you don’t have to spend a ton of money to do it!

Your favorite service member care package experts have a few tips for customizing your rental home. Check them out – and show us if you brought one to life in your space, by tagging us on social media @myherocrate. 

Apply Removable Wallpaper

It’s possible your landlord or military housing restrictions won’t let you paint the walls of your home. It’s really unfortunate, because sometimes a pop of color on a wall can be the difference between a cold, uninviting space to one that feels like you belong.

Instead of paint, consider applying removable wallpaper to an accent wall in your bedroom or living room. Unlike years past, there are so many awesome and beautiful designs to choose from! Removable wallpaper is usually a simple peel-and-stick product that doesn’t require any additional adhesive. 

The Low-Down on Washi Tape

Washi tape is a removable paper tape that comes on small rolls. It’s usually brightly colored or patterned, and it comes in just as many options – if not more – as that removable wallpaper we talked about earlier.

You can use strips of washi tape to create patterns on your walls, or to add stripes to plain, builder-grade kitchen cabinets. And because washi tape peels right off, there isn’t an issue with your customization!

Get Stainless Steel Appliances

No, you don’t have to purchase thousands of dollars in kitchen appliances for a rental home! But you can purchase an inexpensive roll of stainless steel contact paper and apply it to your dishwasher and other appliances to transform your kitchen.

Contact paper is designed to be durable, and it’s easily cleaned. You’ll be shocked at how big of a change you can get in your most-used room of your house with just a $5 product.

Go Green

Live plants add warmth and coziness to a room, and they can be an inexpensive way to decorate your apartment or house without doing any alterations at all.

Visit the local plant nursery and talk to an expert about the kinds of plants that might thrive in your living space. Then, purchase a few decorative pots to plant your new greenery in, and distribute them around your home.

If you have to move and can’t take them with you, give them to a friend living near the duty station, so they can enjoy some living decor, too.

Shower Head Swap

If you hate your rental home’s bathroom, you might be able to change how you feel about it simply by swapping out the shower head! This easy fix can cost as little as $12 and will make your showers feel more luxurious. Just be sure to swap back to the original one before you move out.

Use Room Dividers to Your Advantage

You obviously can’t build a floor-to-ceiling temporary wall in a rental home, so what do you do if you need to carve out a bit of space for a specific purpose? A room divider holds your answer.

Divide a bedroom in two to give privacy to siblings sharing a bedroom, or separate a section of the living room to create a small home office. Not enough closet space? Use a divider to conceal a rolling clothes rack or other unattractive clothing storage solution in a corner of the bedroom.

Fill Your Pantry

Keep your pantry stocked with snack favorites that make your new place feel more like home. It’s easy when you order a military care package from My Hero Crate.

When your beloved service member returns home from work for the day, they can settle in with a quick snack before dinner, and when your kids want an after-school treat, you’ll have one on hand without having to look for everyone’s favorites at your new grocery store. Order your military care package. 

On Your Team: How an Army Spouse Helps People Improve their Wellbeing

Jenifer Calandra

Celebrate Accomplishments with a Military Care Package from My Hero Crate

Louise Valentine has been bucking tradition for years. Before completing her undergraduate degree, she started her own business — the first one. She never stops learning, as evidenced by the alphabet soup behind her name — five major credentials she’s earned over the years to stay at the top of her field. And she’s mastered the art of living without separating work and play.

Oh, she’s also an Army wife, currently stationed in Maryland with her husband and two children, after moving nine times in 11 years, enjoying a full-time career and side gig dedicated to helping people live healthful lives, physically and mentally. The latest way she’s done that is by writing and self-publishing a book on a wildly abbreviated timeline.

You might find yourself feeling exhausted thinking about accomplishing all of that in a single lifetime. But Louise isn’t. She focuses on the driving force behind everything she does, and sticks with it.

“My purpose is to help others find realistic ways to live a vibrant, healthy life,” she explained.

Building a Foundation

Louise, a military wifeConsidered a wellness expert, Louise started her career as a sports and medical massage therapist for the NFL when she lived in Ohio. However, after marrying her combat aviator active duty husband, she moved to New York state to join him at his duty station.

After years of re-engineering her career at each new duty station, Louise was awarded a research fellowship with the Army, where she could utilize her health expertise. During her two-hour daily commute, she planned Team Valentine Project, an online comprehensive health resource, at www.TeamValentineProject.com.

As she drove, she’d dictate notes into her phone and transfer the information to a later blog post. The platform shares tips, tricks, and tools for leading a healthful life, with Louise’s experience as a military spouse sprinkled throughout.

Unbeknownst to Louise, the health tool she created in her spare time would go on to help her land a leadership role at a healthcare technology company, Vheda Health, where she works as the Director of Client Services. It’s a position that allows her to help Medicaid, Medicare, and employer group high-risk populations find ways to navigate chronic disease and improve their overall wellness.

And that’s a task that Louise is no stranger to, herself.

Overcoming Obstacles

In a short span of time, Louise received major medical diagnoses that would change how she approached her work: osteoporosis, and a pre-cancer diagnosis mid-pandemic last summer. And then her dad received his own cancer diagnosis.

Louise had already been writing about how to break down challenges and researching how to do it. But her dad’s health was the motivation she needed to turn her thoughts into a concise book that she wanted published as soon as possible, that her dad could hold in his hands, and see that he had been a success at instilling his values in her.

She also saw an opportunity to help people suffering during the global COVID-19 pandemic. So, she got to work in June. She was finished by October, just as her dad completed his month-long ICU stay because of coronavirus.

“When we’re motivated to help others and see the impact we have on them, it’s powerful and energizes you,” she said.

Her book, now available on Amazon, is called The Art of Breaking Through: Five Simple Steps to Take on Any Challenge & Tackle Self-Doubt. While writing, she channeled how she navigated out of her own dark moments in life to overcome obstacles and come out on the other side better than ever.

“We are all perfectly capable of overcoming obstacles,” Louise said. “The more we recognize that, the more we can do and take on.”

Although the final version of her book is quite short, Louise explained that it was intentional, so that her readers could quickly begin to take charge of their wellbeing rather than devoting too much time to grappling with overly-complicated concepts. Her goal was to empower others to change their lives, and she is confident her short book accomplishes that within its 68 pages.

Tips You Can Follow, Starting Today

Making small changes with great intentions can help you navigate out of a difficult place. Louise says these starting points can help you change the things in your life that aren’t working for you.

-Take a stress inventory. Think about the responsibilities you’re juggling and what you actually need to accomplish in the moment to begin feeling better. Choose what really matters, and start there.

-Recognize that you may need to re-engineer your goals. What you might’ve been able to accomplish under other circumstances could be different because of your current situation.

-Find what works for you by looking to those who are successful as your inspiration. Use their techniques to optimize your time and energy, but don’t restrict yourself to assuming their way is the only way to do things. Ask for help when you need it; find a support system.

-Honor the struggle. Anticipate that obstacles and challenges will appear. When you acknowledge that, you’re less stressed when they arise.

Know that changes take time and won’t happen instantaneously.

“It’s taken me years to get to this place, and it’s a good place to be. That [good place] looks different for everyone,” Louise shared. “Find what works for you, and fill your bucket.”

A Care Package from Home Can Help Motivate Your Hero

military subscription boxSometimes motivation comes from things you’d least expect.

You would expect your military hero to find motivation from their work, their squadron, and their leadership. But sometimes it’s the smaller things — the things that don’t necessarily affect careers — that are the biggest factors in getting through the day and getting things done. One of those things just might be a deployment care package.

A gift of sweet and savory treats and games or activities to pass the time helps your hero’s mind stay sharp and focused when it’s time to work, because the fun and relaxation our military care packages provide reminds them of everyone who loves them back home.

Send a monthly military care package to your hero today.

Five Reasons to Send a Monthly Military Subscription Box

Jenifer Calandra

My Hero Crate Makes Care Packages Easy!

One-time snack boxes are a wonderful gift – but what if you’re looking to send a present every single month? If you’ve ever wrestled with the complexity of sending a package to an APO address, then you know it’s not something you look forward to. But My Hero Crate is making the military care package game as simple as can be, and taking care of all the complicated work for you.

We’ve come up with five very important reasons you should send your hero a monthly military subscription box – but we’re sure once your hero receives it, they can come up with a few more!

You’ll save time shopping for care package items and organizing shipping.

Shopping for individual snacks, hygiene items, and fun surprises can be quite time-consuming. Rather than scurry from store-to-store looking for something unique to include, you could dedicate that time to doing something vital to running your household – and there’s always something to do, right?

My Hero Crate’s care package experts source gift items and assemble each box with great care. And because all our items are sourced from American distributors, we’re keeping our business right here in the U.S.A.! 

Your hero will have something to look forward to each month.

A monthly subscription box from My Hero Crate means your loved one in the Army, Navy, Marine Corps, Air Force, Coast Guard, or National Guard will receive a new gift box every month, without fail, for as long as you’d like.

Soon, your loved one will know when to start counting down the days to their next gift. When they receive it and open it, they’ll be reminded of how much they’re loved and valued. It’s like sending them a big hug from home!

Our care packages are affordable.

For the cost of just 10 lattes, one tank of gas, or 40 lottery tickets, you can send a military care package anywhere in the world, with free shipping for APO, DPO, and FPO addresses.

And our care packages are a good value! Each gift box is completely filled before being sealed and shipped, so you know you’re getting your money’s worth.

Unique premium gift items are included each month.

Your hero won’t receive the same items month after month. Variety is the spice of life, and subscription boxes are meant to be varied, too.

Each military subscription box includes items like:

  • -Salty snacks: potato chips, beef sticks, pretzels, and more
  • -On-the-go snacks: granola bars, beef jerky, and more
  • -Quick meals: ramen noodles, mac ‘n’ cheese, breakfast oatmeal packets, and more
  • -Candy: America’s favorite fruity and chocolatey treats like Hershey’s bars, Starburst, and Skittles
  • -Personal care items: disposable face masks, cotton swabs, antibacterial wipes, tissues, and more
  • -Healthy snacks, like nuts, fruit snacks, protein bars, and more
  • -Premium gifts, such as a phone battery power bank, sunglasses, headphones, water bottle, and more

We donate to non-profit, veteran-backed organizations every month.

For every care package we sell, we donate a portion of our proceeds to a non-profit organization that’s doing great work for American veterans. Check out our website to see which organization we’re supporting this month.

Our donation is just one way we’re giving back to America’s heroes. Assembling meaningful gift boxes and shipping them to your hero is another.

Purchase a monthly gift box subscription online.

Why Gluten-Free Military-Approved Snack Boxes are a Great Gift Idea

Jenifer Calandra

Send a Hug From Home to Your Military Hero Inside a Delicious Care Package

We’re always bragging about how great our military care packages are – and our customers give us lots of compliments on them, too, like these two:

“My overall experience was lovely. Your customer service is top notch! Packages arrived overseas in about a week with zero shipping charges. Absolutely amazing! What a wonderful service!”

“Perfect for deployed loved ones! My nephew in the Navy loves this! I love how I can send him care packages with no hassle and a good deal!”

This month, we’re especially loving our Gluten Free Dairy Free Vegan Military Care Package, designed for enlisted military or veterans with dietary restrictions or preferences. Here are three reasons why you should send one to your hero today.

Snacks Help You Take Care of Your Loved One From Afar

When you can’t be near your military hero, it’s hard to express just how much you care. Phone calls are few, and it can be hard to prove just how much you love them through a simple letter.

A military care package from My Hero Crate can be sent to any Army, Navy, Air Force, or Marines base anywhere in the world, even overseas. And as our customer review says, there’s no hassle on your part. You don’t have to hustle to the grocery store to buy items, find a box, package the snacks, and wait in a lengthy line at the post office. We take care of everything for you, and your hero will receive our signature olive drab gift box.

Treats for Special Diets Can Be Difficult to Find

Especially in remote areas, snacks that meet special dietary needs or preferences can be hard to come by, or difficult to identify. Gluten can make someone with Celiac disease feel very ill, so avoiding gluten altogether is absolutely necessary. Similarly, dairy can affect your hero’s health if they are intolerant or allergic. And if your hero eats a vegan diet for religious or moral purposes, they don’t want to be stuck with snacks that don’t allow them to live their beliefs.

Every treat in this particular military snack box meets these dietary restrictions, so your hero never has to read every label or negotiate swaps with their friends.

Our Military Care Package is Full of Healthier Snack Choices

Most pre-made armed forces care packages are full of sugary or fattening snacks that might make your hero feel sluggish during PT and throughout the day. Our Gluten Free Dairy Free Vegan Military Care Package is full of healthier snack options, like Corn Nuts, popcorn, Veggie Straws, specialty fig bars, fruit leather, and more.

If your hero has any additional allergies or dietary restrictions we should know about, we promise to work hard to accommodate those, too! Just let us know when you place your order. 

Order a Snack Box For Your Hero Today

If you want to thank them for their service, celebrate a special day, or send them a care package just because, My Hero Crate is your number one source for the best military snack boxes. Find one that your hero will love by browsing our full selection of care packages at MyHeroCrate.com, including gift sets that promote relaxation during their down-time. 

National Guard Heroes You Should Know

Jenifer Calandra

Wish a Happy Birthday to the National Guard on December 13

While you might not think of the National Guard when you think of American military forces, you really should! The National Guard is unique in that it serves both community and country. Members of the National Guard face deployments overseas just like other branches of the military, and must still undergo rigorous training; boot camp is the very same as that provided for the U.S. Army.

Meet some National Guard Heroes you should know as we observe the National Guard’s birthday this month.

Tammy Duckworth

After serving in the United States Army Reserve, Tammy Duckworth transferred to the Army National Guard in Illinois in 1996. In 2004, she was deployed to Iraq. On November 12, 2004, she lost both her legs when the UH-60 Black Hawk helicopter she was co-piloting was hit by a rocket-propelled grenade launched by Iraqi insurgents. Duckworth received a Purple Heart, an Air Medal, and an Army Commendation Medal. She retired from the Illinois Army National Guard in 2014, as a lieutenant colonel. Currently, Tammy Duckworth is serving as a United States Senator for Illinois. 

Tulsi Gabbard

While serving in the Hawaii State Legislature, Tulsi Gabbard enlisted in the Hawaii Army National Guard in 2003. A year later, she was deployed to Iraq and was shortly thereafter commissioned as a second lieutenant before being deployed to Kuwait in 2008. For her service, Gabbard received the Combat Medical Badge and the Meritorious Service Medal. She was promoted to major in 2015. Gabbard currently serves as the U.S. Representative for Hawaii’s 2nd congressional district.

Charles Lindbergh

American aviator Charles Lindbergh was an officer in the U.S. Army Air Corps Reserves, during which time he received the Medal of Honor, the highest military decoration, for completing the first non-stop transatlantic flight between New York City and Paris. Before making history, he was a U.S. Air Mail pilot. When the Army no longer needed more active-duty pilots, Lindbergh joined the 110th Observation Squadron, 35th Division of the Missouri National Guard, out of St. Louis. He was promoted to captain in 1926.

John William Vessey Jr.

Jack Vessey Jr. was a career officer in the United States Army and served as the tenth Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff from 1982 to 1985, during the Reagan administration. Vessey began his 46-year military career by lying about his age to join the Minnesota Army National Guard. He succeeded, and his unit was deployed during World War II in North Africa and Italy. He served during the Cold War, Vietnam War, and in Korea, until 1979, when he was assigned as Vice Chief of Staff of the United States Army. Vessey is the recipient of the Distinguished Service Cross, two Defense Distinguished Service Medals, three Army Distinguished Service Medals, a Navy Distinguished Service Medal, Air Force Distinguished Service Medal, two Legion of Merit awards, two Bronze Star Medals, and the Presidential Medal of Freedom.

Leonard F. Wing

Red Wing Sr., as he was called, first enlisted in the U.S. Army for World War I and earned the rank of first lieutenant after completing officer training. After World War I, he was discharged in 1918 and established a law practice in Rutland, Vermont. In 1919, Wing joined the Vermont National Guard’s 172nd Infantry Regiment as a second lieutenant and rose through the ranks until he was named colonel in 1933 and brigadier general in 1937 as commander of the 86th Infantry Brigade. Wing’s military awards and honors include the Distinguished Service Medal, Silver Star, Legion of Merit, and Bronze Star. 

Scott Perry

Currently serving as the U.S. Representative for Pennsylvania’s 10th congressional district, Scott Perry began his military career in 1980, upon enlisting in the Pennsylvania Army National Guard. He was commissioned a second lieutenant after graduating from Pennsylvania’s Officer Candidate School before qualifying as a helicopter pilot. He served a variety of assignments, including during a deployment to Bosnia and Herzegovina between 2002 and 2003. He served in Iraq between 2009 and 2010, during which time he was credited with flying 44 missions and occurring nearly 200 combat flight hours. After serving in Iraq, Perry was promoted to colonel and commanded the garrison at Fort Indiantown Gap National Training Center and was promoted to brigadier general in November 2015. He retired from the Pennsylvania National Guard in 2019. 

Send Love to Your National Guard Hero!

At My Hero Crate, we know that our service members enlisted in the National Guard carry out important missions at home and abroad. They deserve our thanks every day! If you have a loved one in the National Guard, present them with one of our military care packages so they’ll be stocked up on snacks during their guard weekends and all the days in between. If they’re deployed, you can still send them one of our army snack boxes, too – and shipping is always free to FPO, DPO, and APO addresses.

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