Honoring The Women of The Vietnam War!

In an era of universal polemics and political unrest – with no thought of glory, with no fanfare or public notice – 265,000 women volunteered to go where they were needed, to do what was needed. The era was known as Vietnam, and these young women, most in their 20s, risked their lives to care for our country's wounded and dying. Their humanity and compassion equalled their lifesaving and comforting skills.

For the first time in America's history, a memorial that honors women's patriotic service was dedicated in the nation's capital, placed beside their brother soldiers on the hallowed grounds of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington, DC. It was the first tangible symbol of honor for American women. The multi-figure bronze monument is designed by New Mexico sculptor, Glenna Goodacre. It is a sculpture in the round portraying three Vietnam-era women, one of whom is caring for a wounded male soldier, stands 6'8" tall and weighs one ton.

The Vietnam Women's Memorial Project was incorporated in 1984, and is a non-profit organization located in Washington, DC. The mission of the Vietnam Women's Memorial Foundation (formerly the Vietnam Women's Memorial Project) is to promote the healing of Vietnam women veterans through the placement of the Vietnam Women's Memorial on the grounds of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington, D.C.; to identify the military and civilian women who served during the Vietnam war; to educate the public about their role; and to facilitate research on the physiological, psychological, and sociological issues correlated to their service. The Foundation has the support of every major veterans group in the country including the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund and more than 40 other diverse organizations.

Diane Carlson Evans, a former Army nurse who served in Vietnam, is the founder and chair of the Vietnam Women's Memorial Foundation. She became the first woman in American history to spearhead a campaign to place a national monument in Washington, DC which recognizes the contributions of military women to their country, as well as civilian women's patriotic service.

The Vietnam Women's Memorial Foundation would like your help to support its mission. So far approximately 12,000 women veterans who served during the Vietnam era have been located by the Vietnam Women's Memorial Foundation. The stories and experiences we learn from the women who contact the Foundation are invaluable contributions to the history of this era. Vietnam women veterans are encouraged to send in their service information and current address to the Foundation by using the Vietnam Women's Memorial Foundation's Sister Search form.

The long awaited Dedication of the Memorial was made possible with a loan for its construction, design, and landscaping. The loan was substantial, but friends and supporters of the Vietnam Women's Memorial Foundation did what some may have thought was impossible...they managed to pay the construction debt in full! The Vietnam Women's Memorial Foundation continues to be faced with other obligations while fulfilling its program objectives. Please visit the "Your Support" page for information on how you can continue to help support the Vietnam Women's Memorial Foundation.

Many of these women were wounded or killed in the crossfire. The Vietnam Women's Memorial Project has given women veterans a voice. It has helped to tell their story through the mass print and electronic media as well as in schoolrooms and universities and at conferences, seminars and conventions. As more and more Vietnam women read and hear of their sister's service, they come forward with their own experiences. Many of these women had never before shared their personal experiences with others - the pain was too deep.

Now, through their poems, songs and stories, the healing of women veterans has begun. Silent no more, women veterans have a special role in discussions surrounding a call to arms, the role of women in the military and veterans benefits. Their insights into war make their contributions in peacetime as invaluable as their heroism in Vietnam.

A three-day Celebration of Patriotism and Courage, November 10-12, 1993, in Washington, D.C. highlighted the dedication of the Vietnam Women's Memorial on November 11, 1993 near the Wall of names and the statue of the three serviceman at the site of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial. Thousands of Vietnam veterans, their families and friends joined the nation in honoring these brave and compassionate women.

Click here for a complete chronology of the Vietnam Women's Memorial Foundation.

Memorial Day 2012

• The History of Memorial Day
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• The original name for the holiday was Decoration Day.
• Memorial Day is set aside to honor those who died in our Nation's service.
• Originally started to commemorate the deceased of the Civil War.
• Waterloo, NY was declared the official birthplace of Memorial Day by President Johnson in 1966.
• Over two dozen towns claim to be the birthplace of Memorial Day.
• Southern women are said to have started the tradition of decorating the graves of Confederate. Soldiers with flags and flowers.
• Memorial Day was officially proclaimed on May 5th, 1868.
• A General, not a President, declared Memorial Day.
• Memorial Day was first observed on May 30th, 1868.
• Memorial Day is celebrated on the last Monday in May.
• The first state to recognize the day was NY.
• On the first, official Memorial Day a large ceremony was held at Arlington National Cemetery and flowers were placed on the headstones.
• Most southern states refused to recognize the day officially until after WWI.
• After WWI the Day was adjusted to celebrate the deceased in all wars.
• A National Holiday Act was signed by Congress in 1971, ensuring a three day weekend for the Federal Holiday.
• Texas, Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Mississippi, South Carolina, Louisiana, and Tennessee, all have separate days to honor the South's Civil War hero's.
• Red poppies are the unofficial flower of Memorial Day.
• The VFW was the first veterans' organization to sell poppies nationally.
• The "Buddy" Poppy Program sells imitation poppies made by veterans.
• Memorial Day parades were once a standard of the day.
• In 2000 the National Moment of Remembrance was initiated.
• The National Moment of remembrance asks that all Americans at 3:00 pm, pause from any action to somehow honor the deceased of our many wars.
• In 1951 the Boy Scouts and Cub Scouts of St. Louis began the placement of 150,000 flags at Jefferson Barracks National Cemetery. This tradition still stands.
• In 2004 Washington D.C. held its first Memorial Day parade in over 60 years.
• Memorial Day is the, unofficial, beginning of summer activities.
• US death tolls for Memorial Weekend are higher than almost any other weekend.
• On Memorial Day the flag should be flown at half staff until noon and full staff the rest of the day.
• Hundreds of thousands of motorcyclists descend on Washington D.C. each Memorial Day in a parade of appreciation for fallen soldiers, MIA's, and POW's. This tradition started in 1988 with 2,500 motorcyclists.

http://www.inthelighturns.com/history-memorial-day-infographic.html

History of National Nurses Week!

May 12th is Florence Nightingale's birthday. 

National Nurses Week is celebrated every year beginning May 6th and ending May 12th. Join us in celebrating the men and women who serve this country by caring for its citizens.

1953 Dorothy Sutherland of the U. S. Department of Health, Education and Welfare proposed to President Eisenhower to proclaim a "Nurses Day" to commemorate the 100th anniversary of Florence Nightingale’s mission to the Crimea. However the proclamation was never made. National Nurses Week was observed, regardless, in 1954 from October 11 - 16 thanks to a bill sponsored by Representative Frances P. Bolton. A bill for a National Nurses Week was introduced in 1955 to Congress, but still, no action was taken. 1965 The International Council of Nurses (ICN) began celebrating "International Nurse Day". The House of Representatives presented a resolution in 1972 to President Nixon to proclaim "National Registered Nurse Day". Again, no action was taken. In January of 1974, ICN proclaims that May 12 (the birthday of Florence Nightingale) would be "International Nurse Day".

In February, President Nixon proclaims National Nurse Week.  After that, in 1978 New Jersey Governor Brendon Byrne declared May 6 as "National Nurses Day" for his state. Then in1981, the ANA (American Nurses Association) rallied with other nurses associations to support a resolution initiated by nurses in New Mexico, through Congressman Manuel Lujan, to have May 6, 1982, established as "National Recognition Day for Nurses".

In February 1982, the ANA Board of Directors formally acknowledges May 6, 1982 as "National Nurses Day". This action confirmed a joint resolution of the United States Congress designating May 6 as "National Recognition Day for Nurses".

On March 25th 1982, President Ronald Reagan signed a proclamation officially declaring May 6, 1982 as "National Recognition Day for Nurses". In 1990 The American Nursing Association Board of Directors expanded the recognition of nurses to a week-long celebration, declaring May 6 - 12, 1991 as National Nurses Week. In 1993 the ANA Board of Directors designated May 6 - 12 as lasting dates to observe National Nurses Week.

http://www.nursesweek.org/

'Supermoon' Tonight! See Full Moon & Meteor Shower!

California ~ the moon will rise at about 7:37 p.m.

The East Coast will see it rise at 7:46 p.m. EDT.

Find your location by using the Old Farmer's Almanac.

If the full moon looks a bit bigger and brighter in tonight's sky, you're not seeing things: It's just the "supermoon" — the biggest moon of 2012.

And there's a meteor shower from Halley's comet peaking tonight, too, adding to the sky show.

The full moon of May will hit its peak overnight tonight and early Sunday (May 5 and 6) just one minute after the moon makes its closest approach to Earth. The timing means the moon, weather permitting, could appear up to 14 percent bigger and 30 percent brighter than the average full moon, an event scientists have nicknamed the "supermoon."

The moon will be at its fullest at 11:35 p.m. EDT (0335 Sunday GMT) just after hitting perigee, the point in its orbit that brings the moon closest to Earth. The technical name for the event is a "perigee moon," though NASA and other scientists have dubbed May's full moon as the supermoon of 2012.

The moon will be about 221,802 miles (356,955 kilometers) from Earth, about 12.2 percent closer to our planet than when the moon is at apogee, its farthest point. The average Earth-moon distance is about 230,000 miles (384,400 km).

The last time a supermoon occurred was in March 2011. That supermoon was actually closer to Earth than the moon will be tonight by about 248 miles (400 km). [Amazing Supermoon Photos from 2011]

A good time to watch is during moonrise or moonset. At these times, due to reasons astronomers don't fully understand, the moon can appear much larger than when it is higher in the sky. But the view is actually an optical illusion (also known as the "moon illusion").

The moon is no larger than it is when it's overhead in the night sky and you can prove it yourself. Here's how, when the moon is low on the horizon measure its size with a ruler or your thumb and forefinger. When it's higher up in the sky, try again. The distances will be the same.

The extra big full moon of May can mean higher tides on Earth, an effect called "perigean tides," but there is no chance of the supermoon posing a threat to Earth.

"In most places, lunar gravity at perigee pulls tide waters only a few centimeters (an inch or so) higher than usual," astronomer Tony Phillips wrote in a NASA supermoon alert. "Local geography can amplify the effect to about 15 centimeters (6 inches) — not exactly a great flood."

Meteors from Halley's comet!

The supermoon is not the only celestial sight in the skies this weekend. The annual Eta Aquarid meteor shower will hit its peak with up to 60 meteors per hour.

The Eta Aquarid meteor shower is one of two "shooting star" displays created by dust left over by the famed Halley's comet as it makes its 76-year trip around the sun. The Orionid meteor shower in October is the other meteor show from the comet.

While the supermoon is expected to outshine the fainter Eta Aquarid meteors, NASA meteor expert Bill Cooke predicts that some bright fireballs may be visible. Cooke and his observing team at NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center have already recorded several bright fireballs from the Eta Aquarids and are looking forward to seeing more tonight using the agency's network of all-sky meteor cameras.

"Ideal viewing conditions are clear skies away from city lights, especially just before dawn," NASA officials wrote in an Eta Aquarid meteor observing guide. " Find an area well away from city or street lights. Lie flat on your back on a blanket, lawn chair or sleeping bag and look up, taking in as much of the sky as possible. After about 30 minutes in the dark, your eyes will adapt and you will begin to see meteors. Be patient — the show will last until dawn, so you have plenty of time to catch a glimpse."

Source: http://www.space.com/15558-supermoon-observing-tips-meteor-shower.html