Upcoming Events: Lunch, Bethesda Naval Hospital Upcoming dates for lunches at Bethesda are at this time being handled on a week to week bases We're working with The Heart of a Marine Foundation to fund and schedule a 3nd lunch date for three months in 2007. If you would like to make a donation to help support the cost of our monthly lunches at Bethesda, click here. Past Events: September 15, 2007 Lunch, Bethesda Naval Hospital Purple Heart Family Support™ volunteers provided lunch to the family members of ill and injured Marines and Corpsmen at the National Naval Medical Center in Bethesda, MD on Saturday, September 15th. Click for News Article March 24, 2007 Lunch, Bethesda Naval Hospital On Saturday, March 24, 2007, The Puple Heart Family Support™ provided a catered lunch for families of Marines currently hospitalized at Bethesda. Click for News Article January, 2007 Lunch, Bethesda Naval Hospital The Puple Heart Family Support™ volunteers brought in a catered lunch for families of Marines hospitalized at Bethesda. We served over 100 lunches to family members and Marines. Click for photo slide show... Supporting Injured Marines Opportunities for the public to support injured Marines are offered through Operation PAL®. Click here to learn more... Donations for Monthly Lunches If you would like to make a donation to help support the cost of our monthly lunches at Bethesda, click here. We appreciate your support of our Marines and their families. MarineParents.com, Inc. is an IRS approved 501(c)(3) public charity eligible to receive tax deductible donations.

We've had many parents ask us "What do I do if I get a phone call that my Marine is wounded?". Here are some things to keep in mind.

If the Marine Corps calls you to notify you that your Marine has been wounded, stay calm. You may get the call late at night, or you may just have a hard time concentrating. There are FOUR things to remember while you are on the phone:

1. Listen: Listen to the information
2. Write: Write the information down
3. Repeat: Repeat the information back
4. Ask: Ask for a contact name and phone number

When they have given you as many details as they can, get some contact information from the Marine Corps. Ask:

1. What is the name and phone number for the Family Readiness Officer for my Marine's unit?
2. Will you be calling me when you get updates, or will another office call me?
3. When can I expect to hear from you or another office again?
4. Will my Marine be transported?
5. Will a Marine Corps office contact us to assist with any travel arrangements for the family?

If your Marine calls you from the field, or during transport, he likely will not have all the details, and he may be notifying you BEFORE the rear detachment for his unit has the information. It's possible in this situation that it could take some time before the Marine Corps notifies you officially of the news and seriousness of the injuries.

Remain calm and reassuring to your Marine. Remember these three things:

1. Listen: Listen to the information
2. Write: Write the information down
3. Repeat: Repeat the information back

In this instance, your Marine will NOT have a name or phone number contact for you. Therefor, it's imperative that you know your Marine's unit, company, and platoon prior to his or her deployment. If you do not have that information, you can most generally figure it out from the 2nd line of your Marine's overseas address. If you do not know your Marine's unit or do not have a mailing address, ask him or her.

Your next step is to contact the FRO (Family Readiness Officer) for your Marine's unit. If you do not know the contact information for the FRO, there are a couple ways to find out:

• MarineParents.com Unit Information Database
  This section of our web site is in beta test, but you can quickly enter your Marine's unit to see if you get a return on the database.
  Go to http://www.marineparents.com/units/search2.asp

• MarineParents.com Units Deployed Page
  This section of our web site is updated as often as possible, and includes direct links to a message board community for several of the USMC units.
  Go to http://www.marineparents.com/USMC/back-to-iraq.asp

• MarineParents.com Message Board
  If you do not find your Marine's unit in either of those location, go to the main page of the message board community. The message board is organized by the Marine Divisions. Generally, you can guess the division based on the location your Marine deployed FROM, or the location that is your Marine's "home" base. Once you have that determined, use the message board areas to locate your Marine's unit:
  • 1st Marine Division: West Coast
  • 2nd Marine Division: East Coast
  • 3rd Marine Division: Hawaii/Pacific Islands
  • 4th Marine Division: Marine Reserves
  
  Go to http://www.usmcparents.com

• MarineParents.com Volunteers
  Use the "members" section of the message boards to contact a Marine Parent Volunteer to assist you. We have access to some additional phone numbers and methods of helping you get information. The Volunteers have Gold or Red Stars by their names and a title of Volunteer and/or Moderator. They can help you.
  Go to http://www.usmcparents.com/forum/members.asp