Reconnecting is a big task - for Family & Business

With this Memorial Day Weekend just behind us, I feel it is helpful to reflect on what is going on in the country, especially regarding those members of society who defend what we all enjoy everyday. This past weekend allowed for all of us to sit back and be grateful for the freedoms we enjoy.

Some of the frequent readers may know that AMC LLC and I are supporting the Citizen Soldier Business Recovery Foundation (www.CSBRF.org) in their efforts to raise funds as well as help companies to survive. This foundation has the mission to assist Citizen Soldier business owners in their time of need. It focuses on pre-deployment assistance to Reserve and Guard business owners to avert the damage often caused by extended absence. 

Also, it is ready to aid in the repair and recovery of the other honorable military service members and their businesses, damaged during their deployment. Potential damage such as lost revenues, employee turnover, reduced sales, etc. is identified and avoided with the help of experts. The foundation aims to aids many of the 55,000 Citizen Soldier business owners by providing the education and training to maintain their business, adding to community and economic growth.

This weekend I read an article by Justin Paprocki that pointed out an aspect of the service these soldiers  face that is almost as much neglected and forgotten, as the fact that some of them already did duty, began to build a civilian business and are now back to active duty and combat missions.

Justin wrote:

“The first time Army specialist Brian Morel held his daughter was in the Savannah International Airport. He took the 7-month-old from his wife’s arms and hoisted her above his head - he in the subdued greens and tans of Army fatigues, and she in a pink and white jumper.

“Hi, there,” he said, raising his voice an octave.
She didn’t squirm.

Later, he’d recall that he wasn’t sure what to expect that first time.
He had been searching for feelings about Sophia. He knew what it was like to hold his wife, Sarah. He knew what it was like to hold his 6-year-old son, Aiden. He knew what it was like to love them. But before March 24, Brian only knew photos of the newborn child with bright blue eyes.
When he lifted Sophia as fellow passengers filtered around him, that feeling changed.

“As soon as I held her, I fell in love,” he said.

Brian Morel, 31, is one of the 600,000 active duty military who have children, according to the Military Family Research Institute at Purdue University. More than 40 percent of the total number enlisted have kids. But like the rest of his fellow parent soldiers, Brian has two families. There’s his “military family,” as he calls it: the men and women he serves with in the Fires Squadron, 2nd Stryker Cavalry Regiment in Camp Taji north of Baghdad. And there’s his family back home.

Arriving in Savannah in March, Brian started his 18-day leave. He was in the middle of a 15-month deployment in Iraq. He had not seen his family for the past seven months. During that time, Sophia was born and his family moved from a military station in Germany back to his wife’s home town: Hilton Head Island, S.C.

The point of R&R may be to leave the heat of war and see family. But with it comes a whole new set of challenges. (abbreviated)”
Meeting a new member of your family the first time, holding your loved ones in your arms, and possibly returning to your business for a few days to see if what you started is still standing are aspects of the war, the limited leave for R&R, and the emotional strain the troops face that we don’t often hear about.

The Memorial Day weekend provided pause. AMC LLC and I will support the annual fund drive for the CSBRF foundation starting June 1st. Members of our email database as well as readers of this blog will hear more about what we plan to do. We all hope that we can count on your support. Any small contribution will allow us to support these military families and citizen soldier business owners in their attempts to fight for our freedoms, maintain good relationships with their relatives, and have some hope that their livelihood will still be intact when they return home for good.

Axel Meierhoefer, AMC LLC
420 Dogwood Drive
Buellton, CA 93427