My name is Jim Vanderbleek and I am a acting owner of Valor Athletics as well as an Elder at Northeast Presbyterian Church located in St. Petersburg, Florida. The purpose of this note is to bring to your attention of a Memorial Day project that I have been planning for many years and finally put my idea to action.
I wanted to pay a special tribute to our Men and Women in the Armed Forces that have given the ultimate sacrifice in Iraq and Afghanistan since 2001. Being raised in a Military family I have a love and adoration for those that serve in the Armed Forces. The current total of American deaths in Iraq/Afghanistan keeps rising but my last count as of May 2010 to be 5,444+ Brave Men and Women.
Realizing that this qty of soldiers would be a daunting task for my project, I decided to scale it back to Floridian’s that have given their life while serving in Iraq or Afghanistan. I wanted a display to hit home with the residents of St. Petersburg and let them know that there is more to this war than just a 30 second news clip on the 11pm news. The memorial had to have a personality.
I went to the web site “Honor the Fallen” and located 238 Floridians. It was there that I started my plan.
The plan was to erect a cross for each soldier and plant them in the church yard for 3 weeks. Two weeks before Memorial Day and one week after. Through financial help of the church and its members I then purchased the supplies and materials needed to erect all 238 crosses. Thanks to the Honor the Fallen web site, I was able to add the personal touch to the display. If available on the web site, each cross would have the photo of the soldier fastened directly below their name for all to see. If the soldiers photo was not available then I would use their branch of service insignia.
I wanted to make sure that each cross had the name, rank, home town in Florida, date of death, age of death and photo. This information along with the photo allows the display to “bring it home” with much appreciation and respect for our Fallen Floridians.
While we were erecting the crosses on May 15th, we had numerous cars pull over and get out to help. The individuals that approached me were so moved they started to cry. This told me that we will never forget the ones that have given it all.
Please click on the attached link that will take you through a slide show of the display. When you see the faces on the crosses please think of the sons, daughters, fathers, mothers, brothers, sisters, aunts , uncles and most of all Americans.
Please forward this to anyone on your e-mail chain and if by chance any of the soldiers family members have the opportunity to view this slide show and would like a close up photo of their loved ones cross, please feel free to allow them to call me or e-mail me and I will be glad to send them a photo.
Northeast Presbyterian Church will have a Memorial Day Service on Sunday May 30th at 9:00am. Address is 4400 Shore Acres Blvd. NE, St. Petersburg, Florida 33703. Everyone is invited.
11-12-2011
The CB-23 Valor Fitness Back Extension/Sit Up Bench works both sides of your mid section. Lay face down across the stomach pad with your feet securely fastened in the ankle pads and you now do a reverse sit up which means you let your body hand down towards the ground and slowly arch your back in a reverse type sit up motion. Flip over and sit in the small butt pad with your feel securely fastened in the ankle and lean back so the small of your back arches over the larger pad. As you arch your back and lay backwards the larder pad will support your back allowing you to do a sit up from a flat position. These exercise’s build up and support your core area around your body. The unit is adjustable in size allowing a variety of users to use it.
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