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Some people may have heard me mention Operation Honor Our Heroes in the past. It is an Austin, Texas-based non-profit which honors soldiers that have been killed in overseas conflicts, providing an enormous amount of comfort for the grieving, surviving family members and friends. I have personally vetted this charity more than you can possibly imagine, and (pay attention closely here) 100% - ONE HUNDRED PERCENT - of all donations go directly towards operations. There is no marketing expense, and there are no salaries - everything above-and-beyond direct operations expenses is paid out-of-pocket by Dr. Nancy Glass, founder and Executive Director. Everything. My personal assistant, Christi-Ana Crews is the President of the organization. Christi-Ana (who went to college in Austin) lost her boyfriend, a Marine, and devoted all her remaining energies to this charity (it's the equivalent of if I had devoted all my energies to Ovarian Cancer). I have now worked with Christi-Ana for over two years, and I trust her completely, without reservation. She is one of the finest people I know. Christi-Ana (who is over at my house right now) just told me that Operation Honor Our Heroes has been approved for the Memorial Day Weekend activities on the National Mall (she is positively beaming that they got approved so early; generally, she gets a few weeks notice, and is forced to cobble something together). They received permit approval for this display in 2014 and 2015, but were unable to put it on due to excessively short time constraints. Note also that the website is merely a stub ("It's the last of our worries," Christi-Ana said to me. "Our Facebook page is current, but our website isn't.") "Guess where our site is?" she just said to me. Looking down the steps of the Lincoln Memorial, with the Vietnam Memorial on the left, and the Korean Memorial on the right, Operation Honor Our Heroes has *the entire space between the Lincoln Memorial and the Korean War Memorial - the display will take up over 7,000 square feet. They will be planting flags that are one-square-foot apart, with one flag representing one fallen soldier - approximately 7,000 flags total. The exact number of flags represents the number of fallen servicemen in Afghanistan and Iraq, but that's just the number. However, the display as a whole represents and honors *all fallen American servicemen from all conflicts*. Every single flag will have a card on it, along with a picture, killed-in-action date, and the soldiers' hometown. Operation Honor Our Heroes needs three things; 1) Monetary Donations (i.e., MONEY!) 2) Product Donations (e.g., if Home Depot could supply canopies for shade during the hot summer sun, or flashlights for nighttime workers, hammers to help put the flags in - things essential to the setting-up and running of the display. 3) Volunteers (to set up flags, man (or woman) the station from May 26th through the 31st, *24 HOURS A DAY*. Hiring a Park Police Officer would cost $70 per hour for each hour worked.) I will be working the station once in the middle of the night, and if you've ever wanted to thank me for running this website, the best way you could do it is to support Operation Honor our Heroes - if you're not in a position to help monetarily or time-wise, it would be of enormous benefit contacting companies (Wal-Mart, Home Depot, etc.) to help donate funds or equipment. 7,000 Flags at Long Center, Austin, TX: Christi-Ana: Information Packed (.pdf file): OHOH Info Packet 2015.pdf