Spec Ops Angels Blog

The Veterans Day competition, which is organized by Valour-IT, began Monday. It’s goal is to raise $180,000 in 10 days; as of Thursday morning, the total was up to $51,068.

Each blogging team — military and civilian bloggers with thousands of readers — aims to raise $45,000. So far, it’s pretty much a dead heat. The “Army” team had raised $14,415; the “Marines Corps” team, $12,867.60; the “Air Force” team, $12,739; and the “Navy” team, $11,047.

Valour-IT is a 15-month-old project, part of the charitable group Soldiers’ Angels. You can find information about donating and connect to the blogs involved online.

“This is psychological first aid,” said blogger Beth Schietzelt, the founder of Valour-IT. “Our goal is to get the laptops to them when they’re lying in the hospital, when they wake up and think, ‘Oh my God, my life is over,’ ” she said.

Voice-activated laptops enable severely wounded troops to correspond with family and friends and connect with the world, allowing them to function as independent and effective members of society, she said.

Valour-IT was born after Schietzelt ran across a blog by Army Capt. Chuck Ziegenfuss, who was struggling to type his blog after receiving severe hand injuries in Iraq.

The voice-activated software he needed cost $300, Schietzelt said. Seeing the need, and recognizing that there are plenty of people who want to support the troops in some tangible way, she started Valour-IT and hooked up with Soldiers’ Angels.

“At that time, I had no use of either hand. I know how humbling it is, how humiliating it feels,” says Ziegenfuss, in a quotation posted on the Valour-IT Web site. “And I know how much better I felt, how amazingly more functional I felt, after Soldiers’ Angels provided me with a laptop and a loyal reader provided me with the software. I can’t wait to do the same, to give that feeling to another soldier.”

The Department of Veterans Affairs now provides the software to veterans; Valour-IT is one of several groups helping to provide the laptops to run the software. As of early October, Valour-IT had given 650 laptops to injured troops.

Last year, during a similar Veterans Day challenge, bloggers raised $100,000 in 10 days. Well-known bloggers who took part last year included Michelle Malkin, Glenn Reynolds, Hugh Hewitt and NZ Bear, Schietzelt said.

This year’s teams are led by the military-oriented blogs Blackfive, Villainous Company, Chaotic Synaptic Activity and Op-For.

Hello ALL,

Here is the update on Valor-IT  Please give by linking to any of the teams or clicking on Valor-IT.

Thank you ~ Denise

Air Force collected $17,505.00 of our goal of $45,000!

Here is the Air force Blogging team:

Leader:

OPFOR

Team:

Euphoric Reality

THIRDWAVEDAVE

richardlowry

Cold Fury

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