Carolyn Blashek, Founder of Operation Gratitude

Operation Gratitude founder Carolyn Blashek

For Operation Gratitude founder Carolyn Blashek, life changed soon after 9/11/2001 from the unlikeliest of places -- an airport lounge at Los Angeles International Airport. While tending to the care of a distraught Active Duty service member about to deploy, her deeply personal desire to say “Thank You” has spread like wildfire across California, the country and now halfway around the world.

Heading into the holidays, a time when our hearts go out to those who cannot share the memories of being with family, Blashek’s team is in peak season from the California National Guard Armory in Van Nuys, California. Thousands of volunteers, civilian and military, are donating money and gifts, or lining up in assembly line formation to pack personalized care packages at a run rate of 10,000 packages per day. They reach a milestone this month - shipping their 600,000th package to Iraq and Afghanistan.

“It’s a logistical tour de force,” Blashek tells Veterans Advantage in an exclusive interview, noting over 10,000 people have given hands-on support locally over the years, including young and old, able and disabled, Active Duty and Veterans.

“This is about Americans saying thank you, and Americans come in all shapes, sizes and ability.”

Flash back to 2001, when she was turned away from enlisting because of age. Unswayed, Blashek began volunteering at the military lounge at LAX. By 2003, she found herself face-to-face and teary eyed with a soldier due to depart for Iraq in 30 minutes, distraught and breaking down. His mom had died, his wife was leaving him, and he was still mourning the death of an infant child. “He needed to find a reason to survive, and he didn’t have one,” she said.

“People are willing to die for the guy on the left and the guy on the right. But who are they willing to survive for?” she wondered. “It’s not enough for me to sit here serving hot dogs.”

The care package idea came from the way she used to mail comforts of home to her children away from home, but the logistics this time posed a unique challenge. Since the Anthrax postal scares of 2001, all military packages not addressed to a specific servicemember are turned away. On the day war in Iraq broke out in March 2003, she sent four packages. It became a weekly challenge to find addresses and distribute packages. “Before I know it, my house was filled with donated items.”

Six months and 650 packages later, while picking up donated items at a local armory she met a soldier with the same mission, Staff Sgt. Elizabeth Cowie. They pooled their efforts, and by year’s end had sent 8,000 care packages for specific personnel in and around theater. Along the way she enlisted the support of Maj. Gen. William H. Wade, currently Deputy Chief of Staff for the Joint Forces Command but previously Adjutant General for the National Guard in California. The commanders of the Van Nuys armory, Maj (P). Angel Ortiz and Lt. Col. Julien Bond before him, have provided enormous assistance and encouragement.

“There’s been a wonderful civilian/military relationship that’s developed,” she said.

But the shadow side of any thriving “support the troops initiative” is what often makes it so touching, universal and personal. Blashek, herself , has found new meaning in Operation Gratitude:

Jordan Blashek, "being a Marine officer is not about one's self, wants or needs; it is about guiding the young 18 and 19 year-old Marines fighting this country's wars on our behalf,"

“My son became a Marine Officer this past year. I am extremely proud of him, and yet, like any military loved one, have much anxiety. Seeing civilian volunteerism in groups such as Operation Gratitude provides a measure of comfort in feeling that your child is respected and appreciated by the American people for his/her choice to serve our nation. I now understand the importance and impact of "Military Support" on families as well as directly for our troops," she told us.

“Ultimately, I joined the US Marine Corps because I believe that officers bear the most solemn responsibility in our nation, and that was a duty I could not, and should not, leave for others to assume.  To say that I wanted that responsibility is not quite right, because being a Marine officer is not about one’s self, wants or needs; it is about guiding the young 18 and 19 year-old Marines fighting this country’s wars on our behalf,” Jordan Blashek, said in an essay, after deciding not to attend medical school, and instead join the Marine Corps Officer Candidate School (OCS) in 2009.

Thankfully, support for Operation Gratitude continues to grow. From the 600,000th package sent this Christmas, Blashek feels a million-package milestone is within reach, and there will always be ways people can offer their thanks through her program.

“My own feeling is we developed this amazing structure and organization of people and relationships that care about our military,” she said. “We can always be an avenue to express our nation's appreciation for our heroes in uniform.”

(Editor’s Note: Veterans Advantage is supporting Operation Gratitude’s mission for the third consecutive year, with 60,000 complimentary one-year membership cards shipping to Iraq and Afghanistan over the next month. You too can support Operation Gratitude with time, money or donations: Click on over to OperationGratitude.com for more information