General Colin Powell Monday sent a message to Vermonters in military service as part of the ongoing “Postcards From Home” YouTube video project launched in April by Senator Patrick Leahy. Leahy had invited Powell to record a message directed to Vermonters serving overseas, which Powell did Monday in Leahy’s Washington office.
The Powell video is now posted on Leahy’s YouTube page here:
[for reference, here is a description of the Postcards From Home Project, as announced by Leahy in April:]
Leahy Launches the Vermont National Guard YouTube Project:
Postcards From Home
. . . Vermonters Invited To Send Videos To Troops In Afghanistan
. . . General Dubie Submits First Video
WASHINGTON (Thursday, April 15) — Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) unveiled a new initiative Thursday to connect Vermonters with members of the Vermont National Guard currently serving in Afghanistan and across the globe. The Vermont National Guard YouTube Project: Postcards From Home, allows Vermonters to post their own YouTube videos thanking the Vermont troops for their service, wherever they may be stationed.
There are currently thirteen hundred men and women of the Vermont National Guard in Afghanistan. As members of the 86th Brigade, they are participating in security, reconstruction and stability operations. There are also 45 Vermont Air National Guard members who are en route to Saudi Arabia where they will help protect a military base. In addition, 66 members of the Vermont National Guard will head to Iraq later this year.
Leahy said “Today the internet plays a major role in how Americans communicate with one another. This project utilizes the powers of the internet (speed, accessibility, and usability) to thank the Vermont Guard members for their service and to let them know how much we are thinking of them. Personalized messages from home only begin to express our gratitude for their sacrifices.”
Leahy and his wife Marcelle posted the first video for the project, and they hope that Vermonters of all ages, from school children to seniors, and from all corners of the State will create their own videos for this project. Major General Michael Dubie, Vermont’s Adjutant General who commands the nearly 4,000 members of the Vermont Army and Air National Guard, created his own message, which is the first video entry.
A description of the project, guidelines for videos, and directions on how to participate can be found at www.leahy.senate.gov/PostcardsFromHome. Senator Leahy has posted an introductory and instructional video, as well as his personal message, which can be found on YouTube at www.youtube.com/SenatorPatrickLeahy.
At first I was amazed, thinking this was a time-machine project until I came to the webpage and saw the suit instead of Powell’s dress uniform. Whew. A nice gesture though. Too bad we can’t have the troops here at home and use the money spent in Afghanistan to help keep folks truly safer inside their own country.
Michael Billingsley
Brattleboro