Major League Baseball and PEOPLE magazine "Tribute for Heroes"

MLB Press Release
4/4/2013 9:15 A.M. ET
MLB and 'People' Magazine Announce "Tribute for Heroes" Campaign Honoring the Nation's Veterans and Military Service Members

30 Winners to be Recognized at the Pre-Game Ceremony of the 2013 MLB All-Star Game on July 16th on FOX and A Winner to be Featured in 'PEOPLE'; Nominations Accepted Beginning Today at TributeforHeroes.com

Major League Baseball and PEOPLE magazine today announced the "Tribute for Heroes" campaign, a national initiative that recognizes veterans and military service members and builds upon both organizations' commitment to honoring our country's heroes.

Beginning today and running through May 17th, fans are encouraged to visit TributeforHeroes.com to nominate an active or former member of the Armed Forces of the United States or Canada for the chance to represent their favorite MLB team at the 2013 All-Star Game.

Once all the nominations are reviewed, three veterans/military service members per Club (90 finalists) will be selected by MLB, PEOPLE, and a celebrity panel of judges, who will be announced at a later date. Fans will then be encouraged to vote online from June 9th through June 30th for their Club favorite. All 30 winners, one representing each MLB Club, will be announced on July 10th. They will be included in All-Star Week festivities and recognized during the All-Star pre-game ceremony leading up to the 2013 All-Star Game at Citi Field on July 16th on FOX. A "Tribute for Heroes" winner will be featured in PEOPLE magazine the week of the MLB All-Star Game.

The "Tribute For Heroes" campaign will support Welcome Back Veterans (welcomebackveterans.org, powered by MLB.com), an initiative of Major League Baseball and the Robert R. McCormick Foundation, which addresses the needs of veterans after they return from service. Major League Baseball has committed more than $23 million for grants to hospitals and clinics that provide post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and traumatic brain injury (TBI) treatment to veterans and their families in a public/private partnership with "Centers of Excellence" at university hospitals throughout the country.

As part of its 2013 charity initiative, "PEOPLE First: Help America's Veterans," PEOPLE magazine is partnering with Welcome Back Veterans and three other nonprofit organizations that are committed to providing assistance to military men and women, and will feature them in multiple editorial stories in PEOPLE throughout 2013.

"It is our privilege to honor the returning veterans and active military service members who risked and continue to risk their lives to protect our great nation," said Baseball Commissioner Allan H. (Bud) Selig. "Major League Baseball is proud to use the national stage of the Midsummer Classic to celebrate the courage and sacrifices made by our Veterans and active military service members."

"For close to 40 years, PEOPLE has told stories of everyday heroes whose acts of courage, commitment, strength, and compassion have changed the lives of others," said PEOPLE Managing Editor Larry Hackett. "PEOPLE is thrilled to be part of 'Tribute for Heroes,' a campaign that gives back to the brave men and women who have served in the military." PEOPLE Publisher Karen Kovacs adds: "We are excited to continue our partnership with MLB, an organization that shares PEOPLE's commitment to recognizing the selfless work of everyday individuals across the country. We encourage all fans and readers to nominate a veteran in their community."

Currently, Welcome Back Veterans funds programs at The University of Michigan, Rush University Medical Center, Duke University, Emory University, Weill Cornell in New York City, UCLA and the Boston Red Sox' Home Base Program at Mass General Hospital in Boston. These institutions are developing new programs and strategies to improve the quality, quantity and access to PTSD and TBI treatment for veterans, particularly those returning from duty in Iraq and Afghanistan.

NAMI Montana executive director Mat Kuntz nominated to All Stars

Sent from member of NAMI

Here is a chance to help raise both NAMI’s profile and public awareness of the mental health needs of veterans-- in PEOPLE magazine.

NAMI Montana executive director Mat Kuntz, who is featured in the latest NAMI Advocate cover story www.nami.org/obama has been nominated to be one of PEOPLE Magazine’s “All-Stars Among Us,” representing Americans who have gone “above and beyond to serve their community.”

Earlier this year, he was selected to ride President’s Obama’s inaugural train as an “ordinary American” who has done “extraordinary things,” through advocacy for veterans.

Nominees for PEOPLE’s “All-Stars Among Us” are grouped under the names of major league baseball teams. The top vote-getter for each team will be honored at the MLB 2009 All-Star Game, July 13-15, in St. Louis. The person with the most votes overall will be featured in PEOPLE Magazine. To cast your ballot:

Visit the PEOPLE All-Star Web site.
Select the Pittsburgh Pirates emblem
Vote for Matt.

It’s that simple. Please spread the word to your networks. Each person can also vote up to 25 times in multiple visits (Yes, it’s allowed). Balloting ends on June 24. Mattt may be a long-shot, but someone has to win!

DJ AM Says He Was 'Saved For A Reason' after plane crash

Oct 15 2008 1:46 PM EDT

DJ AM Says He Was 'Saved For A Reason' In First Post-Crash Interview'I can't believe I made it,' he tells People magazine.
By James Montgomery


DJ AM considers himself "blessed" to have survived the September 19 plane crash that left him and Travis Barker with second- and third-degree burns and killed four others, including Barker's assistant, Chris Baker, and bodyguard Charles Still.

In his first interview since the crash, AM told People magazine that during his recovery, he grew closer to God and that he now believes he was saved "for a reason."

"I've prayed every night for the past 10 years. There's a lot more to thank God for now. My philosophy is 'live life to the fullest,' [and] I was saved for a reason," he told the magazine. "Maybe I'm going to help someone else. I don't question it. All I know is, I'm thankful I'm still here."

(Click for People Magazine's first post-crash photos of DJ AM.)

He also said that while he's grateful to be alive, he's wrestled with guilt, knowing that four people didn't survive the crash.

"My emotions go back and forth," he said. "At the first hospital, I screamed, 'Thank you!' Then I wondered, 'Why did I live?' I can't believe I made it. Any second, it can all be gone."
go here for more
http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1597103/20081015/dj_am.jhtml

Why does someone die? I've asked myself this question most of my life. I survived too many times and wondered why I did. Last week I began to ask why my brother died at the age of 56, and again, Tuesday at his funeral. I doubt I will ever know the answers anymore than I will ever know why some veterans survive combat but cannot survive in peace.

We will only understand when God allows us to. For most of us, that day will come when our souls return to Him. Others will be blessed on this earth to discover that they survived to serve others in offering hope, help, stretching out a hand with compassion and understanding. Most of the chaplains I know suffered in their lives, took that pain and reached out to others knowing what it felt like. Almost every person I know working on PTSD has either lived with it or came into contact with someone who touched their lives. We have "skin in the game" and it is far more than a casual observation.

While I was away with my family for my brother's funeral, I didn't watch much TV or read. I was out of contact with what was going on in the world. I didn't know who died of a non-combat death, who committed suicide or anything else that normally I would have been focused on like a lazar. It was stunning to me to understand how so many can be so oblivious to the suffering and trumps of others. They just focus on their own lives, needs, wants and their own trials, unable and unwilling to see any of what we see.

People who read my blog are focused on all of this. We share what we learn in order to find answers through news across the nation and the world. Ask a neighbor if they heard of the suicide of Chris Dana or how his death touched the lives of so many in the Montana National Guard that they came up with their own program to save lives, and they won't have a clue. Ask them if they heard the news about any of the others and they will be shocked. What they are most shocked about is that the government failed to take care of them. It was too easy to assume the government is taking care of all those who serve.

DJ Am, thinks his live was saved for a reason and he plans on doing something about it. Think about your own life and what you can do to make a difference. The beginning is reading blogs like mine. The rest is in your hands. Make sure that when you have the opportunity to make a difference in someone's life, you take it right then and there without trying to find excuses to not do it.

Senior Chaplain Kathie Costos

Namguardianangel@aol.com

http://www.namguardianangel.org/

http://www.woundedtimes.blogspot.com/

"The willingness with which our young people are likely to serve in any war, no matter how justified, shall be directly proportional to how they perceive veterans of early wars were treated and appreciated by our nation." - George Washington