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| A L W A Y S I N O U R H E A R T S |
Operation Remembrance In The News
| To view our awards, please click on the following link: Awards for Operation Remembrance |
Articles about Operation Remembrance:
| Published in the interest of the Fort Benning community |
March 17, 2006
Operation Remembrance helps collect memories for families of fallen Soldiers
Melissa House
Bayonet staff
Kristen Pirog is no stranger to grief,
having lost her sister to cancer five
years ago. But what she remembers
most is the outpouring of love
from everyone.
Then, last year, a close friend was
killed in Iraq, bringing what she
called the "fringe" of the reality
of war creeping in to her doorstep.
After attending Capt. Stephen Frank's
funeral, she wondered what she
could do for his widow and his young son.
"My first thought was no flowers," Pirog said, recalling their overwhelming smell
after her sister's death, "but I wanted to do something to help collect memories."
So she began searching for something to hold those memories she knew would
be offered in condolence and settled on the idea of a box. She finally found one
on the Internet, and although it wasn't exactly what she envisioned, used it to
collect letters from Soldiers who had served with Frank - most of them written to
his son that would let him know about his father as he got older.
"And once I had the box idea," she said, "it just hit me. Every family deserves this."
That was the beginning of what is now Operation Remembrance, a non-profit
organization started by Pirog and her "back-door neighbor" Julie Pierce in May
2005, providing memory boxes to the families of fallen Soldiers.
To read the entire article, please click on the following link: Bayonet article
Melissa House
Bayonet staff
Kristen Pirog is no stranger to grief,
having lost her sister to cancer five
years ago. But what she remembers
most is the outpouring of love
from everyone.
Then, last year, a close friend was
killed in Iraq, bringing what she
called the "fringe" of the reality
of war creeping in to her doorstep.
After attending Capt. Stephen Frank's
funeral, she wondered what she
could do for his widow and his young son.
"My first thought was no flowers," Pirog said, recalling their overwhelming smell
after her sister's death, "but I wanted to do something to help collect memories."
So she began searching for something to hold those memories she knew would
be offered in condolence and settled on the idea of a box. She finally found one
on the Internet, and although it wasn't exactly what she envisioned, used it to
collect letters from Soldiers who had served with Frank - most of them written to
his son that would let him know about his father as he got older.
"And once I had the box idea," she said, "it just hit me. Every family deserves this."
That was the beginning of what is now Operation Remembrance, a non-profit
organization started by Pirog and her "back-door neighbor" Julie Pierce in May
2005, providing memory boxes to the families of fallen Soldiers.
To read the entire article, please click on the following link: Bayonet article
| The |
Army spouse helps families of fallen Soldiers
SGT. PAULA TAYLOR
4th BCT, 1st Cav. Div. Public Affairs
As the flowers wither and dry up
next to his headstone, she sits quietly
at home, alone in her bed. Tears run
down her cheek. She weeps softly to
keep from waking the children who
are just down the hall. A picture of
him in his Army dress uniform sits on
her nightstand to serve as a reminder
of the man he used to be before he was
killed in action.
This snapshot of a grieving Army
spouse is more common than most
people are willing to imagine.
Often times, there is little comfort
for many of the family members of
fallen Soldiers. But one Army wife
has made it her mission to do all she
can to make the road to recovery a little
bit easier.
Kristen Pirog, a Monroe, Mich., native,
whose husband, Maj. John Pirog, is serving
with the 4th Brigade Combat Team,
1st Cavalry Division here, founded a
nonprofit volunteer organization called
Operation Remembrance, which provides
memory boxes to the families of fallen Soldiers.
To read the entire article, please click on the following link: Monitor article
SGT. PAULA TAYLOR
4th BCT, 1st Cav. Div. Public Affairs
As the flowers wither and dry up
next to his headstone, she sits quietly
at home, alone in her bed. Tears run
down her cheek. She weeps softly to
keep from waking the children who
are just down the hall. A picture of
him in his Army dress uniform sits on
her nightstand to serve as a reminder
of the man he used to be before he was
killed in action.
This snapshot of a grieving Army
spouse is more common than most
people are willing to imagine.
Often times, there is little comfort
for many of the family members of
fallen Soldiers. But one Army wife
has made it her mission to do all she
can to make the road to recovery a little
bit easier.
Kristen Pirog, a Monroe, Mich., native,
whose husband, Maj. John Pirog, is serving
with the 4th Brigade Combat Team,
1st Cavalry Division here, founded a
nonprofit volunteer organization called
Operation Remembrance, which provides
memory boxes to the families of fallen Soldiers.
To read the entire article, please click on the following link: Monitor article
 | |  | |  | |  | |  | |  | |  | |  |
| Melissa House Julie Pierce, left, and Kristen Pirog prepare a memory box for the family of a fallen Soldier. The Operation Remembrance project began after Pirog searched for a box for a friend's widow to save memorial letters for her son. |
| Operation Remembrance |
| Monitor Published for the Fort Bliss/El Paso Texas Community |
Kristen Pirog, Fort Bliss Army family member and head of Operation Remembrance, stands in front of
the White House during her Sept. 8 visit for the President’s Remarks to Volunteers gathering. Courtesy
photo.
Bliss’ own Operation Remembrance founder invited to White House
Stephen Baack
Monitor Staff
When Army family member Kristen Pirog received an e-mail inviting her to the White House,
she initially thought it was a hoax. The message asked for her name, address and social
security number.
“To be quite honest, you get so much junk mail that slips in through your filter, I almost
deleted it,” said Pirog, who later confirmed the phone number and e-mail address were real.
The occasion was the President’s Remarks on Volunteering gathering Sept. 8 on the White
House South Lawn, for which several hundred people attended from organizations like
AmeriCorps, Peace Corps, Citizen Corps and the Salvation Army.
Although no one specifically told Pirog why she was invited, she said she could only assume it
was her work with Operation Remembrance – her very own nonprofit program in which she
sends decorative boxes filled with cards or other memorabilia to the families of fallen
servicemembers.
To read the entire article, please click on the following link:Complete Monitor Article
the White House during her Sept. 8 visit for the President’s Remarks to Volunteers gathering. Courtesy
photo.
Bliss’ own Operation Remembrance founder invited to White House
Stephen Baack
Monitor Staff
When Army family member Kristen Pirog received an e-mail inviting her to the White House,
she initially thought it was a hoax. The message asked for her name, address and social
security number.
“To be quite honest, you get so much junk mail that slips in through your filter, I almost
deleted it,” said Pirog, who later confirmed the phone number and e-mail address were real.
The occasion was the President’s Remarks on Volunteering gathering Sept. 8 on the White
House South Lawn, for which several hundred people attended from organizations like
AmeriCorps, Peace Corps, Citizen Corps and the Salvation Army.
Although no one specifically told Pirog why she was invited, she said she could only assume it
was her work with Operation Remembrance – her very own nonprofit program in which she
sends decorative boxes filled with cards or other memorabilia to the families of fallen
servicemembers.
To read the entire article, please click on the following link:Complete Monitor Article
