Inspirational Iraq Tour- We welcome your support!
Inspire Me Today is working to bring inspiration to our troops in several ways. We are offering various ways for you, our Inspirational Luminary, to participate.
Join us :
- Inspirational Tour to Iraq to speak with our troops
- US Base Tour- speaking to troops and their families across America
In 2006 I was fortunate enough to spend 29 days on a tour of Iraq and the Persian Gulf. Inspire Me Today is looking forward to our return. Here are some photos from the first trip and the story of how this happened, below.
Carly at
Ali Al Salem with the scrolls
Sample of the scrolls
Scrolls being presented to the USS Pearl Harbor
Gail with "Talil Tom", Tallil, Iraq
Dear Inspirational Luminary,
The story of InspireMeToday.com and our US military has
come full circle for me in a very beautiful way. Please
allow me a few minutes to explain….
OUR HISTORY:
In the
fall of 2004 I had a dream, in which my daughter Carly
Goodwin, a Nashville recording artist, was performing on
stage, singing a song I’d never heard before . I scribbled
the song in my journal while half asleep. In the morning I
found the song, called my daughter, flew to Nashville and
met with Carly and songwriter Gerald Smith. In 15 minutes
Baby Come Back Home was born.
The song was recorded by Carly and released as an audio
postcard on the internet. The song honors the unrecognized,
often unnoticed sacrifices of a soldier's wife. Baby Come
Back Home has become an "anthem" embraced by military
families around the world. Within a month there were more
than half a million web hits. Invitations started pouring
in from troops and their families for Carly to perform.
At the first trip to Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, a young Marine
shared how he felt unappreciated by the average American.
Wanting to show him the love and support of a grateful
country, the Baby Come Back Home Soldier Scrolls were
launched in Nashville at the Country Music Festival. We
unrolled the tail end from an unprinted newspaper scroll
and invited the public to write their own personal message
of love and support. In just 4 days the scrolls were more
than 7 miles long. I was inspired!
Partnering with Southwest Airlines, Carly performed
concerts in airport terminals around the country while I
manned the tables and asked people to share their gratitude
with our troops. The scrolls grew and grew.
On the day they were signed by members of our Congress in
the U.S. Capitol building in DC, the scrolls broke 18 MILES
in length!
A few weeks later, after two years and visits to nearly 100
US bases, three trips to Guantanamo Bay and regular visits
to Walter Reed, I lead Carly and her band on an
entertainment tour to Iraq and 6 other countries in the
Persian Gulf. On this trip, we were able to literally wrap
the love and support of America around each of the 18 bases
on the 29-day tour, providing each base with more than a
mile of messages of love and support.
As the scrolls were unfurled, troops gathered around to
read messages from “I miss you Daddy, love Scooter, to “I
want to marry a Marine” with a young girl’s email address.
Our troops got to experience a little bit of home. As one
soldier said, “Wow, that person is from my hometown!” And
for that moment in time, he was home. He felt loved. He
felt appreciated.
I’ll always remember a young man, named Jesse, at the Al
Qaim base in Iraq. Because we volunteered to visit bases
that had never had entertainment, we were at a very remote
base in Iraq just 6 miles from the Syrian border. This was
such a remote base that the 3000+ Marines stationed there
had never had entertainment in the 3-1/2 years since the
base had opened. They literally built a plywood stage the
day before Carly’s concert.
After Carly’s show a young man named Jesse came and asked
me for a “mom hug”. He explained that he’d just turned 19
and that it had been 9 months since he’d had a hug. He
missed his mom. He explained to me that he’d been off base
for the last month and had just arrived back on base less
than 15 minutes ago. I smiled and as I reached out to give
him a big hug, he stepped back and further explained that
his job requires him to live in a ditch- alone for 30-35
days at a time. More than 800 other Marines guard this
stretch of desert and do the same thing, coming back to the
base for a few days every month or so. Jesse apologized and
told me that he hadn’t had a shower in 37 days. I pulled
him close and gave him the biggest, warmest Mom hug that I
could. We were both moved to tears. I asked Jesse how he
survives a month at a time, living in a ditch with no
interaction with other people. He pulled out his iPod and
told me he’s always looking for good inspiration.
I felt like God literally tapped me on the shoulder- big
time. Although I’d booked the name Inspire Me Today in
2004, I hadn’t taken the time to build the site yet, as I
was working with my daughter on building her career. Jesse
and the 800 others like him inspired me to provide them
with quality inspiration. I returned home and got to work.
Inspire Me Today, launched on our wedding day, April
6th,
2008. Because of Jesse, and in the spirit of giving before
receiving, we gave each of our 2.5 million active troops a
free Premier Membership to our site. The thought of Jesse
being able to come to Inspire Me Today and download a
month’s worth of inspiration and take it back to that
lonely ditch is what keeps me going each day. Thanks to
you- our Inspirational Luminaries, Jesse isn’t going to be
alone in his ditch any longer and that makes me smile.
THE REQUEST:
We’re
going back to Iraq on an inspirational tour and to deliver
more “mom hugs”, working in partnership with several
officers I met on the first tour, America Supports You and
a prominent General in DC. This time we’re assembling a
roster of inspirational leaders to speak with our troops.
“Inspiration is the number one thing our troops need now.
With the extended tours, being away from families has taken
its toll. We would welcome the Inspire Me Today
inspirational tour as soon as they can get to Iraq”, said
First Sergeant Anthony Page, former commanding officer at
the Al Q’aim base in Iraq.
Although the details of the tour are not yet finalized, we
are asking our Inspirational Luminaries to let us know now
if you’d like to join this tour. We will most likely have
only a few months’ notice and the Iraq schedule will not
allow for flexibility, so we’re creating a list, knowing
that not everyone will be available to go once the dates
are finalized. If you are interested in joining us on this
life-changing trip, please let me know immediately by
emailing me at gail@inspiremetoday.com and we'll add your
name to our list.
Additional opportunities will be available for those that
remain stateside to speak to troops and their families at
bases near you- wherever that may be. Please let us know if
you’re interested in participating in this project too.
GRATITUDE:
Thank
you for sharing your wisdom not only with
InspireMeToday.com, but also for your participation in
inspiring those that give so much for all of us. Know that
your contribution is greatly valued and appreciated.
Please call me with any questions at 720-379-5137. Thank
you again.
Hugs,
Gail
Gail Lynne Goodwin
Ambassador of Inspiration
InspireMeToday.com
gail@inspiremetoday.com
720-379-5137 office
720-346-4476 cell