The gals of the Cotillion are paying tribute to the brave boys and girls overseas, fighting the War on Terror far enough away that people like you and I can sleep without fear.

Check out A Soldier's Blog: a Christian, a husband, a son, a brother, a Soldier from Shawn of the 278th Regimental Combat Team. I've read comments about soldiers in the past saying that they go into the military because they're "too stupid to get a real job". Screw you. Shawn has a BA and MS in Criminal Justice.

What about the ladies that are over there sweating their guts out and suffering "desert hair"? Well, Tasha is about to be deployed, so I'm sure she'll be telling us what it's like. Check Tasha out at i'm just in it for the clothes and the food.

Holly Aho from A Soldiers' Angel is the newest addition to the Cotillion (at least as of the last time I checked my email), and she's very active in the whole letter-writing-sponsoring-soldiers thing that I admire so much. She basically writes letters to perfect strangers, and takes them on as her personal responsibility, making sure they have a contact point back home, as well as care packages and goodies being sent over. Kind of reminds me of the old days, when all the single girls would write to soldiers posted overseas. It gave the guys something to fight for, and sometimes gave the girls husbands when the boys returned! There's such an old school romance to the whole thing, and I think what she's doing is great. And before you ask - she's married with four kids. She really is just writing to these guys because her heart's in the right place.

A Soldiers' Angel isn't to be confused with Soldiers' Angels, an organization that matches letter-writers to soldiers, raises funds for military families, and helps returning soldiers find employers to hire them.

Within a few short months, The Soldiers'Angels Foundation went from a mother writing a few extra letters to an Internet Community with thousands of angels worldwide and growing stronger with the addition of new members daily. With more and more merchants donating services, money and items for packages, the Angels reorganized as a 501 c 3 non-profit foundation. On February 26, 2004, Soldiers' Angels formed the Alliance of Angels, proving with our allies we find new strength that better enables us to complete our mission of providing tangible caring support for our military.

So what of our Canadian soldiers, stuck in Afghanistan with nothing but a rusted Korea-era tank and a potato gun? Nothing. No blogs that I could find, and worse still - no letter-writing organizations. They've been forgotten. By our government, by our media, by our citizens, and by our charitable Christian women's hearts. They fight shoulder to shoulder with their American brothers and sisters, who receive care packages from perfect strangers, and the Canadians remain unthanked.

I plan to change that. I have been in contact with the Canadian Forces Family Resource Centre at Petawawa to set up a Canadian Soldiers' Angels group. But I can't do it by myself. I need you. If anyone is interested in writing to our lads and ladies in the field, please email me at rightgirl@girlontheright.com. It doesn't matter where in the world you are. All that matters is that you care.

O say, can you see, by the dawn's early light,
What so proudly we hail'd at the twilight's last gleaming?
Whose broad stripes and bright stars, thro' the perilous fight,
O'er the ramparts we watch'd, were so gallantly streaming?
And the rockets' red glare, the bombs bursting in air,
Gave proof thro' the night that our flag was still there.
O say, does that star-spangled banner yet wave
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave?

A belated Happy Dominion Day for the Canadians, and a rockin' Fourth of July to the Americans!