As the year comes to a close, I’m profoundly grateful for those Americans who’ve put their lives at risk in service to this country, and also to their families.

As readers have learned over my last five years writing for the MDJ, I’ve been a military dependent almost all of my life, first an Army brat and twice a Marine wife, hitching my star to another Marine a dozen years after my first one died of cancer. It just worked out that way.

Dad’s UH-1 helicopter was shot down over Vietnam in 1968, so I know what it’s like for so many of the children whose dads have been lost in our current conflicts, and I’ve also had the unfortunate but enriching experience of being involuntarily attached to a military hospital for months at a time while my first husband received long-term care.

Of course, celebrating holidays under some of these conditions would be challenging for almost anybody. And that’s why I try to support any organizations who help these most deserving families, especially this time of year.

Organizations such as the USO, Soldier’s Angels and the Wounded Warrior Project are some of my favorites. But the one that touches me personally is Oliver North’s Freedom Alliance Foundation, which provides educational support for the children of fallen troops (my two oldest daughters included) as well as sending thousands of pounds of "Gifts From Home" care packages to deployed troops and hosting functions for wounded warriors throughout the year. The Sean Hannity Freedom Concerts such as the one held in Atlanta in August are a major fundraiser for Freedom Alliance, the Dulles, Virginia-based group which is about to celebrate its twenty year anniversary.

This year, if you’re looking for a good end-of-year tax deduction, you might consider the Freedom Alliance. I hear they’re giving these great 2010 calendars to supporters, calendars that highlight their good efforts — and feature, if I may, my oldest daughter on the May and September pages.

This organization has made it possible for so many kids to achieve their dreams, but not only that. The fine people associated with it are passionate about reminding everyone they touch of the great value and continued importance of the real people, the military heroes, who make America’s freedom possible. To a fatherless child or a wounded warrior, or a mom like me who’s trying to keep alive a memory, that means the world.

Happy New Year.