Veterans Day 2014

Dear Friends,

Today is a special day in which we commemorate and honor all of the brave men and women who have courageously served and currently serve in the United States military. If you are a veteran, I would like to express my deepest gratitude to you for your heroic sacrifice and valor. Thank you very much for your courageous service and for protecting our nation; you are our nation’s greatest heroes. May your brave and dedicated service be honored today, forever and always.

As civilians, we have a special duty to thank and honor our nation’s veterans. We don’t have to wait for special days like today to appreciate our military. Every day is an opportunity to pass on the message of thanks and appreciation to our nation’s well-deserving soldiers.

Whether through a personal greeting, thank-you letter, or social media update, please take the opportunity to thank a veteran. There is no such thing as “too small’ of a thank you. Even a kind word and handshake can make a positive difference in a veteran’s life. I encourage you to seize the moment and thank a soldier. Together, we can bring about a nationwide appreciation for our nation’s heroes.

Thank you, may God Bless you and your family and may God Bless and protect our soldiers.

Jonathan A. Lu (11/11/14)

A School Year in Review

It has been an amazing school year. As I look back on this past year, I am encouraged to see that the Love Our Troops Letter Project has grown positively in its efforts to honor and appreciate our brave servicemen and women.

I would like to take the opportunity to thank all of the people who have been involved in contributing to the Love Our Troops Letter Project.

First of all, I would like to thank my mother and father for their kind love and support. They are amazing parents.

Also, a special thank you to Dr. Tammy Ferguson for her kind support in helping to initiate a veteran appreciation project at A.D. Henderson University School and FAU High School.

In addition, I would like to thank Debra Rosenblum and Christine McCaul for implementing veteran appreciation projects in their own classrooms. These wonderful teachers have encouraged their students to write letters to our brave soldiers.

A special thanks to all of our letter writing volunteers who have helped to send letters of hope, appreciation, and thanks to our military heroes.

Finally, I am very grateful to God, for without the blessings of providence, none of this would have been possible.

Thank you to everyone who has helped to support and appreciate our nation's veterans. Together we can bring a message of peace, love, joy, and appreciation to our courageous servicemen and women.

May God Bless you and your family always!

Jonathan A. Lu

A Special Thank You

A special thank you to the fourth graders of Florida Atlantic University School's A.D. Henderson Elementary School for their beautiful letters to our nation's veterans!

Letter from the First Lady

Hello everyone, I hope that you are all enjoying your summer!

I have some very exciting news to share...

On April 21^st, 2014, I sent a letter to the First Lady to ask for her thoughts and advice on the Love Our Troops Letter Project.

This week, on August 4^th, 2014, I received a response from the First Lady Michelle Obama!

Mrs. Obama’s letter has been an amazing blessing. I feel very blessed that the First Lady, who receives thousands of letters and emails every month, took the time to read and respond to my letter.

I am not only elated by this kind response, but I am also heartened by it as well. Allow me to explain.

In addition to sending a letter to the First Lady, I have sent many letters to local schools and other institutions in the hopes of starting local veteran letter appreciation projects. However, out of my many attempts, I have only received one response from a school; only to be told later that the school would not be able to integrate the project into their curriculum because they were too busy with end of semester testing.

As one may infer, this lack of response was discouraging for me. That is why the First Lady’s kind response meant so much to me.

When I initially started this project when I was fourteen, I had a dream of growing this letter project to national levels…and I still do. However, now that I am seventeen, I have learned that grassroots efforts take time and diligence to grow, and that having patience, positivity, and perseverance is essential.

Although this project is still small, I am very optimistic for its future. I believe in this endeavor, and I am grateful for each letter that I am able to mail to our very deserving troops.

I encourage you to visit and to join along with me, the First Lady’s and Dr. Jill Biden’s initiative: Joining Forces. (www.JoiningForces.gov)

Thank you very much for your kind support and consideration, and may God Bless you and your family always!

Jonathan A. Lu

Making a memory.

It's time to make a memory. 

We all have the power to make a memory that will last a lifetime. It doesn't take a meteor shower, a shooting star, or a solar eclipse. Every second of everyday, we are given an opportunity to make a lasting memory. 

I was recently at the mall with my mother. While my mom was looking at clothing, I noticed an older man with his grandson walking along the aisle. I could tell that the man was a veteran by his Vietnam war cap. As they were walking by, I took a moment to thank the man for his service to our country...I will always remember his reaction.

He first replied by smiling and shaking my hand, he said that he really appreciated the thanks, and that he was happy that our generation appreciated the military. He then introduced me to his grandson, whom he was very proud of. I usually thank veterans when I see them, and I don't think much of it when I do. But that man demonstrated that a simple "thank you" can mean so much more. 

He went on to say that my simple words of thanks meant very much to him. He thanked me for making a memory for his grandson, a memory in which he was respected and honored by the young generation. I didn't realize it at the time, but by thanking this veteran, I had shown him respect and honor. Because of this small act of appreciation, his grandson will always remember his grandfather as a great and highly respected man, a hero to our nation. That grandson will always look up to his grandfather, remembering the day when a civilian thanked his grandfather for his brave service.

Let's make a memory by thanking a veteran today. 

Thank you for your kind support and consideration, and may God Bless you and your family always!

Jonathan A. Lu

4th of July Greetings

Dear Friends,

Hello and greetings!

I hope that you all are enjoying your 4^th of July Holiday Weekend! 

Today marks a significant day in history, it has been 238 years since the signing of the declaration of independence and the inception of our great nation. As we celebrate our usual festivities: eating barbecue, lighting fireworks, and enjoying outdoor picnics, may we also take some time to thank a veteran this special weekend.

As we enjoy our holiday here at home, there are active servicemen and women serving and sacrificing time with their family to defend our nation. They don’t get to enjoy the comforts of barbecues or picnics, and the only fireworks they hear are the sounds of gunfire. Our servicemen and women sacrifice very much for us civilians to live in this abundant environment. Let us remember to whom we are indebted for selflessly and courageously serving this country: our soldiers.

While we are enjoying our festivities, let’s make it a goal of our weekend to thank a soldier. Whether through a letter, phone-call, e-mail, or word of mouth, we can all appreciate our well deserving veterans. A simple thank-you and handshake is all it takes.

Thank you for your kind support and consideration, and may God Bless you and your family always!

Jonathan A. Lu

A message to all public/private schools.

Dear Sir/Madam,

Hello, my name is Jonathan Lu, and I am sixteen years old. When I was fourteen, I started the Love Our Troops Letter Project; this project is dedicated to providing troops in foreign countries with a letter of thanks. I have been greatly blessed by this country and its protectors’ sacrifices, and I feel it is only right to repay our nation’s troops with a letter of thanks and gratitude. It is my hope that you and your school would consider to be a part of this letter project.

Our nation is one of the very few nations that provide a full primary and secondary education for its citizens free of charge. America is one of only a handful of countries that not only provides complimentary primary and secondary school education, but also grants financial assistance to those who wish to pursue a tertiary education. We have educators and instructors who have made it their personal goal to help our generation and future generations succeed to their fullest potential. Our principals and teachers strive to make America’s public school system a system of international excellence.

America’s public school system is by far one of the most reputable schools systems in the world, but to whom do we have to thank for bringing us to this point of eminence? To whom are we grateful for providing our schools, libraries, and after-school activities? To whom are we forever indebted to for our safety? To whom are we ever thankful for our protected rights? Many would say it is the great hand of providence alone; however, I would also like to think of providence’s angels in uniform as the protectors of our schools, peace, opportunities, and rights. These angels in uniform are our U.S. servicemen. Every day they serve selflessly, fight heroically, and protect vigilantly so that we can sleep safely. These men and women protect the very balance of peace and unity. They are the reason why we can go to school every day, participate in extracurricular activities, and freely express our ideas. American servicemen and women are the reason why we can assemble in our schools and universities to enjoy a day of productive learning.

There are over one million troops in the U.S. Military. Many of them are currently fighting the war in Afghanistan. Many of them are under enemy fire this very moment, constantly in fear of the steel angel of death’s gaze finding them. Many of them are without comfort or love; without family or friends to write to, it can get very lonely. I believe the protection of our nation is necessary. However, a military serviceman without comfort or love is unacceptable.

Every veteran of this country deserves a letter of affirmation, a letter of thanks, and a letter of love. Every military serviceman of this great nation has earned, many times over, a medal of our appreciation. Every member, be it of the Navy, Air-force, or Army, needs our words of gratitude and appreciation. We, the people of the United States of America, are the only people who can give these words of thanks.

By writing a simple letter, you can give a gift that will last forever, a message unworn by time, a constant reminder to our troops that there is a person back home that loves and cares about them. I realized the power of this message of thanks when I met a former military serviceman at a local Walmart. When I thanked him for his honorable service and courage in fighting WWII, he returned my thanks graciously, shaking my hand and patting my back saying many times over how he wished there were more kids like me. This experience was life changing. As I left the store that day, tears welled up in my eyes and I knew I had to do something to bring the great message of thanks to all our servicemen. That momentous day taught me the power of thanks. It has also inspired me to establish the Love Our Troops Letter Project. This project is dedicated to honoring as many troops as possible by writing letters of thanks for our very deserving servicemen.

By distributing just one copy of the enclosed “Thank You My Dear Serviceman” letter model to each of your colleagues, faculty members and students, you help the Love Our Troops Letter Project provide a wholesome, loving, and blessed message to our troops serving in the war. Just one simple message of thanks such as “You’re a great protector of our nation”, “You’re a divine keeper of peace”, or even a simple “Thank you for your service”, is a more than sufficient way of thanking our troops.

Each letter is a divine message of hope, encouragement, love, affirmation, peace, joy, thanks, and comfort. Each sender is a divine envoy of the letter’s message. Let us not let one more day go by without sending a message of thanks to our troops. Let us be that divine messenger of love, peace, and joy to our troops. 

My goal is to see the Love Our Troops Letter Project through all the way to national levels. I believe every student should be taught about the importance of the U.S. military and its values of democracy and freedom upon which our great nation was built. I want to bring about a national appreciation of our troops, not just on Veterans and on Memorial Day, but every day. Our troops fight for us daily, so I believe it is only right to appreciate them just as often. Thank you for your time and consideration, and with your help, we can accomplish a nationwide effort of appreciation for our fellow brothers and sisters in the armed forces.

May God bless you and your family always.                              

Sincerely,                   

                                                                    

Jonathan A. Lu                                             

                                                                     

Enclosed Letter Template:

Dear Friend in uniform,

May God Bless you always!