Last week I wrote a post about how much of this blog as been inspired by my work in local political campaign.  While I have been writing about Pittsburgh, I have also been working for a number of business and organizations – many who I met while working on political campaigns.  One of those jobs was working for VoteVets.org – which is a national Veteran’s advocacy organization.  VoteVets.org was founded by Jon Soltz – who I first met when we were both volunteering on the 2004 presidential campaign.  Jon is a Veteran and after serving two tours of duty over seas, he created VoteVets.org and VetVoice Foundation.  It was an honor to be able to work for Jon and VoteVets.org and I learned first hand about how Veterans have served and continue to serve our country.

One of the Veterans that I worked with at VoteVets.org, is Richard Smith.  Actually, I think I first met Richard at a conference as he is also a blogger.   Last week Richard posted about Team Rubicon on his Facebook Page.  Team Rubicon is an organization where Veterans who have returned to the US, work on disaster relief projects and humanitarian issues.  Richard set up a page to help raise money so Team Rubicon could send more Veterans to assist in the aftermath of the Oklahoma tornado.

Here is Richard’s note about Team Rubicon:

Hello friends,

For those who do not know, Team Rubicon is an organization that deploys teams of Veterans to disaster areas to assist first responders in relief using skills they learned in the military. I really want to deploy to Oklahoma, but being a single dad keeps me close to home.

Instead, I’ve set a fundraising goal to help Team Rubicon provide much needed relief in Oklahoma. Team Rubicon will have initial assessment teams on the ground tomorrow and will have a full scale response in Oklahoma within days. This isn’t new for these guys. They’ve deployed teams to New York for Hurrican Sandy, as well as places as far away as Haiti and Sudan. If you are going to donate to the relief efforts, please consider donating to my fundraiser page.

Early money is important to help get these Vets on the ground as soon as possible.

Please join me in supporting Team Rubicon by making a contribution online here.  Every little bit counts.  (And I know that Team Pittsburgh can certainly help tip the fundraising goal).  While Richard wasn’t able to make it to Oklahoma to help here is a photo he posted on Twitter of the Veterans cleaning up Arlington National Cemetery for Memorial Day.

Here is a snapshot of some of the blog post and photos of Memorial Day celebrations honoring those who served our country.

Some photos, tweets and links from Memorial Day Celebrations in Pittsburgh. (More info available here – http://iheartpgh.com/2013/05/27/memorial-day-in-pittsburgh-and-team-rubicon/)

http://storify.com/iheartpgh/memorial-day-in-pittsburgh