Deploy Peace Made CNN

On Friday, December 19, 2008, Deploy Peace was featured on CNN. The interview went great and I am so thankful to CNN and their wonderful staff.

Although the interview turned out great I was nervous wreck. The week before the interview I wondered what were they going to ask me? What was I going to say? What would I wear? A friend of mine gave me some good Zen like advice. He said,"Your energy flows where your attention goes". When I said to him, "What the heck does that mean?' He compared it to a car skidding on the ice. If you are focused on the light pole ahead that is where your car is going to end up wrapped around. Well I definitely did not want to be the pole or the car in that situation.

So what I did was, I figured out what I wanted to say, and equally as importantly what I was going to wear. I took control of the thing that I could control and tried not to sweat the things that I could not.

That strategy almost paid off, except the morning of the interview I got a call from CNN saying that most interviews were being cancelled because of breaking new. I started feeling like Matt Damon on Jimmy Kimmels Show. Fortunately for Deploy Peace, the CNN people were so great they calmed me down and the interview went on with out a hitch. I was told over 5 million people were watching. I am glad I was told that afterwards. If I had known before I would never been able to breathe.

Again thank you CNN for your help. Together we are making a difference in the lives of those that have sacrificed so much for all of us. We are raising very funds to help our troop reunite with their families.

Reflecting on the Year

Deploy Peace has a lot to be grateful for this year. Most importantly our families are safe and healthy and looking forward to the holidays.

Professionally, This has been a great year for Deploy Peace. We got a lot of local media attention. Please review the news clips done by KOLD-TV and KVOA-TV in Tucson. In addition, Arizona Spotlight also profiled our company.

In addition we also embarked on a new website design integrating social media. We can now be found on Facebook,Myspace and you are now reading our blog.

We are very excited for 2009, and wish everyone a safe and healthy new year.

Happy Thanksgiving

Barb and I wanted to take this time to wish everyone a "Happy Thanksgiving". We always have best wishes for you and your families.
To wind up November and to get ready for the Holiday Season, we've been cleaning metal for new tags and working on our new Website. The new Website should be ready in the next few weeks. We're really excited about it! Until then visit us here, and keep peace alive.

Visit to the Fisher House

Two weeks ago I had the pleasure of being invited to go to the Fisher House in San Diego. What a treat! They have two houses on the Naval base there. One of which has just finished construction. I had a great tour by Belle Esposito, but unfortunaly couldn't take any pictures without prior authorization. Next time I'll know to get prior authorization. The services they offer for our military and their families is wonderful. If possible check out their website at www.fisherhouse.org

Our Trip To The Bone Yard

Today Barbara and I spent our morning at the National Aircraft Salvage Yard. National Aircraft Salvage purchases aircraft pieces from the military and is our supplier for our scrap metal we use to make our dog tags.

We toured the facility and saw a lot of military planes from the Korean War and the Vietnam War. We also got to purchase the C-130 wing that we will take and create our messages of peace.

This plane served our country well in the VIetnam war. It is just incredible to see the process in action. Who would of thought that these remnants of a war 40 years ago would be used to help build lodging for families of our wounded veterans returning from Iraq and Afghanistan. It is really interesting to know that this planes final service to our country is to help veterans 40 years later.

Deploy Peace Featured on KOLD-TV

Last week was a great week.

Barbara and I were interviewed by KOLD-TV. What a great experience. Dan Marries was the reporter, and he did a great job getting us to relax. We were both so very nervous.



It is so very interesting to see the entire process on how a story comes together. Like most of us, you really do not know what goes into putting together a 2 minute feature each night. Dan and his photographer and intern arrived at my apartment around 2 in the afternoon and left around 3:45. It is amazing that to produce a 2 minute story it took nearly 2 hours, between set up, interviews with Barbara and I, and additional video of us packaging our necklaces.

We are so thankful that KOLD came out and did this. It really helps us get the word out and lets people know about this great opportunity for them to get some cool looking jewelery and raise resources for the Fisher House. Plus our designs are really a big hit and should be worn to honor and support our troops.

During the interview Dan asked was "Why are you doing this?" Well the answer is because we want to help. We wanted to do something to help the families of our soldiers, airmen, sailors and marines be closer to their loved ones in their time of need. We felt that since they were there when our country asked we could be there when they returned. Our partnership with the Fisher House makes that possible. That is why we are doing this and that is why we are honored to give a large portion of our proceeds to this great organization.

Thank you for your support and together we are making a difference. Even if you do not purchase a dog tag when you see a man or woman in uniform thank them for their service. They deserve that and much much more.