Join Friends & Family of Military Service Personnel Nationwide in the Golden Star USA Community

Memorial Day is a time of remembrance for those who have made the ultimate sacrifice in service of our country. This year, with the launch of Golden Star USA, there is a new way to honor the courage and selflessness of all who have answered the call of duty.

Golden Star USA is an online community encompassing family and friends of service personnel representing all five branches of the U.S. Armed Forces – the Army, Navy, Marine Corps, Air Force and Coast Guard – including active duty, veterans and fallen heroes.

By registering as a member of the Golden Star USA community, you can create a Patriot Page to honor the accomplishments of the hero in your life, showcase their record of service and commendations and provide a forum where friends and family can share their own memories and stories.

You can also search the Patriot Hall to find any member of the Golden Star registry by name and unit, salute them with a personal message on their own Patriot Page and read posts contributed by other members of the community.

The concept for the site was the product of a collaborative partnership between Fame Foundry and Autumn Letendre, founder and CEO of the Golden Star USA Foundation.

Autumn approached Fame Foundry with the goal of establishing a platform through which she could promote the foundation and its mission, which is to provide marriage retreats and family counseling services for active duty and honorably discharged troops. As plans for the site evolved, the two organizations realized the opportunity to go further with an innovative idea that would bring people together and build a community dedicated to the purpose of creating an enduring tribute to the men and women of our nation’s military.

Autumn Letendre’s drive to help others stems from her own personal tragedy. Her husband, USMC Captain Brian S. Letendre, was killed in 2006 during his second tour of duty in Iraq, after he had voluntarily returned to the front lines as part of a special team training Iraqi army recruits. Now as a Gold Star widow, she is dedicated to advancing the mission of the Golden Star USA Foundation to serve military families who are struggling with the same challenges she and Brian experienced during his deployments.

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What are You Doing to Move the Chains?

Football is a game of yards.

Talent is scouted out and recruited. It’s not just about creating an army of superstars but also achieving a balancing act of strength and weakness. Teamwork is essential. Individuals must come together and function like gears in a machine to achieve the goal. If even one part is out of sync, the best-laid strategy will break down quickly. No single player – no matter how skilled – can advance without the cooperation and support of the other 10 men on the gridiron. Discipline is the mantra of the team. The fundamentals are never taken for granted. They are practiced and reinforced and sharpened with rhythmic and unfailing consistency. The hard work of training and conditioning is done in blistering heat, driving rain and freezing cold. Film is studied. Strategy is debated, refined, challenged and retooled. Tactics are meticulously planned and plotted in playbooks. The competition is scrutinized to identify advantages and vulnerabilities. All of these acts are performed in the quest to gain yards, because those yards add up to wins, and victories add up to championships.

Business is a game of yards, too.

These yards aren’t measured by hashmarks on a field but by the trust cultivated in your customers and your community. Just like in football, it’s up to you to create opportunities to advance down the field. It starts with making sure you have the right players on the field – ones who not only have the skill set needed to execute the plays but the vision to see the field and react to unforeseen challenges when necessary. Teamwork is not just a warm-and-fuzzy HR concept but a critical element of success. Your employees must believe in their stake in the ultimate goal and take full ownership of executing their routes without fail to minimize the chances of blatant mistakes and errors that result in costly setbacks. Yards must be earned one at a time through the demonstration of good values, honest communication and commitment to service.Discipline can never be abandoned. The process of building trust is challenging and never-ending. It can’t be accomplished by writing a check or putting up an empty facade. These yards must be earned one at a time through the authentic demonstration of good values, honest communication and commitment to serving your customers and their needs. Vigilance to strategy must be a constant. When innovation is absent, when tactics do not evolve, when shortcuts are taken, the cost is missed opportunities and lost yardage while your competitors advance on your goal. All of these acts must be performed to gain trust, because that trust yields a stronger community around your brand, and a growing community paves the way to owning your market. Find the right talent, cultivate good internal synergy, remain vigilant in serving your tribe and refine and sharpen your approach, and you’ll create opportunities to grow your business. By contrast, if you allow team spirit to fall by the wayside, become complacent, stick only with old, familiar marketing tactics and fail to lead your tribe, you’ll be watching your competitors sail across the goal line while you scramble to catch up.

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