Karen Vipperman has been involved with the La Habra Heights chapter of America Supporting Americans (ASA).
America Supporting Americans, ASA
P.O. Box 574
Pacific Palisades, CA 90272
310.459.5625
http://www.asa-usa.org/
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About America Supporting Americans, ASA
History
America Supporting Americans (ASA) started in 1967 when Sergeant Joe Artavia wrote his big sister from Vietnam asking her to do something to help raise the morale of his unit. Linda Patterson, as a young woman living in San Mateo, California, convinced her hometown to “adopt” her brother Joe’s unit in Vietnam. Believing that the individual soldiers charged with fighting an unpopular war desperately needed to feel the interest and concern of communities back home, San Mateo agreed to Linda’s request. As a result, the morale of Joe’s fellow soldiers was, in Joe’s own words, “raised as high as the clouds.” Tragically, Joe who was just nineteen was killed in a firefight trying to aid a fallen trooper three weeks after the adoption took place. To this day the men in his unit gratefully remember him and Linda each time they look at a cherished medallion that reads, “City of San Mateo, Adopted Son.” After Joe’s death, Linda traveled to Vietnam to personally deliver the medallions San Mateo had issued in honor of Joe and the men in his unit. Many of the men carry those medallions to this day.
Having geared up the adoption program again during Desert Storm and now for a third time in the wake of September 11, ASA has facilitated the adoption of many units by towns and cities across the country. Through these adoptions, both soldiers and civilians are discovering the unique and crucial link that exists between the men and women of our Armed Services and the American citizens they are charged to protect.
Mission
Adopt-A-Unit Program
The centerpiece of ASA’s work is the Adopt-A-Unit Program. Believing that a strong, supportive connection between young men and women of our armed forces and the civilian communities they are ready and willing to serve is crucial to morale, ASA has committed itself to building and strengthening this link.
Foster-A-Unit Program
The ASA Foster-A-Unit Program provides the opportunity for business and organizations not involved in the Adopt-a-Unit Program to support the morale of troops serving in military units both at home and overseas while they wait for adoption through the ASA Adopt-a-Unit Program. A business, community group, or school group not involved with local adoption activities, can foster a military unit by sending one or two rounds of letters and/or care packages to troops who are serving in harms way.
Youth Civic Action and Awareness Program (YCAP)
ASA encourages adoptive communities to use their adoption programs to expand young people’s understanding of America’s role in global affairs, of the role the military plays in the American political system, and of the experience of American servicemen and women. With this in mind, YCAP enables teachers to use their community’s participation in the Adopt-a-Unit Program to enrich their curriculums and to add new dimensions to the learning that goes on in their classrooms.
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