NBC's Today Shines Spotlight on USO and Troops!

NBC's Today show took time this morning to shine a spotlight on military families across the nation. With a segment appropriately named "Call to Action," Meredith, Ann and Al talked about why our military troops and their families are so important to our great nation. Check out the videos below.

A heartfelt look into military families' lives when our loved ones are deployed . . .

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Ann's Interview with Jill Biden - remember that her son is also deployed.

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Here's Al's interview with the USO. Check out this care package assembly line! Brilliant!

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I was THRILLED to see the USO and our military community receive so much air time on our nation's best morning show. The USO is an amazing organization and they've been fantastic in supporting our community in the past and present.

Big thanks to Today for showing America's bravest and reminding our citizens to thank them for their service. Warm hugs to all military families around the world and safe thoughts and prayers to their deployed loved ones.

Military Pen Pals Are the BEST

To know me is to know that I love the Today Show. Seriously, I do.

This morning, as I pulled up the home page something made me smile. There was a Marine, with the caption "I love you too buddy."

I've placed the segment below for you to watch. It's about a little boy who had some trouble mastering reading and writing. His mom was looking for a creative way to encourage him and decided to work with the Adopt a US Soldier organization. Her son was assigned Marine pen pal Gy Sgt Balthazar Pineda who is currently in Iraq.

Their correspondence has made a true difference in this little boys life and the Today Show brought the mother and son on live today to share their story. The family explained how they have never met Pineda. He is still in Iraq and hopes to return home in a few months. He promised the family that they could meet when he returns.

Well in true Today Show fashion, the family got a fantastic surprise today. Pineda was patched in live from Iraq and the pen pals were able to meet for the first time via satellite.

It was a great moment. The boy was in complete shock. All he could say was how much he loved Pineda. Pineda responded, "I love you too buddy." :)

I think it's evident that the pen pal arrangement has also made a difference in Pineda's life as well. He has his own family and his own daughters, but I think that he saw the opportunity to make an impact in this little boy's life, and that makes him proud.

My favorite part of the segment - well besides the actual meeting, had to be the video of the school children creating care packages to send to our men and women in Iraq. That made my heart smile. If you'd like to help send some good cheer and support to our troops in Iraq visit the Adopt a US Soldier website, the Treats for Our Troops website, or visit a personal favorite of mine - the USO.

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Troops Watch SuperBowl From Iraq

The following video is from the Today Show and shows well deserved troops at Camp Victory in Baghdad watching the big game. A special thanks to all of our troops in the land of sand - thanks for all you do. I hope that yesterday's festivites made you feel a little closer to home.

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