Benefits of Membership

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This is just a SUMMARY of the Benefits of AWON Membership ~ most of which don’t fit on paper.

Scroll down . . . as much more detail is below.

The Benefits of Membership just keep on coming!

The AWON Database is literally the only database in the COUNTRY that focuses on Next of Kin and FAMILIES of men and women lost in WWII. If your Father or loved one was Killed in (or as a result of) World War II, you should stand up and be counted . . . in the AWON Database . . . whether you actually JOIN us or not! Join us if you can, but be represented in our Database. Click Here!

The AWON ListServ binds us in a FORUM that is the source of orphan information, the lifeblood of member communication, the repository of records hints and tips, the central alert of AWON Events, Remembrances, and Memorials, and the HUB of the comaraderie that has produced so many life-long friends. Even marriages. Join us first, then Click Here!

The Star is our Quarterly Newsletter – where our Editor, Kristin Holmes (and her all-Volunteer staff) are always working on a new issue. Not our first rodeo in developing, designing, and producing the heartbeat of the Membership, in both Printed and “connected” E-Star versions, we’re currently on Issue #98 ~ Click Here! If you have a STORY or a story IDEA, or even a Suggestion, Click Here!

The AWON Website (see www.awon.org) is 1,500 pages deep, and has been in constant operation since 1995. Rik Peirson (and a short list of all-Volunteer Stagers) are dedicated to History and Remembrance ~ providing more than 200 full-page, Father Tributes, more than 250 treatments of Memorial Day services around the world, pictorial evidence on more than 250 Local, Regional and National Conferences and Events ~ and more. To learn more about the Website, Click Here! If you’d ever like to add something of significance to the Membership, Click Here!

Friends among those “like you” ~ who already know the voids and loss of orphanism ~ are (forgive us) almost inevitable. There are no guarantees, of course, as you’re on your own here. But chances are good that you’ll find it as amazing as we all have ~ how fast friendships (lasting friendships) happen in the presence of people who already understand the reasons you’ve always felt so “different.” And who will gather quickly to help you remember your Dad or loved one. Click Here!

Wherever you are, you’re in a local Region ~ coordinated by a Local Regional Coordinator wrangled by Barry Barr-Finch ~ who together can identify AWON Members who are NEAR you, who could be in your TOWN and may be closer than you think! You’ve never (knowingly) met another orphan of WWII you say? You will. Just join us and see. Then tell Barry where you are. Click Here!

Ah, Tributes! We’ll help you remember your Father or Loved One ~ in a full-page Tribute meant to represent, honor, and remember your Father’s life, training, service, and sacrifice. Both Standard and Gold Star Tributes will take some time to develop, with thanks to stager, Nancy Johnson. But fundamentally, so many of us want to do this one thing ~ to honor and remember our Fathers, long-term ~ so we know their stories will live on . . . . long after we’ve left the building. To see examples, Click Here! To see a Tribute Preparation Checklist, Click Here! If you’re a Member and you want to get started, Click Here!

The AWON Bookstore is a well-stocked treasure trove of Books ~ written by our Members and others ~ CDs and Videos on Events and Conferences past ~ plus Hats, T-Shirts, and buttons. In a one-stop shop . . . you can immerse yourself in all things AWON . . . understand (almost) all things orphan . . . and tell the world that there’s a campfire that’s always warm and glowing . . . just for us. Click Here!

AWON has a presence on FaceBook ~ and an orphan-only GROUP on FaceBook, too. It works just like it does on the “outside” ~ bringing together news and notices, pictures of people, places, trips, and gatherings. If your a FaceBooker anyway – you really need to join our group. Can other forays into social media be far behind?! Click Here!

Wreaths Across America is right in our wheelhouse! We have an AWON page – and AWON access to a special place (where we can not only buy wreaths, but volunteer to place them) ~ not just in hundreds of National cemeteries around the domestnic U.S. ~ but at both Luxembourg American and Margraten (Netherlands American) overseas. With more overseas cemeteries on the way. Click Here!

Access to Basic and Advanced RECORDS on our Fathers’ induction, training, and service. Maintained in various places for the different services, access is not for the impatient or feint of heart! What started in “Touchstones” ~ a book on Records Access by Ann Bennett Mix (our Founder) will suggest just the right places to look and just the right words to say to get the best results! Click Here!

Memorials! ~ AWON maintains an annual Wreath and Banner program, where every year, our Members can remember their Fathers and Loved Ones ~ by Name ~ in 16 ABMC-run America cemeteries around the world – with commemorative Wreaths and Banners that show up again (and again) in treatments in The Star and on the AWON Website. Click Here!

The 2022 National AWON Conference ~ May 4 to 8 in New Orleans ~ built in and around the new HIGGINS Hotel and WWII Museum and Conference Complex . We’ll be at the #2 museum in the country (only behind the Met!) ~ and in May, our every-other-year Conference descends on the Big Easy. You’ve never (knowingly) met another WWII orphan, you say? Come on! Click Here!

Volunteers! ~ we can’t live without them ~ as so much of our honoring and remembering is because of them. If you join us ~ we may need you as much as you may need us. If you have organizational or correspondence skills, computer skills, fundraising skills, database, listserve, research, PR or basic writing skills, we may have the most satisfying job you’ve ever had! Click Here!

If you’ve come this far ~ you probably have both the patience and motivation to JOIN us! If you also have Clicking skills ~ Click Here!