In the interest of being fair I have posted the email I received from Mike Suska on July 31, 2009(President of the Patriot Girls) and my reply to him.  However, after replying to him, I never received a response - I don't blame him.  Some of you may defend him and his use of the military to make a name for himself in the for profit world - I, however, do not!  I will however post all point of views on the subject, but you will probably receive a reply from me if you do try to defend Mr. Suska.  No one should use our Military and First Responders as a way to make money - it's just wrong!  ...my opinion - what's yours? 

My replies start with ***

I'm going to go line by line and answer you questions and comment those that aren't. My answers/replies start with ***

----------------- Original Message -----------------
From: THE PATRIOT GIRLS USA
To: Help Our Wounded Troops
Date: Jul 31, 2009 6:45 AM
Subject: RE: I posted your comment...


Your reply was asked and answered in my response.

Where are you getting the ridiculous figures on the money we're supposedly making?

***I get them from your sites and other sites - Google yourself and your organization.

I posted how many calendars we printed and how many we sold. I don't see you posting any of your information on how many you print, how many you sell, or how much you've donated!

***Because I am a nonprofit I have state and federal laws I have to follow. Additionally, I file a Form 990 every year as do all nonprofits. We print 20,000 calendars and no one receives a paycheck. And for nonprofits that do pay their people i am not against that as long as it is reasonable.

***Are you a registered business? Are you Are you registered in the states you fundraise in to do fundraising? There are only 8 states you don't have to register in to fundraise and I think that just changed recently and it's less than 8 now.

Also, the calendars don't cost us less than a $1 to print! All told with shipping, they're around $3.

***You pay way too much - find another print company!

The goal of the calendars or posters, beside raising a portion for charity is to cover operating expenses and help build the company. You don't mention or maybe you don't even know of the various other things that we do.

***You give people the illusion that you are raising money for the Troops. You use the Troops to build your business, yet they (the organizations you claim to support) only get a dollar per calendar? Sad!

The bigger picture is that all these girls volunteer at various events local to them that are fund raising efforts set up by others or the charities themselves.

***You DO NOT allow all the girls to volunteer and when organizations have come to you and asked for you and some of your girls to be at an event you tried to charge a ridiculous hourly rate! That just happened recently at a O.T.A event - a charity you claim to support!

I'm not trying to make a ridiculous profit with this, but I do this full-time and there are expenses.

***You are trying to make money and the foundation you stand on to do that is our Troops and now our first responders!

I'm not driving a Cadillac or traveling all over the world. Like I said, I barely meet my mortgage every month. I'm just a humble hard-working guy that's trying to make a difference!

***Make a difference? For who? Definately not for the Troops!

I do this all by myself. I don't have a staff of people helping out.

***You may not have a "staff" but like you said, you have thousands of "volunteers" in 44 states that are out there building your company in the name of supporting the Troops and First Responders - for profit!

You say that you contacted the companies that we've donated to? WWP got a money order for $1426 and never even sent a thank you. Maybe that's why they don't remember us!

***If you donated that much to a nonprofit, then they are required to send you an acknowledgment letter. You should get that and post even if it is only $1426. That means you sold 1,426 calendars and raised almost 15g - again, using our Military as the foundation to build your company.

What about OTA? We've volunteered at numerous events for them and set up several of our own for them. We also, including me personally, have gone to every single one of their packing parties to help assemble care packages.

***A recent OTA (Operation Troop Appreciation) event is where you tried to charge them a ridiculous hourly rate for you and some girls to attend. If the Troops you are building your companies foundation on is the reason your company is growing, then don't you think volunteering for military events is the right thing to do???

So your sources are from Michigan? That's funny, we haven't been active in Michigan since before our 1st calendar ever came out! We just recently started to work on that state.

***I said live in Michigan - I never said when my sources are from. I have many many friends in dozens of states.

Whoever you're getting your information from up there hasn't been involved with us for at least 2 years!

***Read previous answer.

Regardless of all that, I don't see why you've been getting a bunch of emails about us or why you would jump to conclusions and post a slanderous blog about this.

***Anyone who uses the Troops to build a company and contributes less than 10% of their earnings, I have a problem with.

Why wouldn't you just call me and ask your questions?

***I'll call you, but I have the felling you will try to BS me.

Like I said before, I've supported you guys as well. I reposted your bulletins and approved your comments selling your calendars. I even left several comments for you expressing support.

***Never received a single comment expressing support and never saw a reposted bulletin from you. You mave have approved a comment, or two, I don't know. We comments thousands and thousands.

Just because I'm not set up as a non-profit doesn't mean that my heart isn't in the right place!

***You're right, your heart may be in the right place. And you do not have to be a nonprofit to support the Troops - many great businesses support the Troops, large and small. The difference betweem them and you is that they didn't build their business using the Troops as their foundation. The reason your company has grown the way it has and the reason you have so many "volunteers" is because everyone thinks you are doing it all for the Troops and First Responders. Because less than 10% of your earnings go to the Troops are you doing FOR them, or are you using them???

***You have 15 banners down the left side of your Myspace profile showing all the organizations you support - 10 of those 15 are organizations who support the military. How is it you support those organizations?

Mike
412-969-7135


----------------- Original Message -----------------
From: Help Our Wounded Troops
To: THE PATRIOT GIRLS USA
Date: Jul 31, 2009 6:25 AM
Subject: I posted your comment...


...and posted a reply to what you wrote.

I am happy to announce that Military Troops Calendar (the nonprofit I am President of) is now a part of Ebay giving works.  As many of you know, Military Troops Calendar produces calendars each year to say thank you to our Troops serving overseas - these calendars are produced and sent to the Troops overseas free of charge.  Because of all of all of your purchases of the previous years calendars and your sponsorships/donations we are able to do this every year since 2007. 

If you sell on Ebay and are considering a nonprofit to donate a portion of your procedes to, please consider choosing Military Troops Calendar.  I would like to thank Silvias Collectibles for choosing us as her nonprofit of choice and has over 90 items listed on our
behalf and on behalf of our Troops and our Wounded Troops.

If you are not a Myspace friend of Military Troops Calendar please add them/us as a friend - they are my top friend.

Any Ebayer that lists items in benefit of Military Troops Calendar on Ebay will be listed on the calendar Myspace page and this page.

I know times are tough financially for many of us - this is an easy way to give back to our Troops with very little impact on your financial situation.

I thank you all in advance for considering our nonprofit and if you shop on Ebay, please check out our featured sellers below:



Silvias Collectibles
http://donations.ebay.com/charity/charity.jsp?NP_ID=31956

Jerry
President, Military Troops Calendar

Well, the self-proclaimed Gunny with 3 Purple Hearts is still around.  I don't think he will be much longer, though.  He is obviously feeling the pressure from all of you here on Myspace and from other communities where this blog has been posted.  Thanks to all that have helped get the word out.

Since many of you have deleted him as a friend (and you should have) you aren't able to see his profile anymore since he went private.  Therefore, I will show you the last three bulletins he posted - VERY AMUSING!!!

Here they are:

With the war on terror going on for 5+ years and veterans from all conflicts from WWII to the present still alive, we are in no shortage of heroes in this country!

So, I need everyones help.  There is a man claiming to be a Marine hero with a Bronze Star, 3 Purple Hearts and 29 other medals.  And there are many who support him blindly.  I received a message from a Marine who did some research on this guy (because of the awards he claims to have) and he found that the guy is lying.  Also, I saw his DD214.  Most all of you on my page are either military, family of someone in the military, or support our soldiers whole-heartedly.  Therefore, this should piss you off as much as it does me!

Here is the bulletin he posted not too long ago - Also you will find a message I received from the Marine who asked me to help get the word out.  Also, some have done their own research and posted comments about him on his profile - please go look (if he hasn't deleted them).  As a group of 19,000+ we should be able to make sure people like him do not take credit for what our real hero's have done.

Thanks for the support - as you can see, this really pisses me off!!!

His bulletin:

This is the msg that he sent to me and everyone else:

============
Hello,
Let me start by telling you I am a Gunny from the US Marine Corp. I have served in every conflict since 1983 and Have earned a Bronze Star, 3 Purple Hearts and 29 other medals.

I have a bet with a Navy Captain about who can get 5000 friends on my space first. The LOSER has to get the others service tattoo on his butt.
I am a very proud MARINE and don't want anything Navy on this butt.

Second thing about a week into bet he up the anti for a second tattoo on the other cheek for most signed pictures from frinds on myspace.
If i would pay the shipping would you send me a signed picture of yourself and send all your friends to my myspace. If you have any other friends please pass me on and I will take them as friends and hang their picture also.

I Thank you for aLL YOUR SUPPORT FROMTHE BOTTOM OF MY HEART AND MY BUTT TOOO.

Gunny USMC
Save GUNNY ASS!

===============

This is the message I received from the Marine Recruiter asking for my help:

From: THE MARINES
Date: Aug 8, 2008 6:12 AM


I know many of you support the troops in any way you can, and you show your support here on MySpace. For those of us in the military - we appreciate it very much!!! Please keep it up!

However, as I have recently pointed out, there are a lot of people on MySpace who claim to be Marines, when they definitely are NOT! Many of you who support the troops show these FAKE Marines support because you don't know any better and think they are legit, when in actuality, they are making fools out of everyone.

Here is the latest example:
http://www.myspace.com/gunnyusmc7
He is on a mission to get as many friends as possible on MySpace.

Not only does this person claim to be a Gunnery Sergeant in the Marine Corps, but he also claims that he has a Bronze Star and 3 Purple Hearts! This is a Federal Offense punishable by 1 year in prison and/or a fine under the Stolen Valor Act of 2005.

Get the word out and have everyone delete this guy from your friends list!

-Gunny Kuss

--------------

As he pointed out above, this is a Federal Offense punishable by 1 year in prison and/or a fine under the Stolen Valor Act of 2005.

Like I said, I've seen his DD214:  It says he has 2 Sea Service Ribbons and he was a LCPL.  I sent him a message asking him to verify what he wrote in his bulletin and that I was posting this blog and sending out a bulletin - he read it, but no reply.

We would appreciate you helping us get the word out - thousands of men and women have fought & died and were decorated with those medals for their sacrafice and bravery.

Thanks for reading and thanks for getting the word out!

Jerry