August 9, 2011 - 3:08 pm
People have asked me what they can do to help the families of the Navy SEALs who fell in Afghanistan. Here’s the information:
The Navy SEAL Foundation
1619 D Street
Virginia Beach, VA 23459
or simply text “SEAL” to 90999 and it will automatically levy a $10.00 donation to the foundation out of your cell phone bill.
The purpose of the foundation is to ensure college education for all the kids.
Seriously, the children aren’t orphans!!
While the modern term would be “fatherless,” traditionally children who had lost their fathers were referred to as orphans even if their mothers still lived, due to the fact that the father was generally the sole breadwinner, so the widow had little in the way of support for herself, let alone her children.
when my mother died, the rabbi told me that orphans–of which i was now one–had to mourn a dead parent for eleven months. the same when my father died.
i wish the nit-pickers best of luck with their philological ruminations, but i also wish they would just send money for the kids’ educations.
Terminology aside, thank you, Mr. Ledeen, for posting this important information for all to see. May the fund receive as many donations as possible, for these Navy Seals were among the greatest heroes to whom we all owe our lives.