U.S. military and families recognized with a special performance of Radio City Christmas Spectacular and a weekend in New York City.
NEW YORK, Sept. 23 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- During this year's Veterans
Day weekend, Nov. 7-9, 2008, Microsoft Corp. will partner with the USO to
recognize and thank the military community by hosting the second annual A
Salute to Our Troops through a unique New York weekend experience. A Salute to
Our Troops is a national program honoring the many faces of courage and
inspiration belonging to individuals who demonstrate selfless dedication to
our country. The program seeks to inspire others into action and show unified
support for our service men and women and their families.
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Tickets for a private showing of the Radio City Christmas Spectacular are
being made available today for service members and their families and can be
reserved online at http://www.salutetoourtroops.org. The private showing of
the Radio City Christmas Spectacular maintains the USO tradition of
entertaining the troops and gives them a chance to spend valuable time with
their families during the holiday season. As part of the commitment to
ensuring that troops around the globe get to experience the Radio City
Christmas Spectacular, the show will be rebroadcast multiple times on American
Forces Network and the Pentagon Channel over the holiday season.
In addition, Microsoft and the USO will host 25 wounded warriors from the
Walter Reed Army Medical Center and the National Naval Medical Center to take
part in a variety of distinctive activities throughout the weekend in New York
City, including a U.S. Coast Guard tour of New York Harbor and the Statue of
Liberty, lunch in Little Italy and an evening at New York's Hard Rock caf?.
'Our service members and the USO volunteers who serve them exemplify
leadership, duty and discipline, inspiring us to consider the various ways we
can give back,' said Curt Kolcun, vice president of Microsoft U.S. Public
Sector. 'A Salute to Our Troops is our way of recognizing their sacrifices and
honoring their efforts by providing some exciting New York moments they won't
forget.'
'A Salute to Our Troops once again aims to bring joy and show gratitude to
our service men and women and their families for all they do for this
country,' said Brian Whiting, president of USO of Metropolitan New York. 'As
we host them here in New York, in the proud tradition of partnership with our
USO-Metro D.C. counterparts, we hope Americans will join us in considering
ways they themselves can give back to those who give so much.'
A Salute to Our Troops also offers the opportunity for Americans to salute
a USO volunteer or thank someone in the military for their service through the
sharing of online stories in the A Salute to Our Troops community at
http://www.salutetoourtroops.org.
About the Radio City Christmas Spectacular
The Radio City Christmas Spectacular creates memories to last a lifetime
for more than one million patrons each year and has been seen by approximately
65 million people since its inception in 1933. The 2008 edition of the Radio
City Christmas Spectacular is the biggest New York holiday experience ever
coming fresh off the show's enormously successful 75th celebration. This year
the Radio City Christmas Spectacular will be the biggest production ever.
About the USO
The USO is a private, nonprofit organization whose mission is to support
the troops by providing morale, welfare and recreation-type services to our
men and women in uniform. The original intent of Congress for the USO,
established in 1941 is to represent the American people by extending a touch
of home to the military. The USO currently operates in more than 130 centers
worldwide, including overseas.
About Microsoft
Founded in 1975, Microsoft (Nasdaq: MSFT) is the worldwide leader in
software, services and solutions that help people and businesses realize their
full potential.
SOURCE Microsoft Corp.
