While our country may be divided about how best to support our troops in these conflicts abroad, this day is about uniting to remember those who have given their all to our nation.

Earlier in the day, I sent a similar message to my campaign's email list asking our community to take one moment and one action to commemorate the fallen and help the living. The "moment" was at 3 p.m. local time, when millions of your fellow Americans joined in reconciliation and respect to observe the "National Moment of Remembrance," a national minute of silence. As Moment of Remembrance founder Carmella LaSpada says, this is "a way we can all help put the `memorial' back in Memorial Day."

I also advocated that our supporters take direct action. I know, for many, it was difficult to know what to do with the frustration around last week's vote on Iraq. While I share your frustration, I also feel strongly that we can channel it in a positive direction.

We have a duty as Americans to remember the people who have sacrificed for our country. And, we also have a duty to take care of returning veterans whose body, mind or spirit may be wounded in the conflicts they fight abroad. That's why I've recently led the effort to pass legislation that will significantly increase funding and research into Traumatic Brain Injury (or "TBI"), often caused by roadside bomb explosions.

Last year, I asked you on Memorial Day to financially support a grassroots organization called "Operation Helmet," which provided special blast-protective headgear to troops in combat to prevent TBI. Your generosity -- and the response by thousands of other Americans -- was so profound that Operation Helmet recently announced that it no longer needed to solicit donations.

Here's the message that "Operation Helmet" founder Dr. Robert Meaders sent to our campaign supporters:

Jerry: Thanks to your support, we received over $7,000 in contributions for the upgrade of combat helmets. The Marines, Air Force, Navy troops now have a better chance of coming home with their gourds intact and brains unscrambled because of you. Thanks from all of us to you and your constituents who gave so generously. Bob.

This year, no matter your feelings about the war, I want to ask you to join together again in collective action to heal our soldiers and our nation. Bob Woodruff, the former ABC News anchor who suffered a serious brain injury after a roadside bomb explosion last year, has founded the Bob Woodruff Family Fund for Traumatic Brain Injury to help soldiers suffering from TBI to receive cognitive rehabilitation.

http://www.bobwoodru...

On behalf of all the veterans who continue to suffer the ill effects of these horrific injuries, today I would like you to seriously consider making a contribution of whatever amount you can afford to the Bob Woodruff Family Fund for Traumatic Brain Injury.

Rest assured that contributions to the Woodruff Family Fund will actually go to the cause of caring for our veterans. When you click the "Donations" link at the web site above, you will be redirected to the Brain Injury Association of America. Under the section "Program Area," please click the scroll bar to select "Bob Woodruff Family Fund for TBI" as the recipient of your donation.

Thank you for your time and consideration of this important request on this solemn day.

Sincerely,

P.S. Many of you have recently asked me how we can save the veterans hospital facility in Livermore from closing due to U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs federal budget cutbacks. Rest assured that I will continue to focus my energy on keeping the Livermore VA hospital open and potentially expand its services to help veterans suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder.

With growing support for my PTSD proposal for Livermore from major newspapers across our region, there is a growing consensus that keeping the Livermore VA open and reshaping its mission would be in the best interests of our veterans. You can read those newspapers editorials and other posts on my efforts to keep the Livermore VA open by clicking here to read the "Veterans Affairs" section of my campaign blog.