HISTORY OF RED FRIDAY:

RED Friday ("Remember Everyone Deployed") is a grassroots movement where people wear red on Fridays to show support for U.S. military personnel serving overseas. The tradition has two origin stories: one from a 2005 email chain and another from Canadian military wives in the mid-2000s who encouraged wearing red for their deployed soldiers. The color red symbolizes courage, bravery, and sacrifice, and the movement grew into a nationwide effort to raise awareness, honor troops, and support their families. 

 

ORIGINS OF MOVEMENT
The 2005 Email Chain: 
A viral email in 2005 encouraged Americans to wear red on Fridays to create a visible reminder that people supported the troops during the height of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. 
Canadian Initiative: 
Around the same time, Canadian military wives organized a movement to wear red to support their soldiers, which eventually influenced the U.S. tradition. 
Grassroots Growth: 
The idea spread organically, adopted by military families, veteran organizations, students, and communities as a way to show solidarity and keep deployed service members in mind. 
MEANING AND PURPOSE
  • Remember Everyone Deployed (RED): 
    The acronym serves as a powerful reminder of the sacrifices made by those in service, especially those serving far from home. 
  • Symbolic Color: 
    Red is used to symbolize courage, bravery, and the sacrifices of military personnel and their families. 
  • Support and Morale: 
    The weekly practice of wearing red is a way to boost morale for troops by showing that people back home are thinking of them and supporting their well-being. 

WHAT MAKES THIS IMPORTANT TO US

Wearing Red and showing Soldier support is very dear to our family, as ours currently has 5 Active Military Members serving in all different branches. We have soldiers in the Marines, Army, Army National Guard, and Air Force and retired Navy. We understand the proudness of having our daughter, son in laws, and nephews serving this great country and we also know the fear of the deployment calls. 

One of our proudest moments as parents was being able to witness our daughter graduating Basic Training in October 2021. To watch her march through the smoke that rose from the ground with hundreds of other Soldiers that chose to give their all to our country was truly a feeling that cannot be described in words. Along with our daughter, we are blessed to have 2 Son-in-Laws and 2 Nephews serving.

With every shirt purchase, we are able to send letters and goodies to Soldiers in basic training who do not have the support our family has had during their military journey.