Wear Red on Fridays

Opinion by Tracy Della Vecchia, MarineParents.com, Founder 

There are many variations of how “Red Friday" got started in the United States. While I can’t state whether or not those accounts are accurate, I can share how we adopted the phrase as an organization at MarineParents.com to promote wearing red on Fridays. 

We use “Red Friday" as a way for military families as well as civilians to show solidarity and support for all military personnel, regardless of rank or location, regardless of whether military personnel are stateside, stationed abroad, or on a float. 

Back in 2004, I got an email from a dad in Colorado. Both of our sons were combat deployed to Iraq. His email said: “Hey, on Friday, people in Canada wear red to honor their military. Can you ask our Marine families to do that?" And I did. And we have done it ever since. Back then, we were the largest military community bringing people together for information, support, and services. We were a place to connect and share. We had a huge voice, and family members who associated with MarineParents.com started wearing red on Fridays.

Red Friday has now been around for 15+ years and has taken a firm hold with military families as well as with civilian offices who have a military-based person behind them encouraging everyone to wear red on Friday in support of military personnel.

As the Marine Parents family, we encourage you to join this cause and wear red on Fridays for all our military!