Is military service part of your family history? If yes, then you must be aware of the importance of paying respect to all the family members who have devoted their lives for the good of the country.
Actually, a creative way of honoring their present or past service is building a shadowbox frame, which contains all the significant reminders of their military career. If you are a creative person, then building one on your own would be an interesting project. Anyhow, in case you lack creativity, there’s the possibility of ordering one online in accordance with your preferences. If you are looking for a custom size or wood color for your shadow box, Personalized By Kate can make you one.
Regardless of the method you’ll choose, these are some of the best ideas.
Only use medals
The medal shadow boxes are the most classical as well as the most commonly used idea for this type of gift. The initial thing to do is to discover the number and type of the medals which your family member or dear friend has been awarded over the years. Their number will be crucial in determining the size of the frame, as the bigger the number of medals, the larger the frame. Click here to learn more about the awards and decorations of the USA armed forces, in order to identify and order them accurately.
Make sure the frame isn’t too large, as otherwise the medals won’t be the main focus. In addition, if you believe that the medals don’t make the gift personal enough, than adding a photograph would certainly contribute to the effect that you wish to achieve.
Honor the military history of your family
In case a few of your family members have served in the army, then a shadow box would be the perfect way to honor them and emphasize the military history of your family. It would be nice to have a shadow box frame on the wall in your house, displaying their achievements.
Make sure you use a larger frame in order to fit all the photographs, medals, old letters and other memorabilia of your family members. It might take a long time until you gather all the objects that are associated with every member’s history, but it would definitely be worth it when you put all the pieces together.
However, if you lack the time or creativity to build one on your own, you can order it from some of the numerous online websites, such as http://www.militarymemoriesandmore.com/military-shadow-box/, which specialize in making shadow boxes, customized in accordance with your preferences. You are only required to choose a sample, send the necessary items and have it delivered to your doorstep.
Pay respect to a veteran
There is no greater way of surprising a dear member of your family who has devoted his/her entire life to the military service, than purchasing or building a shadow box and use it as a present. This box can fit all the objects related to this person’s military career, in the form of old photos, medals, decorations and everything else you can find from back in the day.
Make sure you ask some of the other members to provide all the items they can find, which serve as a reminder of his/her successful career. Try to find information regarding all the places where this person did its service. It’s a good idea to use pictures or maps of these regions along with all the other memorabilia. The recipient will be more than grateful that someone has put the effort to summarize its whole military history.
Use a uniform
Another incredible idea for a military shadow box is using a uniform as a focus. Instead of using medals and photographs, you can display the person’s uniform, as uniforms are considered to be one of the most important reminders of serving the army.
However, since the uniform is going to remain in the frame for a long time frame, it’s essential to choose a glass that is protected against UV rays. If the shadow box is directly exposed to the sun, there is a high probability for the material to have its color faded.
Since uniforms tend to be rather big to fit into a frame, you can use a certain piece of it to display. Another alternative would be folding the piece in a way to be the appropriate size for the frame.
Therefore, prior to purchasing any material or ordering it from some of the websites, it’s essential to think of the way in which you plan the uniform to be displayed, so as to take measures and find a frame with matching dimensions.
Honor a military hero
Shadow boxes are known to be a heart-warming way of paying respect to a soldier who has sacrificed his/her life for the good of the country. You can include every photograph, awarded medal, letter or journal that this person has written.
Naturally, the most significant object would be the flag, which is given to a member of the family, as a sign of respect. The best way of displaying the flag would be to fold it like a triangle and place in one of the corners. Read more about the meaning behind the thirteen flag folds of the American flag.
Wrap up
These items are an ideal way of honoring the soldiers who scarify their lives for the good of the nation! Speaking of heroism, you can also read an excellent article on how Pete Schoening saved five men on K2 with a pick axe here.
It is a heart-warming and deeply touching gift!
