Calaveras Enterprise

Calaveras citizens join to support armed forces




Calaveras citizens join to support armed forces

Calaveras citizens join to support armed forces

It doesn’t take much to boost the spirits of a serviceman or woman overseas, and a small group of Calaveras County residents wants to make sure no military person deployed in the Middle East gets forgotten.

Led by June Downum, Operation Military Support began as an effort to bring a little bit of home to military men and women, and has turned into a nationwide movement.

While many groups across the country are pitching in with similar support projects, this one is reaching a rather vast scale.

Volunteers have written or sent gifts to 723 military personnel since the group first contacted officers about the project on Jan. 17.

It all began with a conversation Suzette Glanville, the group’s military personnel contact, had with her son, Noah, a 24-year-old, naval medical corpsman.

During a tour of Okinawa, he wrote how painful it is for service people who never get any mail.

When her son was later shipped to Kuwait, Glanville told Downum about his comment, and she came up with the idea to make sure no one in the Middle East experienced that problem.

 

 

“All of a sudden the thing took off like a shot,” Glanville said.

Their first key contact was Noah Glanville’s commanding officer, Sr. Chief Miguel Delgado, who had been setting up hospitals in Kuwait.

He was only too happy to help the fledgling group find service people who could use such a morale boost, Suzette Glanville said. Other commanding officers soon got on board.

With the help of many other new volunteers to the cause, the group tackled an ambitious first project, baking and sending 1,600 cookies to the troops.

The movement kicked into high gear this weekend.

A caller to Mark Williams talk show on KFBK in Sacramento mentioned the group, and Williams talked to Downum herself on his Friday evening show.

E-mails to the group’s Web site jumped from about 80 a day, to 489 in one day, Downum said.

The types of things service personnel look forward to receiving are surprisingly common.

Because it can take up to four hours standing in line for meals or personal supplies, food items are a real treat for the men and women serving in the Persian Gulf region, Downum said.

Other popular items include toiletries such as toothpaste, foot powder, and eye drops.

Sun block and lip balm are also popular in such a hot, dry climate.

Wet wipes, the packaged, moist towelettes, are especially popular in the desert area.

“That’s their source of a shower at this point,” Glanville said.

Besides her and Downum, the group’s board also includes Ed and Kirsten Anderson of Burson, attorney Bob Reeve, and financial advisor Shirley Smith.

The Web site is donated by Volcano Internet. Steve and Stephanie Farrell designed the site and provide daily techni-cal support.

Other supporters include Angels-Murphys Rotary and Gold Country Real Estate.

Ed Anderson, from American Legion Post 102 in Valley Springs, is hoping to raise donations from all local veterans’ organizations.

“They know what it’s like,” he said.

Service people need to hear from citizens to let them know we’re proud of them, he added.

His wife, Kirsten, is also a big booster of our troops overseas.

She was a resident of Denmark when Allied troops liberated that country during World War II.

“I’ll never forget the wave of relief and joyous feeling it was to watch those wonderful American soldiers parading down the streets of Copenhagen,” she said. “This is my way of saying ‘thank you.'”

Those who would like to volunteer, whether it’s their time, baking skills or monetary donations, may check in at the Web site, www.opearationmilitarysupport.com.

There, visitors will find photos and letters from troops in response to those received from civilians.

“I am very appreciative of your thoughtfulness,” wrote one soldier. “It is not often that a group of people get together to write to strangers of how thankful they are for doing our job.”

Another noted the similarity between himself and the writer’s son: “I remember that I was about Alex’s age last time there was a conflict over here. I just hope that there won’t be another by the time he’s my age.”

Volunteers may also write to the organization at P.O. Box 901, San Andreas, CA 95249; or call 293-4223.

They also want to hear from anyone who has friends or relatives in the Middle East.

Letters, information and photos may be sent to Suzette Glanville at Gold Country Real Estate, P.O. Box 2310, Murphys, CA 95247, or e-mailed to her at www.goldcountryrealestate.com.

Downum is looking for some donated office space, computers and volunteers to help coordinate all the e-mail and letters.

She also pointed out that while there is some e-mail communication with the troops, most of it is done the old fashioned way, with letters written on paper.

“It is real important that the men and women over there know that we support them as individuals,” Downum said.

Contact Craig Koscho at ckoscho@calaverasenterprise.com.

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