Thank you from a wounded soldier

Casualties in Afghanistan are very heavy and mounting. Emergency assistance is needed to supply every injured American with a Soldiers' Angels First Response Backpack.


Wounded American Soldier at Bagram, Afghanistan Hospital with Soldier's Angels First Response backpack

On September 26, we received this thank you email from a wounded soldier.....

I just wanted to say thank you. I was WIA on 24sept09. when I got to Bagram Airfield in Afghanistan, there was a Purple Heart/Soldiers' Angels bag in my ICU room when I woke up. It is so nice to know that after what I saw, what I did, and what me and my crew went through, there were people who already had us in mind. I sleep with the fleece blanket I got, [and] the hygiene bag was wonderful, especially since mine burned to the ground with my vehicle. And the letters and cards from Karate for Kids in Utah made me smile. On behalf of myself, the medic for my team, my TC, SGT Nicholas W...., my gunner, SGT Jerry S....., and most of all, my driver, PFC Heath K..., who had the worst injuries of our crew, thank you so much.

SPC Helen L. R...

For the next few months, we urgently need your help to fill our First Response Backpacks. We have enough empty backpacks, but we need Angel Power to help fill them by sending supplies directly to the Combat Support Hospitals.

For complete directions, please email me HERE with the subject line "BACKPACKS." Tell me what you can send and how many of each, and I'll tell you where to send it.

NOTE: The following items are the only items that we need right now. All items must be new and unused. Please do not send clothing sizes small, 2X, or 3X.

Clothing and Blankets:

-Sweatpants and Zippered Hoodie Sweatshirts (L, XL - grey, black, dark blue)
-Lounge pants/sleep pants/pj bottoms (M, L, XL - any color or pattern)
-Plain T-shirts (M, L, XL - crew neck, any color)
-Men's Boxerbriefs or Boxers (M, L, XL). Please do not send "briefs".
-FlipFlops to wear while showering (men's large sizes)
-Twin-sized fleece blankets (any color) or Blankets of Hope (click for details)
-COMPLETE Personal Hygiene Kits containing all of the following (sealed in a single gallon-sized ZipLoc bag) This is a great project for a family, church or Scout activity!:

Toothbrush
Toothpaste (any size)
Bar Soap or Body Wash (any size)
Shampoo (any size)
Dental floss
Body Powder
Body lotion (any size)
Lip balm/chap stick
Nail Clippers (large or small)
Disposable razor
Shaving cream (travel sized aerosol cans or tubes of shaving gel)

-Thanks! Rog
Medical Support Director

The great Halloween candy project

For the second year, our neighborhood and the Geneva, Illinois elementary schools are going to band together to donate and send a bunch of candy to our troops overseas. I had this idea last year to ask everybody to donate their left-over candy after Halloween.

We decorate our front yard for the big day, in ways that would alarm the neighbors any other time of year, in order to advertise the candy collection.



We put a box on the front porch the day before, and here's the surprise. When kids came trick-or-treating on Halloween, they saw the sign "candy for the troops", and a lot of them dumped their own candy right into the box. You gotta love that.

The Williamsburg and Harrison Street schools also collected candy, we ended up with over 1,000 pounds. Yes, that's right. 1,000 pounds of candy X 12 billion calories and a few hundred cavities in the process, I suppose. But a lot of happy soldiers.

So this year, we're going to repeat the project and aim even higher (and for more cavities in the process, but it's all good).

- Rog

Where have all the flowers gone

Mary Travers, 1936 - 2009




Her message of peace, love and brotherhood will be missed.

Rest in Peace,
-Rog