The Chelsea Standard
A Heritage Newspaper
Weekly Publication
Love comes in small packages: Area women seek help in helping our troops
Wife and daughter of military men adopts group of soldiers.
By Amanda Cook, Special to Heritage West
PUBLISHED: November 16, 2006
I am a 32-year-old mother of two who lives in Stockbridge and whose family has been long associated with the Chelsea Rod and Gun Club.
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Being the daughter of a Marine, the sister of an Army veteran, the granddaughter of two WWII Army veterans and the wife of a veteran of the Coast Guard I have always been a staunch supporter of our military. I have always tried to be supportive of our veterans and participate in Memorial Day and Veteran's Day services.
However, this year I was driven to go further. Watching the Memorial Day parade in Chelsea I couldn't help but be extremely proud of my father, brother and husband as they marched with other fellow veterans. But I became extremely distraught by a group of protesters marching as well. They claimed to support our troops, but didn't support the war.
I too have stated many times that I support our troops. But the question was raised how did I support them?
I began researching on how I could talk or write personally to our soldiers. My research led me to the USO and a wonderful young lady who went through the same dilemma as I was going through. Angel Ramsey stated that "God prompted me to take action to meet the needs of others, and I took that opportunity." She started a web site named www.troopcarepackage.com and the whole idea behind the web site was "to connect us with them."
The troops and their families and friends are able to register on her web site and submit pictures, post letters and journals, request items, and more. She currently has helpedconnect more than 3,600 troops with sponsors.
Angel and troopcarepackage.com were just honored by receivingthe Patriotic Civilian Service Award.
"This organization's caring and active participation has benefited all deployed service members to both Iraq and Afghanistan," said 1st Sgt. David Hildebrand. "This organization has volunteered countless hours to service members that need morale support."
I began "really supporting out troops" by filling out Angel's sponsorship information page. She then sent me the names of a few troops that I could sponsor. Let me introduce you to a few of "my" soldiers.
Sgt. Alfredo Trevino, aka Sgt. Tre', is a native Texan. He is 28-years old and is married with four children. He has served as a Marine for over eight years and says, "I'm the first person in my family ever to join the military. I still think that some of my family members think I'm a little crazy for joining the Marine Corps, but that's the way I've been since I was young. In search of the next big challenge." While he is stationed in Baghdad his family resides in Camp Pendleton, Calif.
Spc. Brandon Kaufmann, aka "Caveman", has been in the Army for nearly two years. "I think that the military is probably the best job I ever had," he said. He will be leaving Baghdad soon to head back to Germany and he is pretty excited to purchase a "fix'er up" BMW.
Sgt. Eric Percell, stationed in Camp Phoenix, is a combat medic and says that he loves his job. We aren't able to communicate that much, however, he really enjoys when I send cookies, candy, and dvds. He says he "really enjoys care packages like that." Sgt. Percell often asks me, "if there is anything I can do for you, just let me know." As I tell others, it is I who should be asking what more I can do for him.
Sfc. David Betz, US Army, is stationed in Mosul, Iraq. He is a huge Wolverines fan and recently sent me a picture of his "hanger" and on the back wall hanging for all to see is a big "M" flag. He ends all of his e-mails with "Go Blue!"
Sgt. Melissa Thornhill, who is part of the Civil Affairs Battalion in the US Army, is currently stationed in Tikrit. She has a very special role to the children of Iraq which brings me to another story and how I received her information and began corresponding with her.
A short time ago my daughter put together a bag of clothes that were too small for her. She then went to the table and started to write a letter. When she completed her task, she told me that she put together special clothes for Iraqi girls and wanted me to ship them for her. I didn't know where to send them so I went to troopcarepackage.com. Posted on the home page was a request from Sgt. Thornhill asking for donated items to send to Iraqi children. Angel then forwarded Sgt. Thornhill's information to me and we quickly sent out three boxes of children's clothing, toys, shoes and more.
I am so very honored to be able to send our soldiers something from home. I know that when I even send just a letter it makes them happy. With all of the negativity surrounding the war it is more important than ever to let our soldiers know that we are behind them. They are serving by choice - they have volunteered - this makes it so people aren't drafted. This in itself makes them heroes in my eyes.
The Chelsea Rod and Gun Club has been most gracious in donating to our troops and helping me send needed items to them. I want to thank them for their gracious support.
How you can help
Anyone interested in helping Amanda can contact her via e-mail to request items to be sent to friends/family that are serving overseas. Her e-mail address to post is amandcook@yahoo.com. "I would love any help in supporting our troops," she said. You can register friends/family on www.troopcarepackage.com or send Amanda the information and she will personally "adopt" them.
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