Disclaimer: Jim’s Blog is a personal opinion and is not in any way intended or reported to represent that of other persons or organizations including those which Jim may be affiliated with or become affiliated with. Your opinions and replies are welcome!
July 11, 2010
WE SUPPORT OUR TROOPS. DO YOU?
This isn’t like all those emails you get asking you to forward. This is for real folks.
We recently hosted a BBQ for the Corvette gang in town and I just wanted to say how much we enjoyed it. While preparing, the thought came to mind that we should have a special guest to roast or at least embarrass. Well, one couple came to mind who has been to each of these events for years. Shari and Rick Egelstad are sweethearts in every way, always chipping in to help, anything they could do. They also introduced me to their son Eric who owns a C5 Corvette.
Eric came by the shop here a couple of times and he told me he was going to be deployed to Afghanistan. He has 19 years in the Army and I guess they thought his career was not complete until he stomped around the desert afar, so in January he left. Eric’s wife Donna is also active duty Army and she is stationed at nearby Fort Campbell. Their two little girls (Jordan and Morgan) are adorable. So with those thoughts I thought it might be fun to have the whole Egelstad family be our Guests of Honor.
We planned for 125 people but soon found over 200 at our BBQ. Fortunately I always think large and we had plenty of food. Then the fun started.
I couldn’t do this without Eric’s help so he was in on it. I asked him to send me pictures of he and his guys. I then had made a video presentation using pictures of Corvettes from all over to the tune of Lee Greenwood’s “America the Beautiful” and inserted those pictures of Eric’s platoon in between patriotic scenes of Corvettes. At the end I put an answering machine message Eric left on our machine and added it to the video. I hit the play button on the video deck and a message came up “ ERROR 1:11”. No way!!! We scrambled for another deck and finally the DVD began to play.
Now the Egelstads were doing OK at first, until the first picture of Eric showed up….
Immediately afterwards, I announced that we were having an auction and the proceeds were going to Eric and his guys in Afghanistan. The auction went better than could be imagined. Since then I have gotten one heck of an education. For one thing, I learned that “SFC” Eric is a “Sergeant First Class” (E9) and he is the actual Platoon Sgt of the 1st Platoon, 101st Airborn Air Assault Division.
(I think that’s equal to like a buck Sgt in the Air Force but not sure) :-))
Shipping to Afghanistan must be expensive so I found the best way is the US Post Office has Priority Mail Boxes for our troops for a flat rate of $12.50. We went shopping and bought a ton of neat stuff. One of his guys wanted some Snuff so I bought him 50 bags of sunflower seeds. We also bought large bags of candy and used it for packing material along with Jerky and Slim Jims. Lots of canned foods and fruit, etc. So far we’ve sent 21 boxes over there and not one has weighed less than 15 pounds!
NOW HERE THIS!
Our troops are having a very difficult time over there folks. Not only are they attacked daily, but food rations aren’t exactly super-sized. AS of late news, their internet, mail and phones have all been shut off and so there is no contact with home whatsoever. They are now requesting magazines such as science, hunting, sports, etc to pass what little off time they have. So, you don’t have to have a BBQ to send our troops a little thank you. Here is what you can do:
The next time you go to your local grocery store, throw in a few extra items. Best items are canned food (no pork products), fruit, high energy snacks and drinks (Red Bull fits nicely). Throw in your old magazines and newspapers too.
Get a Flat Rate Troops box from the Post Office. They are 12x12x5 high. Pack it as full as you can, remember their motto “If it Fits, it Ships!”.
Address it as follows:
SFC Egelstad, Eric
D co 3-187 IN TF Red Knight
COP Sabari
APO AE 09314
Fill out the US Customs form at the Post Office declaring what’s inside and YOU’RE DONE!!
And whenever the mail carriers think it’s safe enough, they’ll deliver them. Any you? Well, you’ve done something you can be proud of and know that you’ve helped those out there protecting us and our wonderful country. You can’t imagine how wanted and well received these contributions are! Oh, and don’t be afraid to put in a note telling Eric that the US Air Force is still looking after him and his guys….like usual. :-))
Sgt James Van Dorn (ret)
6510 Security Police Squadron
USAF
P.S. See PDF’s at the bottom of this home page “Support Our Troops”
JVD
Bowling Green, KY
(270)842-0454