Monday, January 4, 2010

~ Support Our Troops ~

My baby brother, my only brother, left today to head out to Kuwait for a 15 month tour. His name is W. Dewitt Sadler. He is a newlywed, a father to 3, stepfather to 2, brother to 3 sisters and uncle to 6. He is a soldier that is serving his country. He is a solider that is putting his life on the line to ensure the safety of others. Others that he doesn't know, will never meet and even those that would spit on him given the chance.

He is not a faceless name in the sea of our military. He, like every one of our military soldiers, belongs to a family. He is loved and we hope and pray for his safe return home to us.

This is a picture taken a few years ago when we were goofin' around (he'd be pissed if he knew I put this up) @ the Easter Egg hunt for all the kids...hey we had to find ways to occupy ourselves when the kids wanted to hunt & rehunt the eggs 7 million times!!


Being a Girl Scout leader, I thought trying to put together care packages for his unit would be a wonderful thing for the girls to do; a really great community service project. Of course I also thought that maybe it would help myself, my daughters, his daughter, and his new wife, Tiffany (my new SIL), feel as if we were helping in some small way. At the end of the tour, I'm planning a meet & greet between the girls and the soldiers so the girls can see, know & understand that they are people and not just soldiers. I'm really hoping that everyone can and will benefit from this C.S. Project in the end.

I have a plea to make to the Blogging World, to my followers and to my online friends. We are but a very small troop of 7 girls so I am going to ask that everyone get involved in this Operation Girl Scout Care Packages; not just for the soldiers but for my *girls.
*This will be the 2nd C.S.P. they have done and the first one, collection/drive for PAWS, was a flop that has had them very discouraged from trying to do another.*

I will post up an address for my brother's unit next month (they have 28 days in Tx. before they ship out) and a list of items that can be sent out for starters. I am also planning to start a Facebook group page so those of you that can and will help out can get all your info in one place. In addition to making a plea here, I will of course make one to the principal of the area school. However, as with anything else Girl Scout related, all school things come first with the school such as bake sales, Jr. class selling fruit, etc. And I understand that...to a point.

In closing I will say thank you ahead of time to those that will help the troop make this C.S.P. a success. Please message me here or e-mail me @ sometimestacy@gmail.com so I can get a head count of how many people we can get involved. I do understand that 15 months is a long time to be doing a project but a little here & there I'm sure will go a long way for our soldiers that are serving. :)

I would also like to take a moment to share my love to my family and friends that have served and/or continue to serve this great country we take for granted:

Roy Alford, Jr (grandfather)- Navy- Korean War
Ronnie Money (uncle)- Army- Vietnam
Robert Alford (uncle)- retired Army Green Beret- Vietnam
David Paplauskas (bio-dad)- retired Air Force- Gulf War
Robert Pagnini, Jr. (step-dad)- retired Air Force- War on Terror- Afghanistan, Uzbekistan
Michael Alford (cousin)- Army Ranger- War on Terror- Iraq
Michael Ellis (BIL)- Army- War on Terror- Iraq
Lawrence Siegel (BIL)- Army- War on Terror- Iraq
Gary D. Joy (FIL)- U.S. Marines- Vietnam (3 tours)
Gary Browning- retired Air Force
Dewitt Sadler (brother)- Army National Guard- War on Terror- Kuwait
Brandon Sadler (brother's cousin)- Army Green Beret- War on Terror- Iraq
Jeff Westbrook- Army National Guard
Jeremy Taylor- Army
Shane Honan- Army
Michael Lightfoot- Air Force
Tom Mudgett- Army

To those I've forgotten, I'm very sorry!!

3 comments:

Felicia said...

Your post has me in tears. My little brother has been home from Iraq for 3 months now. Thank God he doesn't have to go back.

A big huge massive thank you to your brother and family.

I will do my best to send some things when you post the address.

Anonymous said...

I have tears in my eyes also. God bless you all. I try to give to USO, Adoptaplatoon, DAV and others. I can't promise much, but I'll do what I can.
I served in Army '74 to '82, 2 1/2 years in Germany, Cold War veteran, I guess.
Brother, Vietnam
Sister, Desert Storm
Father, WWII

Anonymous said...

What a great idea! I sent my sister care packages when she was in Iraq. She really enjoyed them.

Stopping by from SITS!