thedrifter
11-20-06, 03:05 PM
Holiday wish: Let's make sure Marines are not forgotten
Written by: Chris Houston, LCL Staff Writer
BROOKFIELD - During the upcoming holiday season, a boy with local roots will be serving his country in one of the most dangerous centers of insurgent violence in Iraq. His family would like to see that he and his fellow Marines aren't forgotten.
Lance Corporal Trent Smith-the son of Carl and Rhonda Smith of LaCrescent, Minn. (Carl is a 1978 graduate of Brookfield H.S.) and grandson of Evelyn Smith of Brookfield- already fought the Taliban in Afghanistan and was recently deployed to protect Haditha Dam in western Iraq.
In 2004, after U.S. forces left a local police force to maintain order in Haditha, many of those domestic law enforcement officers were taken to a soccer stadium and publicly executed by insurgents.
Since that time, U.S. forces have fought to keep the insurgents from overtaking Haditha and have done so at great cost.
On August 1, 2005, six U.S. Marines were killed in an ambush and another 14 lost their lives to a roadside bomb two days later.
Smith and his fellow Marines are presently conducting 12-man patrols several times a day through the mean streets of Haditha.
As many of the comforts we take for granted are a luxury for the Marines in Haditha, they would greatly appreciate any care package local residents can send this week.
To make certain those care packages are received in time for Christmas, they should be sent out by Thanksgiving.
Among the items the Marines in Haditha would appreciate are cookies, hard candy, chewing gum, drink mixes like Gatorade, power bars, trail mix, bags of nuts and sunflower seeds, granola bars, jerky, single-serving packages of coffee or hot chocolate, dried fruit, condiments and seasonings, magazines, books, and playing cards.
The use of Ziploc bags will keep what is sent fresh, and the bags can be re-used. Putting bagged items inside plastic containers with lids will further keep them fresh.
The best way to send there items to Iraq is in "flat-rate" boxes that are provided free at the Post Office. These boxes can be stuffed full and will only cost $8.10 to mail, regardless of weight. Donors will need to fill out a customs declaration form for the U.S. Postal Service.
These items can be sent directly to LCPL Trent Smith at Second Battalion, Third Marines, Echo Company, Fourth Platoon, Unit 44050, FPO AP 96607-4050. For the rest of the story, see today's LCL.
Ellie
Written by: Chris Houston, LCL Staff Writer
BROOKFIELD - During the upcoming holiday season, a boy with local roots will be serving his country in one of the most dangerous centers of insurgent violence in Iraq. His family would like to see that he and his fellow Marines aren't forgotten.
Lance Corporal Trent Smith-the son of Carl and Rhonda Smith of LaCrescent, Minn. (Carl is a 1978 graduate of Brookfield H.S.) and grandson of Evelyn Smith of Brookfield- already fought the Taliban in Afghanistan and was recently deployed to protect Haditha Dam in western Iraq.
In 2004, after U.S. forces left a local police force to maintain order in Haditha, many of those domestic law enforcement officers were taken to a soccer stadium and publicly executed by insurgents.
Since that time, U.S. forces have fought to keep the insurgents from overtaking Haditha and have done so at great cost.
On August 1, 2005, six U.S. Marines were killed in an ambush and another 14 lost their lives to a roadside bomb two days later.
Smith and his fellow Marines are presently conducting 12-man patrols several times a day through the mean streets of Haditha.
As many of the comforts we take for granted are a luxury for the Marines in Haditha, they would greatly appreciate any care package local residents can send this week.
To make certain those care packages are received in time for Christmas, they should be sent out by Thanksgiving.
Among the items the Marines in Haditha would appreciate are cookies, hard candy, chewing gum, drink mixes like Gatorade, power bars, trail mix, bags of nuts and sunflower seeds, granola bars, jerky, single-serving packages of coffee or hot chocolate, dried fruit, condiments and seasonings, magazines, books, and playing cards.
The use of Ziploc bags will keep what is sent fresh, and the bags can be re-used. Putting bagged items inside plastic containers with lids will further keep them fresh.
The best way to send there items to Iraq is in "flat-rate" boxes that are provided free at the Post Office. These boxes can be stuffed full and will only cost $8.10 to mail, regardless of weight. Donors will need to fill out a customs declaration form for the U.S. Postal Service.
These items can be sent directly to LCPL Trent Smith at Second Battalion, Third Marines, Echo Company, Fourth Platoon, Unit 44050, FPO AP 96607-4050. For the rest of the story, see today's LCL.
Ellie