thedrifter
03-14-08, 05:31 AM
THEY MADE A DIFFERENCE
Marine thanks Brownie Scouts from Winter Park whose quilt kept him warm during cold nights in Iraq
He meets the Scouts from Winter Park whose gift helped him weather frosty nights in Iraq.
Daphne Sashin | Sentinel Staff Writer
March 14, 2008
WINTER PARK - The other Marines were jealous when the quilt arrived in Iraq for Cpl. Wayne Bossory.
The girls from Brownie Girl Scout Troop 898 of Winter Park had timed it perfectly. The desert nights were just starting to get cold last fall, and Bossory's unit had only their military-issued, scratchy brown blankets to keep warm.
"We got snow over there one night," said Bossory, who was then two months into a six-month deployment at an air base near Kuwait. "I was warm at night, and they were all freezing."
Bossory returned home last month to North Carolina, where he lives with his wife and two dogs. He and his wife, Devon, came to Central Florida recently to visit his mother.
On Thursday afternoon, Bossory, 26, donned his dress blues to surprise the third-graders who had each sewn and ironed 16 small squares to make the large red, white and blue quilt. Seated on a bench in Phelps Park, the girls peppered him with questions about Iraq and military life.
Their inquiries ranged from the general to the minute, the serious to the silly, and Bossory answered them all in an earnest tone with hands clasped behind his back. He told the girls he joined the military after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks because he wanted to defend his country and the people he loved.
He is part of a marine aerial-refueling transport squadron, which meant he spent most days of his deployment in the back of an airplane helping jets refuel in the air.
"Is that complicated?" asked Savannah Wechsler.
"It can be," replied Bossory. "It can be dangerous if you mess up. But we never have accidents because we're safe."
Brownie-troop moms Larina Wechsler and Patty Sedwick came up with the idea of teaching the girls to sew and make a quilt for a service member in Iraq as part of this year's theme, "Girls Make a Difference."
Through a friend of one of the troop leaders, they met Bossory's mom, Marie Anderson, who owned a quilt shop in Apopka. She helped them finish the quilt and send it off.
"We really wanted to do something really nice for someone in Iraq," said Mara McEachron, 9.
Receiving the quilt was important to Bossory. "I knew people supported us, and they understood our intentions. It meant a lot," he said.
Bossory told the girls about the dust storms that made everything look bright orange, and weather that vacillated between freezing and sweltering. He got their sympathy when he said he had to walk the length of a football field to use the bathroom at night.
Monica Mitchell was curious what kind of food he got to eat (hamburgers and fries from the "chow hall"). Hali Reedy asked whether the Marines celebrated their birthdays while on deployment (No, they celebrate the day the Marine Corps was established: Nov. 10, 1775). Julia Story wondered how Bossory could stay away from his mom for so long ("It was hard") and what he wore to sleep ("pajamas").
"They had a lot of good questions," Bossory said afterward. "I was impressed."
Daphne Sashin can be reached at dsashin@orlandosentinel.com or 407-650-6361.
Ellie
Marine thanks Brownie Scouts from Winter Park whose quilt kept him warm during cold nights in Iraq
He meets the Scouts from Winter Park whose gift helped him weather frosty nights in Iraq.
Daphne Sashin | Sentinel Staff Writer
March 14, 2008
WINTER PARK - The other Marines were jealous when the quilt arrived in Iraq for Cpl. Wayne Bossory.
The girls from Brownie Girl Scout Troop 898 of Winter Park had timed it perfectly. The desert nights were just starting to get cold last fall, and Bossory's unit had only their military-issued, scratchy brown blankets to keep warm.
"We got snow over there one night," said Bossory, who was then two months into a six-month deployment at an air base near Kuwait. "I was warm at night, and they were all freezing."
Bossory returned home last month to North Carolina, where he lives with his wife and two dogs. He and his wife, Devon, came to Central Florida recently to visit his mother.
On Thursday afternoon, Bossory, 26, donned his dress blues to surprise the third-graders who had each sewn and ironed 16 small squares to make the large red, white and blue quilt. Seated on a bench in Phelps Park, the girls peppered him with questions about Iraq and military life.
Their inquiries ranged from the general to the minute, the serious to the silly, and Bossory answered them all in an earnest tone with hands clasped behind his back. He told the girls he joined the military after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks because he wanted to defend his country and the people he loved.
He is part of a marine aerial-refueling transport squadron, which meant he spent most days of his deployment in the back of an airplane helping jets refuel in the air.
"Is that complicated?" asked Savannah Wechsler.
"It can be," replied Bossory. "It can be dangerous if you mess up. But we never have accidents because we're safe."
Brownie-troop moms Larina Wechsler and Patty Sedwick came up with the idea of teaching the girls to sew and make a quilt for a service member in Iraq as part of this year's theme, "Girls Make a Difference."
Through a friend of one of the troop leaders, they met Bossory's mom, Marie Anderson, who owned a quilt shop in Apopka. She helped them finish the quilt and send it off.
"We really wanted to do something really nice for someone in Iraq," said Mara McEachron, 9.
Receiving the quilt was important to Bossory. "I knew people supported us, and they understood our intentions. It meant a lot," he said.
Bossory told the girls about the dust storms that made everything look bright orange, and weather that vacillated between freezing and sweltering. He got their sympathy when he said he had to walk the length of a football field to use the bathroom at night.
Monica Mitchell was curious what kind of food he got to eat (hamburgers and fries from the "chow hall"). Hali Reedy asked whether the Marines celebrated their birthdays while on deployment (No, they celebrate the day the Marine Corps was established: Nov. 10, 1775). Julia Story wondered how Bossory could stay away from his mom for so long ("It was hard") and what he wore to sleep ("pajamas").
"They had a lot of good questions," Bossory said afterward. "I was impressed."
Daphne Sashin can be reached at dsashin@orlandosentinel.com or 407-650-6361.
Ellie