`YOU KNOW SOMEONE IS THINKING ABOUT YOU'.Byline: ERIC LEACH Staff Writer POINT MUGU -- LaDenia Cox and her husband, Ron, had a very personal reason to join volunteers Saturday stuffing care packages for American troops overseas. After they had volunteered for the Operation Gratitude Operation Gratitude is a non-profit, all-volunteer corporation that assembles and ships care packages to United States service members deployed overseas. Its mission is to lift morale and express appreciation of the work done by the American armed services. project, they learned by coincidence that their son, Spc. James Johnson James Johnson may refer to: Artists, authors, and musicians
Ron Cox For the football player of the same name see Ron Cox (football player). Ron Cox (born July 12, 1966 in Soddy Daisy, Tennessee), is a driver in the ARCA RE/MAX Series. He was the 1999 Rookie of the Year in that series, and has 31 top-ten finishes so far. , who is in the Air National Guard at Point Mugu, also served recently in Qatar and said he knows first-hand how important it can be to receive a note or gift from home. ``It doesn't have to be from family, but you know someone is thinking about you,'' said Cox, who recalled how getting notes from American children brightened the lives of American troops he served with in Qatar who posted them on the walls of their quarters. LaDenia Cox said preparing care packages was a perfect way for her and her husband to spend the Father's Day weekend, especially since she had served in the military herself along with her father, her brothers, her husband and her sons, James and Bradley, who is stationed in Qatar with the Air National Guard. ``I just know these care packages are a wonderful way of supporting our troops. I'm very proud of my husband and sons. It's just our way of saying thank you and keeping the circle going.'' Commanders and leaders in the field supply Operation Gratitude with the majority of names of troops who receive the packages. The Camarillo couple got involved in the weekend effort as part of a group of volunteers at United Online in Woodland Hills, a company that includes such Internet brands as NetZero, Juno, Classmates Classmates can refer to either:
United Online, where LaDenia Cox works, donated NetZero Voice starter kits for 50,000 care packages to help the recipients call their relatives back home. Operation Gratitude has put together more than 100,000 packages for troops overseas since it was founded by Carolyn Blashek of Encino in 2003. eric.leach(at)dailynews.com (805) 583-7602 CAPTION(S): 3 photos Photo: (1 -- color) Army Pfc. James Johnson and his stepfather, Master Sgt. Ronald Cox, right, sit in a C-130 cockpit in Southwest Asia Southwest Asia or Southwestern Asia (largely overlapping with the Middle East) is the southwestern portion of Asia. The term Western Asia is sometimes used in writings about the archeology and the late prehistory of the region, and in the United States subregion . The two were reunited "Reunited" was a #1 hit in the United States in 1979 by the Washington, D.C.-based group Peaches & Herb. Preceded by "Heart of Glass" by Blondie Billboard Hot 100 number one single May 5 1979 Succeeded by "Hot Stuff" by Donna Summer after discovering they were deployed to the same area of responsibility. (2 -- 3) Master Sgt. Ronald Cox, left, stands with his stepson step·son n. A spouse's son by a previous union. stepson Noun a son of one's husband or wife by an earlier relationship Noun 1. , Army Pfc. James Johnson, in front of a C-130. The two listen during a tour of an F-15E, below, at a deployed location in Southwest Asia. Senior Airman senior airman n. 1. Abbr. SrA A noncommissioned rank in the U.S. Air Force that is above airman first class and below staff sergeant. 2. One who holds this rank. Lynne Neveu/U.S. Air Force |
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