SHOWING TROOPS THAT AMERICANS CARE.Byline: DENNIS McCARTHY Dennis McCarthy may refer to:
The note slipped inside the care package headed to Iraq is only a few lines, but it speaks volumes. Army Reserve Capt. Kristian Sorensen tells the soldier or Marine to hang in there - that last year he, too, was in Iraq, so he knows what the kid is going through. ``I'll see you when you get back,'' Sorensen ends his note before slipping it inside the package, taping the box shut, and passing it down the line with 25,000 others being sent by 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. to troops serving overseas. ``That soldier is going to get back to his bunk, tired and down some night, and there's going to be this care package from a complete stranger waiting for him. ``It's going to feel like Christmas,'' said Sorensen, a chemical officer who was assigned to a special-forces unit looking for Looking for In the context of general equities, this describing a buy interest in which a dealer is asked to offer stock, often involving a capital commitment. Antithesis of in touch with. weapons of mass destruction Weapons that are capable of a high order of destruction and/or of being used in such a manner as to destroy large numbers of people. Weapons of mass destruction can be high explosives or nuclear, biological, chemical, and radiological weapons, but exclude the means of transporting or last year in Iraq. There's no way to overplay o·ver·play v. o·ver·played, o·ver·play·ing, o·ver·plays v.tr. 1. a. To present (a dramatic role, for example) in an exaggerated manner. b. To emphasize or stress unduly. the importance of these care packages going out this Veterans Day weekend, said Jim Diamond, a 1st sergeant in the 315th Psychological Operations Planned operations to convey selected information and indicators to foreign audiences to influence their emotions, motives, objective reasoning, and ultimately the behavior of foreign governments, organizations, groups, and individuals. Company - an Army Reserve unit that returned in April from a year's deployment in Iraq. Diamond - an LAPD 1. LAPD - Link Access Procedure on the D channel. 2. LAPD - Los Angeles Police Department. gang unit detective in civilian life - will be standing elbow to elbow this weekend with Sorensen, Sgt. Ruben Cardenas, and dozens of other Army Reserve and National Guard soldiers who have recently returned home from Iraq and Afghanistan. They all want to make sure the troops still there get the same treatment they and their fellow soldiers got: The chance to return to their bunk some night to find a care package and note from someone in the San Fernando Valley San Fernando Valley Valley, southern California, U.S. Northwest of central Los Angeles, the valley is bounded by the San Gabriel, Santa Susana, and Santa Monica mountains and the Simi Hills. they don't know Don't know (DK, DKed) "Don't know the trade." A Street expression used whenever one party lacks knowledge of a trade or receives conflicting instructions from the other party. . Feeling like it was Christmas. ``It's important for all of us who were there to continue supporting our brothers and sisters still there, especially now with the assault in Fallujah,'' Diamond said Monday. ``These care packages were a big thank you from home, a message that people believed in us.'' They were a shot of pure morale, said Cardenas, whose reserve unit spent a year in central Baghdad working ``face-to-face communications'' with the Iraqi people. Trying to persuade and show them we weren't the bad guys. ``You expect your loved ones and family to send you packages, but when you get one from a stranger you don't know, well, it's just an incredible morale boost.'' One of the first people most of these returning soldiers contacted when they got home was Carolyn Blashek of Encino, who started Operation Gratitude in her living room early in 2003. When this mother of two heard that some troops weren't receiving any packages from home, she started sending them on her own - to a few dozen soldiers at a time. She got their names from commanding officers, who knew who was getting mail and packages from home - and who wasn't. Carolyn filled the boxes with snacks, entertainment items, toiletries toi·let·ry n. pl. toi·let·ries An article, such as toothpaste or a hairbrush, used in personal grooming or dressing. toiletries npl → artículos mpl de aseo (= and a personal letter of support. Pretty soon, letters and e-mails started arriving at her Encino home from troops wanting to say thank you - telling her about other soldiers in their units who could use a morale boost. ``I was lucky because my father's church group was sending me packages in Iraq,'' Sorensen said, ``but I saw there were a lot of deserving guys in my unit getting nothing. ``Carolyn made sure there was a box on their bunks. She's an angel to a lot of troops.'' Never in her wildest dreams did this angel think her Operation Gratitude would grow from one person and a few dozen care packages to hundreds of volunteers joining her in sending out more than 21,000 care packages to date to individual troops in Iraq, Afghanistan, Kuwait, Bosnia, Korea and Kosovo. To naval ships all over the world, and wounded troops in long-term convalescence convalescence /con·va·les·cence/ (kon?vah-les´ins) the stage of recovery from an illness, operation, or injury. con·va·les·cence n. 1. hospitals stateside state·side adj. 1. Of or in the continental United States. 2. Alaska Of or in the 48 contiguous states of the United States. adv. Informal 1. . To anywhere Operation Gratitude can find a soldier who could use a morale boost. ``I feel like every one of them is my kid,'' Blashek said, preparing for her biggest drive this Veterans Day weekend. Thanks to the help of corporations, local businesses, and private donors, big and small, there have been enough items donated to fill 25,000 care packages this holiday season. Hundreds of volunteers - from kids 10 years old on up to senior citizens in their 80s - will be coming to the California Army National Guard The California Army National Guard is a component of the California National Guard, the United States Army and the United States National Guard. The California Army National Guard is composed of about 20,000 soldiers. Armory in Van Nuys this weekend to fill these boxes so they can be mailed out. Dennis McCarthy, (818) 713-3749 dennis.mccarthy(at)dailynews.com IF YOU GO --Operation Gratitude will be preparing packages to ship overseas from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Thursday through Sunday at the National Guard Armory, 17330 Victory Blvd., Van Nuys. For information, log on to www.opgratitude.com. To make a donation, e-mail opgratitude2003(at)aol.com. CAPTION(S): photo, box Photo: Carolyn Blashek, right, stands with service people Kristian Sorensen, center, and Elizabeth Cowie as they work on Operation Gratitude. Tom Mendoza/Staff Photographer Box: IF YOU GO (see text) |
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