Letters From Home : Brownies Add to Mail Flooding Persian Gulf--and Find a Pen Pal
When the first-grade girls in an Irvine Brownie troop put together a package of notes, drawings and goodies last month to send to a U.S. soldier in the Persian Gulf, they figured that the faceless sergeant would be too busy to answer.
But not only did Sgt. William O. Thomas take the time to respond, he wrote all the girls personalized notes in a five-page letter, complimenting each on her artistry and telling one that he unfortunately wouldn’t be able to use her phone number.
“Thanks for the treats! You made our week!” Thomas wrote. “Your friend always, Bill.”
Kristel, Amy, Jenna, Shaina, Rachel, Jamie, Suzanne, Kristin, Lissa and both Stephanies may never meet their new pen pal. But in these days of Angst over the prospect of war, the written word--in care packages, postcards, letters, newspaper clippings--has taken on a powerful role in bonding soldiers abroad and their families, friends and well-wishers at home.
“This outpouring (of mail) is unique,” said Hector Godinez, general manager for the U.S. Postal Service’s Santa Ana division. “We haven’t seen this kind of volume since Vietnam.”
Godinez’s division, which handles all of Orange County, plus eastern Los Angeles County and western Riverside, is now funneling overseas to U.S. troops in Saudi Arabia about 25,000 parcels a week, many of them care packages such as the one sent by Irvine’s Brownie Troop 189. And while some polls indicate a growing dissatisfaction from the American public toward the U.S. presence abroad, the volume is certain to escalate with the Christmas season ahead.
Among those sending holiday packages will be the girls of Troop 189 in Irvine. The girls sent their first package after a troop leader saw an Armed Forces address in the syndicated column Dear Abby and, since that one went so well, are now preparing drawings and notes for a second dispatch.
“It’s sad that they’ll be away from home” for the holidays, said Brownie Kristin Thawley of Irvine, explaining why she wants to take part in the mailings.
There are, of course, weightier issues looming for military personnel and their families than the latest tidbit of news from home.
The troops in Operation Desert Shield face the intense Middle Eastern heat and the horrific prospect of chemical weaponry. Families at home, meanwhile, must get by for a while at least without one member and without a monthly check--in the Marines, for instance, $177 for commissary rations--that is cut off when troops are moved off base.
“The families aren’t ready for the change,” said one employee in the family services division of Camp Pendleton. “It’s a big shock for the wives and a real burden.”
Letters and packages between the United States and the Middle East can’t do anything to ward off chemical weapons or pay child-care bills, but they are nonetheless crucial in keeping up that intangible called morale , military officials assert.
For instance, when a Marine corporal, soon to go to the Persian Gulf, and his wife were asked at a press briefing this week what they would do once apart, the two--who did not want to be identified--answered quickly. Write lots more letters, both said.
The correspondence, said Capt. Betsy Sweatt, public affairs officer for El Toro Marine Corps Air Station, “is the soldier’s lifeline back to their loved ones. It’s tremendously important to them. Even if it’s schools or strangers, knowing that these people are behind them is a real boost. The concern from the public, it’s almost like a World War II effort.”
Since President Bush announced a doubling of military troops in the Persian Gulf, heightening fears of war, that effort has only intensified, officials say.
Schools around Orange County have organized letter-writing campaigns, with one reportedly sending a thousand letters. Youth groups such as Brownie Troop 189 in Irvine have baked goods to send overseas. And businesses have contributed financially to the effort, as well.
“To try and make things a little more tolerable over there (in Saudi Arabia)--there’s no way you can’t feel enthused about something like that,” said Jim Straw, vice president of community affairs for Irvine-based Avco Financial Services.
Avco, similar to some other area businesses but perhaps on a larger scale, has begun paying for any of its 4,000 employees and 1 million customers nationwide to send care packages to loved ones deployed in the Middle East. The program is dubbed “Operation Munchies.”
Organizers and participants in the correspondence campaigns say the benefits travel both ways across the ocean.
“Our package was intended to bring a smile to someone’s face because it was sent with a lot of love,” said Brownie Troop 189 co-leader Debbie Vincent of Irvine, adding that she didn’t even know who would receive the package.
“We never expected to hear back, so the girls got a real kick out of it when we did,” she added.
Asked why she drew flowers and a rainbow and a sun to send overseas, Kristel Johnson, a 6 1/2-year-old who attends the Northwood Elementary School and is in Troop 189, said:
“‘Cause I wanted to make the people over there happy. . . . People are going to fight in wars and stuff, and some people are trying to save our country. . . . It’s sad ‘cause they might get killed.”
Kristel and her fellow Brownies don’t know much about their new pen pal’s background, beyond his rank, but Sgt. Thomas did give the first-graders a glimpse of his experiences in Saudi Arabia:
“Well we live in a big room that 14 of us stay in,” Thomas wrote. “We have one air conditioner. . . . The temp. was 130 degrees plus when we arrived about six weeks ago but since has dropped down to a cool 108 degrees; we work 7 days a week with no time off.
“When we do get a few minutes, we try to write our loved ones and friends,” he wrote. “We have no idea when we’ll be back but hope it’s not too long from now.”