I received the box you sent today and it was wonderful. I brought it into the section that I supervise and the box is about empty. Of course I grabbed a few goodies for myself. The soldiers in my section send their appreciation to Debbie and you. The box was a huge hit!
I have been in contact with the Church and Shannon gives me regular updates on the Boxes for Troops that you are spearheading. It is absolutely wonderful. The overwhelming support is incredible and is a huge morale booster for all the soldiers here. I am not sure how I can thank you but I will say that what you are doing will not go unappreciated. During this time of war, support from home is the greatest gift a soldier can receive.
Thank you so much and if there is anything I can do to assist you, do not hesitate to ask.
Stephen
Hello All,
My name is Steve Smith and I am the point of contact for the 41st AG HHD Oregon National Guard (Salem) assigned to Kuwait. I have been communicating with John Baker regarding the Boxes for Soldiers and I have had an absolute blast! The response to this project has been overwhelming. The soldiers here have been taken back by the generosity and compassion that the members of Morning Star and our community have shown during this deployment.
The boxes I receive and hand-out always bring a smile to their face. No matter if the soldier is 20 or 50 the excitement I see in their eyes makes me think of a young child on Christmas. Each solider is truly thankful and appreciates all that is being done back home to remind us that we are not forgotten.
Just today a young Sergeant came by and asked me if there were any boxes. It felt so great to be able to give her a box and a second box for her “battle buddy.” The boxes had just arrived minutes before. The smile on her face as she walked away with the boxes was absolutely priceless.
I have made sure that everyone gets to experience the cards and kind words that accompany each box. Before the soldier takes the box, I make sure to get any cards or notes from the box. I then display the cards in a binder in my area for everyone to enjoy. Each day soldiers come by and sit for a few minutes to read the inspiring words written by all of you.
My wife, Shannon, and I still are brought to the brink of tears when we think about all that is been done for the troops serving all in the Middle East. I want to ensure you that your efforts have had wonderful affects on the each soldier that receives a box and your kindness will not be forgotten!
Thank you again and God Bless!
SSmith
I just wanted to take a minute and thank you and your congregation so very much for all of your prayers and support, it has been pretty hard for me over here, I am married and have two boys they are 16 and 11yrs old, they are staying at home with my husband who is also in the Oregon Guard, he was actually called to active Duty in August and September to the Hurricanes in Louisiana and Texas so my boys stayed with my mother, thank the Lord for family. I have really enjoyed the gift boxes that we have been receiving, I just got some really great shampoo and lotion and I know that when your in a combat zone you shouldn’t worry about what your hair looks like but let me tell you that as a woman I really appreciate anything that can make me feel feminine. I also got some wonderful beef jerky from Tillamook and a Kenney Chesney DVD, I was feeling really homesick on the day I got a package and I have to tell you that it really lifted my spirit to know that there are people that do not even know who I am but care enough to take time and the money from their own pocket and send me something, please thank everyone for me and please keep the prayers coming.
Katherine
Hi Joanne,
Thank you for the update. Is there a final count of Morning Star members who signed up for boxes beyond what was given out? Last week Janet Parshall, on her national talk show from Washington D.C., covered stories about servicemen in Irag. These stories were the positive ones that we don’t hear about from the national media. May I have permission to email Janet Parshall about Morning Star Church? The message and the story needs to get out! If there is a question about her or her program please take a look at Janet Parshall’s America on the web. If churches across America did the same thing, our service people would be buried with gifts from home and know how much we appreciate what they are doing.
Thanks,
Mike
You are truly amazing! Your kind words have touched my heart and once again have brought me to tears. I passed along all this info to Steve, and he’s so humbled and amazed, too. He sent an email to the church and I will be mailing out a card and letter tomorrow. I just can’t tell you how much this means to us and our family. Some days it feels like we’re forgotten, but you have restored our hope. I don’t know how to ever thank you. You are truly doing God’s work!Bless you!
Shannon
Dear Shannon,
I want to thank-you for your kind e-mail. I enclose below my report that I sent in to the Church that I hope will bring you some comfort. I was called today by the wife of a Vietnam Veteran. They had picked up 2 boxes yesterday and were going to the store today to shop for the soldiers. They want to make sure our Troops know they are appreciated this time-unlike when her husband served. Please let my wife Debbie or myself know if you have any needs whatsoever. My thanks are to you and your husband for your service.
Sincerely,
John
Dear Jo,
I have the pleasure of reporting to you and the Board at Morningstar Community Church a summary of events from Yesterday. I would first like to thank the leadership of the Church and especially you for allowing this project to be offered to the members. I am thankful of your involvement in the mundane day to day issues of running the Church, unfortunately, you may
not always be a witness the positive impacts for Christ that you are making in the lives of our members.
I started out with 147 boxes and had asked our community group for prayers that all would be taken. I was hoping that 50-100 would be requested. I was not prepared for what happened. After first service, the boxes lasted for about 6 minutes and the project quickly became one of taking down names and number of boxes needed. By the time second service started, I had a list of 84 boxes needed. This was repeated in the second service and the booth was swarmed again with people anxious to sign the list. I am honored to report that I have in my possession box requests totaling 246 boxes!
I would like to share some examples: One community group has requested 20 boxes to have a group packing party. I will be receiving military addresses from 3 more soldiers. I was approached by the wife of a Navy special forces soldier who had been spending $50 to send packages to her husband and was unaware of the savings on using the flat rate boxes-she wants 25. I will also call the Oregon Military Public relations officer and pass that on so spouses can afford to send more packages to their loved ones. The leftover candy from the fall funfest is now dubbed operation “Sweet Tooth” and 4 boxes are being shipped today to Lt. Col. Bill Schutz in Bagdhad for the troops to distribute to the Iraqi kids in the field. The
more positive relationships the troops are able to make, the sooner our soldiers will be home.
I wish all of the Morningstar staff would have been present to receive the heartfelt thanks that was graciously tendered upon myself by Mrs. Jan Schutz and Mrs. Shannon Smith. While their husbands are away, these heroic wives have to run the household, work etc. and are often overlooked as to their day to day needs. (The Church may want to look into this). It was everything I could do not to breakdown in public.
One teacher is taking this idea to her school.I will be ordering 500 boxes today and have already made plans to return to Morningstar on Sunday December 4. This will allow us to provide the same Salem area troops with another round of boxes that if sent in a timely manner will arrive around Christmas. I want to thank again the Board for allowing this to happen. My only wish would have been for each soldier serving away from home to have been standing behind the booth, as I was, seeing the huge crowd of their fellow Americans patiently waiting to express their love and affection through these boxes from home to them for their service on our behalf. I am and will remain your most obedient servant,
John
Hey Guys, things continue to be busy at it is getting hot. It is only in the 90’s but when you are used to the great, mild temperatures of the Pacific Northwest this stuff can be a rude awaking. I probably should feel good about this nice weather, in July and August it gets up to 125 -130 degrees. Anyway, like I said I am keeping busy. I will be taking a trip up North to look at some projects, so I am pretty excited about that. While the Green Zone is realitively safe you can go stir crazy after awhile. A great thing about the Green Zone, however, are the things to see. Like the attached pics. Hope you enjoy. I also added alittle info on them. Take care, and thanks for the prayers and also thank you all for checking in on Jan, Melissa and Cassie.
Bill
Hands of Victory: To celebrate his “victory” over Iran, Saddam decided to build a Triumphal Arch. The concept of a triumphal arch is a European import, without precedent in the Middle East since Roman times. The colossal Hands of Victory monument has dominated Baghdad’s skyline since the end of the Iran-Iraq war. Built in duplicate, it marks the entrances to a large new parade ground in central Baghdad , towering 140 feet above the highway. The triumphal arch is shaped as two pairs of crossed swords, made from the guns of dead Iraqi soldiers that were melted and recast as the 24-ton blades of the swords. Captured Iranian helmets are in a net held between the swords. And surrounding the base of the arms are another 5,000 Iranian helmets taken from the battle field. On the ground are helmets that soldiers step on, further depredating the Iranian soldiers, when entering the parade field. The fists that hold the swords aloft are replicas of Saddam Hussein’s own hands. The German company that built the monument, H+H Metalform, said it was given a photograph of Saddam’s own forearms to use as a model. When Saddam inaugurated these triumphal arches, he rode under them on a white horse — an allusion to the steed of Hussein, the Shi’ite Muslim hero martyred at nearby Kerbala. The day before the first bombing run on Baghdad during the 1991 Gulf War, Iraqi TV showed a mass of Iraqi soldiers marching beneath the huge crossed swords of the Victory Arch, to the theme music from ‘Star Wars’. In April 1998 Iraq’s “volunteer army” paraded for six hours in Baghdad’s “Grand Festivities Square,” the large outdoor arena marked by the two sets of enormous crossed swords.
Monument of the Unknown Soldier: The Monument to the Unknown Soldier is said to be inspired by the glorification of a martyr from the Iran-Iraq war. What looks like to many as a flying saucer frozen in midflight, represents a traditional shield (dira¹a ) dropping from the dying grasp of an Iraqi warrior. The monument also houses an underground museum. The artificial hill is shaped like a low, truncated cone of 250 m diameter. It is surrounded by slanting girders of triangular section that are covered with marble. Red granite, stepped platforms of elliptical form lead to the dome and cubic sculpture. The steel flagpole is entirely covered with Murano glass panels fixed on stainless steel arms and displaying the national flag colours. The cantilevered dome is 42m in diameter and follows an inclination of 12 degrees. It’s external surface is cladded with copper, while its inner surface features a soffit finished with pyramidal modules alternating steel and copper. The promenade is covered by a semi-circular, flat roof supported on a triangular steel bracing. The roof is covered with a copper sheet and the soffit displays V-shapped panels of stainless steel and Murano glass.