Serving in Iraq info page 29

TO IRAQ WITH LOVE:

CHANDLER - American soldiers stationed in Iraq are engulfed in sand, sweltering in 120-degree temperatures and if they're lucky, getting a shower once in a while.

Thankfully, residents in Chandler have not forgotten their hometown heroes and often surprise them with American snacks and personal hygiene luxuries.

Gene Giger and Mary Langford first started sending letters and packages to their loved ones who were stationed in Iraq.

Giger's son, Army Staff Sgt. Greg Giger, 36, has been in the military for 18 years. He has been in Iraq since January and Giger said his son would be there at least 15 months.

Giger said Greg was very appreciative of the packages sent to him but wrote home about fellow soldiers who had never received mail.

"There are many soldiers in Iraq who do not have anyone that even writes to them, let alone send them goodies," Giger said.

Mrs. Langford sent packages of socks, popcorn and sunblock to her daughter and son-in-law but when they both returned to America, she didn't stop the package flow.

"I just didn't want to quit," she said. "These soldiers are just kids and have left the comfort of their home and family to protect our country."

She found out Giger was sending packages to his son and other soldiers so she joined in.

"I saw what the soldiers were allowed to pack and take with them to Iraq and it wasn't much," Mrs. Langford said.

Giger and Mrs. Langford put boxes of beef jerky, cookies, chips, ramen noodles and flavored powder drinks together with funds from their own pockets to send to several units in Iraq.

As word got around, people started donating items, such as bug repellent, cotton balls and lip balm.

"People get lots of toothbrushes and toothpaste from the dentist that they never use, so why not send them to the soldiers?" Giger said.

Giger has been sending packages since March but he said the need to send more is even more important now because the soldiers feel they are being forgotten.

"Up until they turned power over to the Iraqis, the soldiers were upbeat because they felt they were making progress," Giger said. "Now things have turned sour, the Iraqis are fighting against each other and our soldiers are caught in the middle. My son has gone from gung-ho to 'I'll be glad to come home.'"

Helen Giger said she could hear the weariness in her son's letters.

Greg is in the red zone near Baghdad International Airport and staying in one of Saddam Hussein's former palaces.

"He is one of the lucky ones not in a tent so he disperses these packages among the entire unit," Giger said.

Mrs. Langford, the owner of Head Hunters, a beauty salon in Chandler, said her customers bring in items to send to the troops. She then hauls them to Giger's house, where he boxes the donations then takes them to the post office.

"Some people don't know what to donate so they sponsor the postage of a box," Giger said.

The packages of goodies usually cost $15 to mail, so Giger's operation of sending 39 boxes in the past six months has not been cheap.

'ANYTHING HELPS'

Greg sent home a list of soldiers who had not received any mail so many people at Giger's church, United Methodist Church of Chandler, have helped.

"I just tell people to write a letter, say a prayer or send a box. Anything helps," Giger said.

Church member Martha Copeland said the Bible school children wrote letters to the troops to let them know "we are thinking, supporting and praying for them."

"This is such a little thing to do to repay the big thing they are doing for us," she said.

Besides about 40 Chandler citizens, Giger said local businesses are pitching in, too.

"Brookshire's has been really good to me, Pop's Chicken gave us a huge box of plasticware and Hastings in Tyler gave us a dozen demo CDs," he said.

Super 1 Foods, Wal-Mart in Athens, Sister's Flower Shop and the Noonday Ace Hardware store have also contributed, while DeHaven Eye Associates donated numerous bottles of eyewash.

Card Warehouse in Tyler let Giger pick out 50 greeting cards to send to Iraq so soldiers could mail cards to their loved ones.

"Now we need to send blank Christmas cards," he said.

If people have garage sales and there are items left over, Giger said he would be happy to take the appropriate items off their hands.

"One time I got almost 50 sunglasses for free from a garage sale," Giger said.

He said the soldiers love to receive snacks but deodorant, razors, little soaps from hotels, lotions, towels, lightweight thermal blankets and even ketchup or mustard packets are also great.

"They get the necessities but we like to send better-quality necessities," he said.

REMEMBERED

Giger said many soldiers have expressed their appreciation in e-mails and letters.

"It does a lot of good to see that people back in the States do support the soldiers over here," Greg wrote in an e-mail to his father. "Anything that reminds us of home is great."

Giger said the troops especially like mystery or science fiction paperback novels, country CDs and the occasional DVD.

"They have never asked for DVDs but I know they have a player," Giger said. "When these soldiers are on duty, they are running on peak emotions and it is mentally draining. They need an outlet to get their mind off things."

Mrs. Langford said she has received letters from soldiers saying they thought America had forgotten about them so receiving packages was like Christmas Day.

"I like to send them toys to keep them amused," she said.

Those who are interested in donating items, or would like to send their own package, can call Giger at (903) 849-6406.

"No matter what your beliefs are about the war, whether our soldiers should be there or not, our soldiers are over there and they need our support," Mrs. Langford said. "Getting packages from us is like getting a little bit of home."

From: http://www.zwire.com/site/news.cfm?BRD=1994&dept_i
d=341384&newsid=12686320&PAG=461&rfi=9