Thank you TRI TX 5 motorcycle group for your donation of 400 Grabber hand warmers to the troops. As the weather dips below freezing in much of Afghanistan and in some parts of Iraq, these are a much requested and coveted item. The hand warmers allow our soldiers to better carry out the missions that are assigned to them so they are very much appreciated.

Thanks to our faithful donors!!

Many, many thanks to our faithful donors Curtain, Wall Design & Consulting, Inc. and Central Wholesale Plumbing for your continued support this Christmas. Like clockwork, these companies come thru for us in a BIG and generous way every year. With your heartwarming support, our adopted platoons will have a much better holiday season and are reminded that we, at home, have not forgotten their sacrifices and service to our country.

God Bless America and those that defend her!

Whew....boxes and more boxes!!!

Whew, what a week this has been!! Since last Tuesday, we have diligently worked nonstop to get our Christmas care packages mailed to our 11 adopted units to ensure a timely delivery and distribution of over 7500 stockings, cards and holiday goodies to our soldiers.

Starting on Nov. 10, I met and had lunch with a wonderful donor who wishes to remain anonymous. This generous family donated $20,000 to our cause which will allow us to continue sending these much appreciated care packages to the many, many soldiers that we support.

Nov. 12th, Aerus Company hosted a packing party for us in which they donated enough goods to fill 156 boxes to 3 of our units, reaching over 2000 soldiers, and the funds to mail those boxes. A huge "THANK YOU" to Aerus for their spirit of generosity and unwavering support of our men and women serving in harms way.

Nov. 13th - the first of many post office runs for the week in which we mailed the 156 Aerus boxes plus 30 of our boxes containing 525 large Christmas stockings to 5 more units.

Nov. 14th - The Airborne Angels Christmas packing party was held in which we packed 275 boxes to those 5 additional units reaching over 2500 soldiers. Mind you these boxes are not the same size with the same items. We do not pack cookie cutter style boxes but boxes with different items that can be shared so packing is not easy. We had a great turn out of volunteers with many newcomers bringing lots of goodies. Thank you everyone for making this so successful. It was a great team effort to come together like we did.

Nov. 15th - more packing and double checking forms for mailing.
Nov. 16th - post office run mailing 146 boxes.

Nov. 17th - post office run mailing 131 boxes and then packing an additional 24 to our 2 smaller units.

Nov. 18th - mailing those 24 boxes.

Today we rested and will resume again next week

Have a great Thanksgiving week and remember to include the troops in your Thanksgiving prayers!

God Bless America and those that defend her.

Photos & Letter from Afghanistan

To the gracious members of the Airborne Angel Cadets,

My name is Staff Sergeant M.G. and I am a Soldier of one of the many Army platoons that you support. I am a squad leader of 9 men which is part of a 31 man platoon. Our number one mission is to do route clearance for any coalition force that needs to leave the FOB to go to another area of Afghanistan.

As you know that the number one threat in country both here and in Iraq are roadside bombs. As Combat Engineers, our sole purpose is to find those bombs so they do not kill coalition forces or disrupt the free mobility of our troops as well as the people of Afghanistan. It is a slow and nerve racking job, but it is worth it knowing that we do our part in keeping soldiers safe as well as the people.

Our actions also frustrates the enemy and we are defeating them from replacing these bombs to hurt their own people. It is a career that does not get recognized enough. As of now we have accumulated over 3100km of road and we have put in over 2200 man hours of missions. As well, we have conducted 47 combat missions since we have been in country. To think, we have only been here for 3 months.

The soldiers in my platoon come from all parts of the country. Some young, some old. Some who are single and some who have been married for 15 years with 4 kids. Some with degrees and some who just got their GED?s. Some who are short and some who are tall. But all in all, we are now brothers in arms and we are family until we get back to our own.

We stick up for each other and we constantly look out for one another during missions. Those of the soldiers who are young, they have grown up to be men with courage in their hearts. Those who are old have been rejuvenated by the young and eager to push forth and engage the enemy if needed. However, like most families, we argue and we see some things differently. But when it comes to the life of another, we are all on the same page. We love one another and we love our country. We know the importance of what we are doing and how it plays in the bigger picture of freedom.

However at times, it is hard to see that picture when it is 120 degrees outside or when it drops to -20. It is hard to see that picture when you hear of a soldier who has been killed. It is hard to see that picture when you have family members who do not support your actions or when you see on television how people ridicule soldiers as they return from a deployment.

But, all those images are washed away when you see that other soldier to your left and right helping you up when you are down. When you hear the voice of your child on the other end of the line telling you that they are proud of you. When you see thousands of people in stadiums singing the National Anthem.

When you receive care packages from complete strangers who you know took time out of their lives to put something together for another complete stranger. That is when we know that what we are doing here is for not us, but for the people back home that rely on us to keep them free and safe so they can enjoy the freedoms of our country without having to fear of intruders.

I come to you to say Thank You for supporting us and helping us to wash those images away from our minds so that we can continue doing what we are doing until we come home. We cannot express to you our gratitude over a letter or even over the phone. Even our own families say thank you. But if we could, we would give y'all a huge hug, and being from Texas myself, we would have to have a Bar-B-Que and a cold one to express our thanks. To the members, the volunteers, to the little ones who come out to pack and to the businesses who donated these items, we salute you! HOORAH!

New messages from soldiers overseas

Heeeyyyyyyyyyy!!! Happy early Halloween!!
We received your packages. Actually I am a few days late. All of you really blew our minds with these packages. Everything that you sent was very well needed. Thanking you is not enough. I hope all of you are doing well back home.
You made our lives a lot better (your making a grown man cry..."sob,boo-hoo"). Okay, this was really special what you did. We love all of you very much for this and also for the previous things you have sent us. Thank you.

SSG Ricky
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Hello Nancy!

I hope your Halloween was an enjoyable one! Thanks to you and the Airborne Angle Cadets we had a splendid time at our Halloween party. Attached is a picture of me in my "Jailhouse" costume. I'm also sending a few more pictures of our group where most everyone dressed
up.

Thank you so very much for the decorations and costumes you sent. We all had a great time and it was a wonderful break from the everyday stress of this deployment. I can't thank you enough for all the support you've given to me and my soldiers.

Thanks again,
Princeton
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Dear Nancy,

Sorry it has taken me a few days to reply. I have been moved to another FOB because they needed a cook to replace one that had to get some surgery done. The living conditions at this FOB are a little nicer, we live in 8 x 8 trailers with two people per trailer.

Other than that it's pretty much the same. I still work in a mess hall so I will share whatever you send me. Our PX here is just as small with only the neccessities and finance only comes once a month here as well with everything on a cash basis.

Thank you for the cookies, I look forward to receiving them and sharing them with my new coworkers here! Thank you also for your continued support of all of us over here. It really is nice to know that there are people back home thinking about us!

Sgt. Jerry