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Collections for troops continue
Collections for troops continue

Group plans to send goodies to Iraqi children.
February 12, 2005
By John Andrew Prime
jprime(at)gannett(dot)com
Don't throw us just anything, mister!
With Mardi Gras over, that's the cry now from the spouses, parents and boosters of local soldiers overseas.
The festive purple, gold and green holiday lent itself to a drive to collect throws, coins and beads for troops overseas to give to Iraqi children. But those collecting goods hope the focus will return to stuff the soldiers -- and the impoverished Iraqis who are their neighbors -- actually need.
In November, local unit boosters started collecting clothes, paper, pencils and other goods to ship to Iraq. Since there's no official budget for shipping beads or any other items, donations toward that end also are sought with the priority going to the useful stuff.
"We need postage for all these donations we have gotten," said Tina Traylor, wife of Capt. Carroll "Pete" Traylor, signal officer for the 1/156th Armor Battalion, in Iraq through late fall. "And they still need stuff for the Iraqi children -- but no more beads."
Over the past year, such drives began as soldiers -- many themselves parents of small children -- wrote, called or sent e-mail home about the plight of Iraqi children who have been hammered not only by living in surroundings wracked by decades of abuse under Saddam Hussein but also by daily run-ins with the terrorists who make life dangerous for everyone there.
In late January, Linda Sherwin of Haughton asked locals to save Mardi Gras beads and throws to send to Iraq based on a suggestion from son Jeremy, a 21-year-old specialist and medic with headquarters company, 1/156th Armor Battalion.
People responded -- so much so that harried recruiters at the Shreveport armory occasionally have turned them away.
"When I took a large bag of beads to Fort Humbug (on) Monday, I was met with resistance," Shreveporter Mary Hines said. "I left very disappointed."
No one with sincere donations for soldiers ever will be turned away, said Family Assistance Center director Barbara Conway, whose husband, Capt. Carey Conway, is with the 1/156th Armor Battalion.
"We're still accepting them," she said of the holiday baubles. "But they cost a lot to ship, so we are going to donate most of them back to the Mardi Gras krewes." Krewe members get annual school and other group requests for beads at times of the year when they don't usually have them on hand, Conway said.
But she said people shouldn't be surprised if the holiday stuff that is retained lands at the back of the pile of things to mail to troops.
"We're still collecting socks and shoes and writing tablets for the kids. That's the main thing," Conway said. "But we may not send these beads until June or July. It can cost $50 or $60 a box to mail these. And the other things, the clothes and school supplies, will have priority. That's what the guys themselves requested."
One recent state addition to this drive is Operation Kids For Kids, a charitable project created by the historic New Orleans-area Washington Artillery, or the 1/141st Field Artillery Battalion, which in Iraq operates as Task Force Thunder. It is intended to give schools and people here an opportunity to help children in the Baghdad area.
"The Kids for Kids program is a way that we hope to restore normalcy back into the schools," the Washington Artillery's commander, Lt. Col. Jordan T. Jones, wrote in the venture's Web site, childrenofbaghdad(dot)com. "The schools, more specifically the children, lack many simple supplies that they need to function effectively in an academic environment. The children lack writing supplies and a host of other things needed for school operations. The teachers need these items to ensure that children have a better opportunity to learn," he wrote.
"If we can provide a more conductive learning environment for the local children, they have a better chance at a more productive future."
Nationally, drives are under way to collect goods for Iraqi citizens and soldiers. For soldiers, the emphasis is to seek donations of older but still-working cell phones and digital cameras and international long-distance calling cards. Also being sought are frequent-flier miles for active-duty soldiers who, unlike Louisiana Army National Guard people returning on furlough, usually only are flown to the major airline hub nearest their post.
Some things people at first were urged to send soldiers no longer are as wildly popular due to the fact they can spoil if stored for a long period during a hot spell, or if they are now available as exchanges, shoppettes and other amenities emerge at encampments in Iraq.
"Don't send any lip balm!" said Lt. Col. Robert S. Baker Jr., chaplain of the Louisiana Army National Guard's 256th Infantry, or Tiger Brigade. "And no feminine hygiene products, please."
Baker echoed local folks' sentiments, urging people to send items Iraqis, particularly children, can use. "We need a lot of socks and gloves for the kids. There's a campaign on to get mittens because people don't realize how cold it can get over there."
He said a new chapel built at the brigade's operating base fills with goods but empties just as fast. "I can't dispense it fast enough."