More pillows sent to Afghanistan
Posted by: Carol Armstrong on: November 11, 2009
In mid-October (yes, I know — I’m really posting this late, but I was waiting for pictures!), the Pastor at Covenant United Methodist Church in Chesapeake invited me to speak to his congregation about Operation PFP. I stood in front of those wonderful people and told them about our project, and brought a poster I’d made using photos of my son’s platoon in the field, photos of my neighbor’s son, Jake (he’s with the 2-12 IN, 4th Infantry Division out of FT Carson), letters I’d receiving from combat troops, and photos of our pillows.
I mentioned the Boys of Keating, our wounded at Landstuhl and WRAMC, and told them that this project, born of love and honor for our Soldiers, has been the most rewarding experience I’d ever had.
To my astonishment, it seemed the entire congregation turned out after the service to help stuff several hundred empty pillows I’d brought with me. Folks were lined up around several tables in the room, little fibers of stuffing were floating in the air like snowflakes, and that community of good people shared something with me I’ll never forget.
Our troops need, no, they deserve to know that there are so very many people back home who want them to know that they are supported and loved. No Soldier should ever think “no one back there knows what we’re doing here, no one cares.” That just is not true.
We will shortly be shipping our 5,000th pillow to a company of combat Soldiers with the 4th Infantry Division. And our local rag, the Virginian-Pilot, seems to believe our story is not newsworthy.
The fact that hundreds of people in the Hampton Roads area volunteered their time or donated their money to help us continue shipping pillows to our troops by the thousands — I guess that’s not newsworthy.
It’s not newsworthy that we’ve shipped a handmade pillow for every single man and woman in an entire Army Brigade.
The fact that we’ve shipped almost 5,000 pillows — I guess that’s not newsworthy either.
But details of Michael Jackson’s impending autopsy is newsworthy. Knowing which drugs some hollywood gold-digger swallowed is newsworthy. Saving some species of bat in Australia — now that’s what I call newsworthy — well, I only call it that because it covered half the front page of the newspaper a few weeks back.
The U.S. Joint Forces Command says there are approximately 300,000 military-related folks in Tidewater (also called Hampton Roads), in a total population of over 1.5 million. All five military services’ operating forces and major command headquarters, including the Navy, Air Force, Army, Coast Guard, and Marines Joint Forces and the only NATO command on U.S. soil call Hampton Roads home.
I guess that’s why I’m not in the newspaper business. I just don’t understand what makes some information worth reading…
Our friends at Buildasign.com are wonderful!
Posted by: Carol Armstrong on: October 18, 2009
We love to see Americans support our Troops – and we ran into a company that deserves to be noticed for their support. Buildasign.com, headquartered in Austin, Texas, offers discounts to military families for large, vinyl banners to welcome our troops home. We found their site, and within minutes using their simple point-and-click web site, created a beautiful 3′ x 6′ banner to welcome our Soldier when he comes home in January.
Not only that, but they did it for free. They volunteered to make up to 20,000 banners for families to welcome home their troop. And they do it all for free.
They charged us no setup fee, put our Soldier’s picture on the banner, along with big, bold, bright letters. We gladly paid them to put grommets in the corners, and we can hang it in our yard (and on the flight line when his plane lands!) with no worries of wind or rain.
These folks are something else. They can create just about anything you can think of, in just about any size, with just about any text — from magnets to aluminum signs to license plates. They do it really good, and they do it really fast!
From our military family here to the family at Buildasign.com — Thank You!
PFPs at Landstuhl, Germany
Posted by: Carol Armstrong on: October 14, 2009
I’ve been sending boxes of our softest pillows, made using the Army-green Polartec fabric milled in the US by Malden Mills (Lawrence, MA), and hoping they’ve given our wounded troops a bit of comfort. They need to know that folks back home honor their service to our nation, and that we are keeping them in our thoughts.
Here’s what MaryAnn Phillips, Vice President, Warrior Medical Support Europe, Soldiers’ Angels, told me today:
”Thank you for the 6 boxes of GREAT pillows sent during August and September. I wanted to let you know they arrived in good condition and that most of them have already been distributed. We’ve been bringing them to the med/surgical wards for the nurses to give their outgoing patients for the flight home. We also put some out on our self-serve donations shelves at the outpatient barracks and they’re going like hotcakes!”
Thank you, MP!
PFPs are on their way to the boys of COP Keating
Posted by: Carol Armstrong on: October 8, 2009
We’ve all read the news. We know our Soldiers were ambushed this past weekend by insurgents hiding in the hills above the small remote outpost of COP Keating in northern Afghanistan, just a few miles from the Pakistan border.
Those young troops lost 8 of their friends, saw 24 of their comrades lying wounded, were gravely outnumbered, they could see nothing but smoke from their burning outpost, and hear nothing but sniper fire and the whirr of medevac chopper blades.
Over 50 Soldiers walked away with nothing but their weapons and the uniform each was wearing. The outpost was destroyed, along with their makeshift cots and bunks, their PT gear, their laptops, the dogeared photos of sweethearts and wives and children.
We were able to ship 80 small PFPs to the Command Sargeant Major of the 3rd Squadron, 61st Cavalry Regiment, formerly of Keating, this morning at their temporary post. And it’s because of the generous outpouring of support from folks all around the country that we were able to send those 50-some odd young troops a little piece of home. And to remind them that we will not forget them.
We could do this because of patriots like Lisa and the folks at Malden and Jerry and the folks at Carlisle who volunteered goods from their businesses, and because Georgia and the folks at Brother made sure we had all the embroidery supplies we needed, and because Irv, Nancy (whose son Jake fought at COP Keating), Chap & Liz (and her parents), Gerry, Jacqueline, Debbie, Dee, Kimmie, Colleen, Carole and her girls, my own parents, and a host of folks from all over the country who’ve either donated their time or their money toward shipping boxes to our Soldiers 8,000 miles away from everything they hold dear.
We will not forget the boys of Keating.
The 4,000th ACU Pillow is on its way to Afghanistan
Posted by: Carol Armstrong on: September 26, 2009
I’ve just finished embroidering the 4,000th ACU pillow, and it will be shipped along with hundreds more to our Soldiers with the 2-87 Infantry in Afghanistan.
It took some doing, but with help, we’ve managed to make almost 150 more soft fleece pillows to send to our wounded at Walter Reed. Those young Soldiers must feel so alone; they’re away from their families, their homes, their posts, their buddies.
We want them to know they are not forgotten.
Army ACU Pillow – Send one with your next care package
Posted by: Carol Armstrong on: September 5, 2009
Perfect for a Soldier out on a mission...when he has to catch a nap in the dirt or on a pile of rocks...
Our ACU pillows on now our site for sale, and we’re hoping to raise more funds to support Operation PFP. We’ve now shipped a grand total of (drum roll, please!) three thousand five hundred pillows!
If you’d like us to send one to you or your troop, simply place your order here, and we’ll ship it to your Soldier or to you at no extra charge. You can even have your choice of ribbon color; either bright yellow or subdued. (In case you’re wondering, the troops tend to prefer the subdued color. After all, then the entire pillow is camouflaged!)
100% of the proceeds from the sale of our field pillows goes right back into the effort. Landstuhl Regional Medical Center in Germany has been receiving a record number of wounded troops, and we’re doing our best to send them pillows by the hundreds.
Working away…
Posted by: Carol Armstrong on: August 18, 2009
Hard to believe, but these 2 stacks of future PFPs in various stages of completeness, will make over 300 pillows, Army-tough enough for field duty. And a stack of these empty pillows is heavy! A stack of 40 pieces, embroidered and sewn but empty, weighs over 3 1/2 pounds!
These several hundred will be shipped to our troops at FOB Shank. We’d got another 500 or so more to make using the ACU donation we received earlier this month.
Thank you Jerry!
The 3,000th PFP is on its way to Afghanistan
Posted by: Carol Armstrong on: August 7, 2009
We’ve just completed 2 boxes of PFPs headed for a Brigade Support Battalion, FOB Shank, in the Loghar Province of eastern Afghanistan.
Included in one of the boxes is the PFP embroidered with “3K.”
Along these lines, here’s what we heard from a young Soldier in an Airborne Infantry unit deployed near the Khost Province in Afghanistan:
”I forgot to thank you for the pillows, so lucky you sent them when you did, i dont think ive spent more than 3 days on my fob in the past month and a half, weve eaither been in trucks or on the ground and those pillows are awsome.”
No need for you to thank us; you and the troops have our sincere admiration and deepest appreciation, David, for the tough job you’ve been asked to do for us. We’re keeping you in our thoughts.
We’ve now shipped over 2,500 pillows!
Posted by: Carol Armstrong on: May 30, 2009
As of Friday, May 29, we’ve shipped out 2,506 PFPs to our Soldiers! What a milestone!
Included in the total are the PFPs we’ve sent to Landstuhl, several Aid Station and Field Hospitals, so we can’t really say we’re that close to our original goal of shipping 3,000. I had estimated that we’d get to 3,000 by the end of August, and we’re so ahead of schedule.
Youth Group Stuffs PFPs for Our Troops
Posted by: Carol Armstrong on: May 19, 2009
This lively bunch of kids and adults gathered together this past Sunday after services to stuff 150 PFPs bound for another yet Regiment of Soldiers in Afghanistan.
The children did such a great job! From the youngest to the oldest, they each had a great time hugging and kissing the pillows they knew were being shipped to our very strong, very brave Soldiers.
Our thanks go out to my very good friend and fellow ball player, Kimberly Benton, and her efforts to coordinate this wonderful time with the Youth Group of Covenant Methodist Church in Chesapeake, VA.
Thanks to you and the whole gang, Kimmie — great job!
