USMA IN THE NEWS

Gift packages appreciated

By EMILY KRATZER
THE JOURNAL NEWS
(Original publication: January 7, 2004)

Gift packages assembled by veterans appear to be well appreciated by soldiers serving in the Middle East.

The Jewish War Veterans in the Rockland-Orange District has sent almost 1,500 cartons to troops in Afghanistan, Iraq and elsewhere since October 2002. And they've have gotten plenty of feedback.

"Tell all the JWV members that we really appreciated their support during Operation Iraqi Freedom," Chaplain Carlos Huerta wrote in October from Mosul, where he was deployed with the 101st Airborne Division. "It was like having friends on the battlefield with us."

In an e-mail that made its way from a palace in Tikrit to the Jewish War Veterans, a major with the 4th Infantry Division asked for "soap, toilet paper, toothpaste, razors, deodorant."

"We are especially lacking in goodies like candy and gum. ... If the spirit moves you, please send what you can."

The group sent off 26 cartons to the unit. They arrived in 10 days. A thank-you note, scrawled on a piece of carton that had held meals-ready-to-eat, was then sent to veterans back home.

Yesterday, Bill Farber of Ramapo, Nat Rabinowitz of New City and Milton Maisell of Monsey were at a house in Nanuet preparing more cartons for the troops with goods donated by schoolchildren, police departments, houses of worship and local and nationwide businesses. The Jewish War Veterans' program is called Operation Gift-Pak.

The men were ready to take re-deployment kits to the Orangeburg Reserve Center. From there, the kits would be sent to the 854th Engineers' Bravo Company, which was sent to Fort Dix, N.J., on Dec. 10 and is to ship out for Iraq on Jan. 17.

These smaller redeployment kits can be put in duffel bags when the troops travel to Iraq. The kits contain personal-care items, cards and notes with good wishes, and an address card to be returned to the veterans so that future shipments can be sent through the mail.

"These kits are for Rockland County troops," said Farber, who served in the Army Air Corps and is a member of the Fred Hecht Post 425 in Spring Valley. "The cards from kids mean so much."

Farber and Rabinowitz are co-chairmen of Operation Gift-Pak. Rabinowitz served in the Marine Corps and is a member of the Schwartz-Kerchman Post 720 in Nanuet. Maisell, 87, was an Army rifleman under Gen. George Patton's command in World War II and is the district commander.

Maisell didn't get packages like these when he served in Europe, although he did get mail from home. Not only do the three know personally how much the letters and packages help troop morale, they have a scrapbook full of letters and thank-you notes.

The troops use everything in the packages, sharing with one another and with Iraqis.

"As long as there are troops overseas, they deserve to get something like this," Rabinowitz said.

Rabbi Huerta, a major, returned to the United States in December and is chaplain of the Jewish Chapel at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point.

"More deadly than a bullet is to feel you are forgotten and left behind," he said yesterday. "Those of us who remember Vietnam, our fear was these soldiers would feel forgotten."