CONCORD, NH --
This holiday season, hundreds of New Hampshire
service members will be
away from their families,
but a local nonprofit has raised money to bring some
of the troops home from training before they head to
Afghanistan.
Early next year, 140
New Hampshire National Guard members will head to
Afghanistan, another 1,000 will follow as part of
the troop surge. Ken White is a member of the first
group, and his wife, Michelle White, thought she
wouldn't see him for the holidays.
"For me, the holidays
are for being with their families and friends," she
said. "People take for granted that my husband is
home, but now, my husband isn't home."
The National Guard
Association of New Hampshire has raised money for a
special gift for Michelle white and dozens of other
families. Through donations, the group has been able
to hire a bus to bring Ken White and 49 of his
fellow soldiers home from training in Indiana.
Organizers said it will
be one last chance for many children to see a parent
before they're gone for a year.
"All they know is
they're sitting at the Christmas tree without their
daddy, so sometimes in that aspect, if you can bring
a father home to be there, that makes the holiday
that much more special," said Mary Hennessey of the
National Guard Association of New Hampshire.
Steve Greco is the
president of the group and said that deployments
just before the holidays are tricky.
"They have already said
goodbye to their families, and now they have an
opportunity to come home for just a short period of
time, and we'd like to try to make that happen," he
said.
It will be a nearly
16-hour bus ride for about a week-long visit, but
for some, it's the only option and an enormous
relief.
"For some of my
friends, it was a challenge, so when they heard
about the free bus ride to get troops home, it was
like, 'Alright. There is a chance they can come
home,'" Michelle White said.
Other members of the
company will either fly themselves home or have
chosen to stay in Indiana.
Anyone interested in
helping the group bring soldiers home can send
donations to:
Box 54
1 Minute Man Way
Concord, NH 03301
 |
|
KATIE BARNES /
Monitor staff
A member of the National Guard hugs his
daughter during a deployment ceremony in
Milford on Dec. 1. Fifty-three of the
deployed soldiers training in Indiana
have been given free rides home for the
holidays. |
Back home, then back
to war
Soldiers given a free
ride to New Hampshire for holidays
December 16, 2009 -
7:09 am
Reprinted here from original source:
http://www.concordmonitor.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20091216/FRONTPAGE/912160303
Lindsay Holden, looking
for normalcy, will do the best she can this holiday
season. She'll have a Christmas tree and gifts, and
she'll visit family and eat big meals. More
importantly, she'll spend time with her live-in
boyfriend, 26-year-old Jon Morales, for eight days.
Then Morales goes back to Indiana; then, later, back
to war.
"I'm okay," Holden said
yesterday over coffee on the Heights. "But it's not
going to be easy."
In a sense, Holden,
like so many others, signed a contract to admire the
man she loves while pushing her own fear into the
background. Morales is going to Afghanistan,
sometime early next year, for the second time. He's
also served twice in Iraq.
But he'll be with
Holden and her two children in Chichester, along
with his parents and his sister in Milford. The
National Guard Association of New Hampshire, a
nonprofit organization that's separate from the
National Guard, has seen to that.
The association raised
$7,200 to bus 53 of the 140 members of Charlie
Company home for Christmas. The National Guard unit
arrives Dec. 23 and goes back to Indiana on Jan 1.
Then it's off to the war.
"I have a lot of
respect for him," Holden said. "He felt dedicated to
the guys who were going. He didn't have to go."
No, he didn't. Morales
was in the 1st Ranger Battalion, a special
operations force featuring some of the toughest
hombres in our military. He fought in Iraq at the
start of the war there, in the spring of 2003. Then
he fought in Afghanistan a year later, then again in
Iraq a year after that.
His tour ended after
three years, at which time Morales joined the
National Guard, juggling his military service with a
job cutting trees.
"He can't do a mellow
job," Holden said. "He just can't. He needs to break
stuff and cut stuff and climb things."
He also needs to watch
his buddies' backs. Morales, nearing the end of his
five-year commitment in the guard, re-enlisted
earlier this year so he could return to Afghanistan.
He'll be there for a year, his longest deployment
thus far.
Holden, who's been
dating Morales for four years, says they talked
about his choice for one more round in the military.
She says Morales had no choice. At least that's what
he believed. Call it camaraderie at its highest
level.
"I supported him 100
percent," Holden said. "There was not a lot of
discussion. I knew he'd go. That's the kind of guy
he is. He's not going to let his buddies down."
Holden is studying
business at the University of New Hampshire in
Manchester. She has two kids, a 15-year-old son and
a 12-year-old daughter, from a previous marriage.
She says they love Morales. She says their life as a
family is great, a huge contrast from the war
stories she's heard about.
Morales was part of the
team that rescued Army Pfc. Jessica Lynch from a
hospital in Nasiriyah, a southern Iraqi city. His
unit also unearthed the bodies of nine American
soldiers during that same mission.
Holden says Morales
spoke to her about the horrors of war. Not right
away, though.
"It was later in our
relationship when he told me about what happened
(with Lynch and the nine soldiers)," Holden said.
"It was a real eye opener for me."
Asked to provide more
details about what Morales had seen and felt, Holden
shook her head no.
"He would not like
that," she said. "It's private; people don't want to
read about that anyway. And that would make him out
to a better soldier. But that's just his job."
She preferred to talk
about Morales's modesty, his quiet nature, his
loyalty to other soldiers. She preferred to talk
about his love for cutting and climbing trees, his
winter camping and snowshoeing trips with her son,
his work as an assistant Scout leader.
And she preferred to
talk about his humor. "He's hilarious," Holden said.
"We laugh all the time. I think that's what I'm
going to miss the most."
Holden was also careful
to note the work of the National Guard Association,
the group that solicited funds from businesses and
individuals so soldiers could ride a chartered bus
home and eat along the way.
Lt. Col. Anthony Picano,
a banker in Boston, is vice president of the
association and a member of the New Hampshire Air
Guard. He said other soldiers had already made
travel plans and didn't need financial help. Still
others, Picano said, had the chance to come home but
will stay in Indiana.
"Some have chosen not
to come home for personal reasons," Picano said.
"They don't want to say goodbye twice to their
children."
Holden knows the
feeling. Morales left last October for three weeks
of training at Fort Polk, in Louisiana.
Then he came home. Then
he left for Indiana on Dec. 8. He'll be home again
in one week, for another eight days. Then he'll be
gone for a year.
"It's an up-and-down
feeling," Holden said.
The latest high is
right around the corner. Picano believes the 16-hour
bus ride will end at the Manchester Armory on Dec.
23. Holden will have a Christmas tree by then,
decorated with photos of family members and soldiers
he's served with.
She'll try to stay
upbeat through the holiday season. She'll try to
stay positive.
"It'll be nice, but the
end will come," Holden said. "Then he'll get back on
the bus."
Ray Duckler can
be reached at rduckler@cmonitor.com.
Drive lets soldiers
bus home for holiday
By KATHY CLEVELAND
Staff Writer
About 53
National Guard
soldiers based
in Milford will
be home for
Christmas,
thanks to
fundraising
efforts.
The troops are
among 140
members of
Charlie Company
who are now in
Indiana, getting
ready to go to
Afghanistan in
late January or
early February.
They all have
about a week off
starting Dec.
23, but until
now, they had no
way to get home
for Christmas.
Regulations
don’t permit the
National Guard
to use state or
federal money to
provide
transportation
to travel home.
So the nonprofit
National Guard
Association of
New Hampshire
and other
organizations
launched a
fundraising
effort.
As of Monday, at
least $7,200 was
raised, and 53
soldiers said
they would like
to go home for
Christmas, said
Anthony Picano,
the
association’s
vice president.
That $7,200 is
enough to
charter a bus
and pay for
meals and other
incidental
expenses.
If more soldiers
say they want to
go home, another
bus will be
ordered. “No
person will be
left behind,”
said Picano, who
said he and
other officers
in the
association had
been “very
nervous” about
raising the
$7,000, because
they had never
tried to do
anything like it
before.
“We couldn’t do
it without the
outflow of
support” from
individuals,
businesses and
organizations,”
he said. “We are
thrilled that
they can go home
with their
families.
“There’s been a
wonderful
outpouring of
support,” he
said,
considering the
economy and the
fact that
budgets are done
for the year,
“I’m amazed and
humbled that
folks are
reaching out.”
Donations came
from
individuals,
businesses and
nonprofit
organizations.
The soldiers’
time off starts
around Dec. 23
and they will be
returning around
Jan. 1.
“We are not
stopping there,”
said Picano. Now
that there is a
fundraising
mechanism in
place, the
association will
continue
fundraising to
support the
troops and their
families.
Nearly 1,000 of
New Hampshire’s
National Guard
members will be
mobilized for
deployment in
2010.
After they are
deployed, things
like cars and
washing machines
always seem to
break down,
Picano said, and
that’s what the
money will be
used for.
The association
also had
assistance from
state Sen. Jeb
Bradley,
R-Wolfeboro, who
used his blog to
spread the word
and gather
support.
Soldiers tend to
be “silent
professionals,”
Picano said, who
don’t ask for
things for
themselves.
The idea to
raise money to
transport the
soldiers came
from Maj. Gen.
William Reddel,
the N.H.
National Guard’s
adjutant
general, he
said.
The 53 troops
who signed up
for the bus are
among about 140
soldiers from
the
Milford-based
172nd Infantry
Regiment
(Mountain), who
will be engaged
in combat
operations as
well as
mentoring Afghan
security forces
and conducting
security
missions.
They will be
deployed after
completing their
final
preparations at
Camp Atterbury
in Indiana.
Charlie Company
has participated
in four
deployments
since 2001. One
detachment went
to Afghanistan
in 2002, and the
entire company
went to Iraq in
2004.
Donations can be
sent to NGANH, 1
Minuteman Way –
Box 54, Concord,
NH 03301. For
more
information,
call Lt. Col.
Anthony Picano
at
1-978-979-1206.
Kathy Cleveland
can be reached
at 673-3100,
Ext. 21 or
kcleveland@cabinet.com
CONCORD – The National Guard Association of
the United States today presented Gov. John
Lynch with the Charles Dick Medal of Merit,
which recognizes contributions to the
National Guard by elected officials at the
state and national levels.
New Hampshire
Adjutant General Maj. Gen. William Reddel,
Gen. Stephen Burritt, Col. Richard Duncan
NGAUS New Hampshire Chapter President Col.
Steve Greco, (Ret) and NGAUS President Gen.
Stephen Koper, (Ret.), presented the award
to Gov. Lynch.
“As Governor of the State of New Hampshire,
I have the honor of working closely with our
National Guard. The dedicated men and women
of our Guard and an integral of our state
and nation’s defense and emergency response
efforts, and I can never truly thank them
enough for all they do for us,” Gov. Lynch
said.
“I am honored and humbled to receive this
award. It means so much to me coming from
the men and women I respect and honor so
much,” Gov. Lynch said. “I want to thank the
New Hampshire members of the National Guard
Association of the United States for
nominating me, and General Koper and the
association for this honor. This is a
special award that truly means a lot to me.”
An individual, who is a member of a state
legislative body or the United States
Congress or any state governor, must have
distinguished him/herself over an extended
period of time in their support to the
National Guard through service in a state or
national elected legislative body.
“Governor Lynch’s support of the National
Guard dates back to his first days in office
in 2005,” said Maj. Gen. Reddel. “His
appreciation of the Guard as an integral
part of state and community is consistently
manifested by his efforts for continued
cooperation and collaboration at the state,
local and national levels.”
“His efforts have resulted in the approval
of more than eight different legislative
initiatives that improved the quality of
life for service members, their families and
our veterans,” Reddel said. “As the
Governor, you inherently become the
Commander-In-Chief of the state National
Guard. It's not just a title for Governor
Lynch. He has taken the responsibility very
seriously and led by example.”
An individual must have provided
exceptionally strong support to the National
Guard to clearly merit this medal. The
support of the individual must be such that
it has had a lasting effect on the future of
the National Guard. The positive affect and
the results of the act should outlast the
tenure in office of the individual.
The medal, established in 1988, is named in
honor of Major General Charles Dick,
President of the National Guard Association
of the United States from 1902 to 1909, a
major general in the Ohio National Guard, a
Congressman and later a Senator. Dick was
responsible for the passage of the Dick Acts
of 1903 and 1908 that established the
foundation of the modern National Guard.
The 2009 recipients of the Charles Dick
Medal of Merit are Gov. John Lynch, New
Hampshire; U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords,
Arizona; State Rep. Jean M. Doerge,
Louisiana; U.S. Rep. Steve Israel, New York;
U.S. Rep. Earl Pomeroy, North Dakota; Gov.
Brad Henry, Oklahoma; U.S. Sen. John Thune,
South Dakota.
Colin Manning
Press Secretary
Office of Gov. John Lynch
(603) 271-2121
colin.manning@nh.gov
