Operation Aces High: Saturday, June 3

I just wanted to remind everyone that we have an event coming up and why we are doing it.

Operation Aces High: Poker Run for the wounded troops kicks off this Sunday, June 3, 2007 at the Overland Park American Legion Post 370. Details can be found on our side bar or by clicking here.

There will be a barbecue, a silent auction, a great ride and great camaraderie among riders and supporters of our troops. There will be opportunities to send written and other messages to our troops.

What will it benefit? All proceeds will be used to purchase First Response Back Packs for our wounded.

What are they and why do they need them?

Read this from Soldiers' Angels

Wounded in Iraq. What happens next? You’re transferred to a Combat Support Hospital with just the clothes on your back. Recognizing the situation, Soldiers’ Angels founder Patti Patton-Bader (grand-niece of General Patton) teamed up with Minimus.biz for a solution – get troops clothes and toiletries the moment they arrive.

According to Patti Patton-Bader, when troops are injured, “The medical treatment and transportation occur with such speed that the soldiers often arrive in Germany wearing the same uniform that they were wearing when they were wounded. The soldiers' gear and personal items rarely catch up with them.” So, Soldiers’ Angels created the First Response Backpacks. A $50,000 donation from The Military Order of the Purple Heart helped to purchase the newly designed digital camouflage backpacks embroidered with the Purple Hearts and Soldiers’ Angels logos. The backpacks provide a full set of travel-sized toiletries and accessories (such as toothpaste, toothbrush, comb, shampoo, and soap), calling card, change of clothes, and a hand-made blanket by one of the Soldiers’ Angels volunteers who participates in the Blankets of Hope project. Each backpack contains sweatpants with velcro or zippered sides, as well as zip-hooded sweatshirts with the Soldiers’ Angels logo.

Not just wounded from Iraq, but from everywhere our men and women are deployed, serving our nation.

It makes a huge difference:

After a military bloggers’ conference in Washington D.C. this May, a group of Soldiers’ Angels visited the wounded at Bethesda Naval Medical Center. The first person they saw was a Marine wearing one of the brand new Soldiers’ Angels sweatshirts. Asked if an Angel had brought it to him at the hospital, he replied, “No ma’am, I was evacuated from Baghdad, and was cold, and was given this sweatshirt.” Minimus had received, packed, and shipped the new sweatshirts, recently added to the backpack, and that they were already in use. The soldier’s mother was with him and asked if he could have a second sweatshirt since he had been wearing his for six days straight, refusing to take it off.

We hope you want to make a huge difference, too. Please join us this Sunday for Operation Aces High: Poker Run for the Wounded Troops.

We're looking forward to seeing you there.

- May no soldier go unloved