Family and Friends: their stories

Veterans: their stories

Leatha

Dan,

The first picture  Leatha Poshard, Marjorie Martin, Dorothy Brickey of the Bloomington Normal area packing supplies to send to Iraq to the 33rd MP division. The next two pictures are items that were sent in January.

We just finished packing 31 more boxes this last week to send over. We have received over 20,000 items to send from McLean County 4-H Clubs, Mc Lean County Home and Community Education Units, Homes for Hope, Hilltop Trailer Park residents, GFWC Illinois McLean County Woman's Club and various friends and businesses of McLean County. Their donations have been tremendous. 

We wish to thank the McLean County HCE for paying the postage on these boxes and all who have
donated.

Leatha

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Glenn

Dan,

I have a touching soldier story you might post on your site.

At least once a month I travel the highways in Illinois and see our fine soldiers in the big war machines riding off to fight in a far away God forsaking country of Iraq or Afghanistan. They are young and old all looking scared but smiling. I wave and say thanks. These guys and gals are all heading off in the beautiful sunlight and highly visible......

But one night last year I was coming home from work around 8:30 or 9:00pm and as I entered the highway near Bolingbrook - I noticed a little ways behind me some cars in the left lane following a speeding state police cruiser closely and with the lights flashing.....so I stayed in the right lane and as they passed me by I noticed an army vehicle, a limo and a hearse......Inside the hearse I noticed a flag draped coffin.......the next morning on the news I learned that what I had witnessed was the "coming home" of a 20 year old soldier from Morris Illinois, He returned a lifeless hero in the middle of the night under cover of darkness so no one could see him.

This haunts me to this day. I still feel the pain because I saw his parents in the limo crying their eyes out because of the loss. Maybe this can be shared with some of the leaders make the trip to the airport and follow these people home - they never had the opportunity to say good bye and will never see these beautiful kids again they wil not have grandchildren, no more birthdays........

I grew up in the Vietnam era and signed up for the Air Force - they did not take me - but I did lose some very close friends - who I will never see again....bring them home now and let us defend America from here.

Glenn

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Cindy

Hebron

Mr. Rutherford,

You have requested letters form anyone that has been in the Military service as well as from those who's lives have been altered because of it. War has devastating effects on everyone, whether you are directly related to someone or reading / listening to the media coverage. For me, it was the ultimate sacrifice. My father, Casimer Plodzien of Chicago, Illinois served in WWII in the United States Army. He was sent on a mission to the Philippine Islands. There, in Luzon, he gave his life for our country. I never had the opportunity to see him, or be kissed by him. I never was able to hold his hand or play in the park. I never had the pleasure of his company at father daughter dances. He was not there to give me away on my wedding day. Most of all he missed out on the hugs and kisses from his four wonderful grandchildren. I watched my mother struggle endlessly through the years hoping to make a better life for me. I heard it said that "Freedom" doesn't come free, but these ultimate sacrifices that result in widows and orphans will always be devastating. I pray every day for our troops and their families. I pray they return to their homes safe and soon. I am not in favor of this war and I plead with our government to bring an end to this mayhem. There will always be an emptiness in my heart. War is the reason.
 

Cindy
 

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Heather Peterson
Downers Grove
 

Hi Senator Rutherford,
 

I really appreciate your support of our troops. As the sister of a former Crew Chief on Medivac
helicopters in the Army, I know what it is to have a deployed family member. My brother is from Michigan, so his story doesn't really apply to the website, but he was deployed three times to Iraq with his initial deployment during the ground phase of the war. We are happy that he is now honorably discharged from the Army since he served almost 7 years (he signed up for 6) and his time was up!
Anyway, thank you for remembering & honoring our troops!

Keep up the great work!
 

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Update from Gibson City, IL troops collection project: 

Here is an update from Ford County.  Mackenzie raised 1900.00 in the fundraiser towards his Eagle Badge.  He is preparing to pack the boxes with the items we went to Sam's and purchased.  I am working on finding out the number of troops in platoons so that I can go shopping for the troops the last week of March.  I will mail it that week. The Prairie Fire 4-H has offered us 121.70 to pay for the shipping of 15 boxes.  I hope to mail 2-3 times that many.  I am grateful for the offer from McDonald's to purchase the items and for postage as needed.  The boy scouts will continue to carry the boxes into the post office for me. We will keep working and doing whatever we can.

Marinell Jones
 

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Fisher House -- Helping Military Families

Supporting America's military in their time of need, we provide "a home away from home" that enables family members to be close to a loved one at the most stressful time -- during hospitalization for an illness, disease or injury.

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Pritzker Military Library

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Sears

It has been brought to our attention that Sears pays the difference in salaries and maintains benefits for their called-up military reservists employees. We looked into this and found:

 http://www.snopes.com/politics/military/sears.asp

 http://www.searsmedia.com/sears/military.htm

 Thank you, Sears, for being such a great American Company!

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Marinell Jones

Ford County

Dear Senator Rutherford.

I rec'd an e-mail from Karen Moore [Univ. of ILL Home Extension in Onarga] re: the names and addresses you need of Troops in Iraq and Afghanistan [from ILL] to be posted on your web site.  I can help you with some of those names from our local community.  Do you want names of troops who live in this area, and/or troops who originated from this area but have since moved away.

Let me tell you about a project for the troops I coordinate as County President  of Ford County Home and Community Education [HCE].  That is how I rec'd your e-mail from Karen Moore. In Oct. 2006 the members of the Ford County HCE Board and I decided to put together a county wide troops collection project.  We had fliers/boxes scattered throughout the county.  We rec'd so many items and it became very overwhelming to organize so much stuff.  However, with the assistance of many we accomplished a great deal within a month.  On Election [what timing] I mailed 14 flat rate 8 lb boxes to troops who either live in Ford County or are connected to Ford County in some way.  The next day I hauled a van load of things to our local food pantry and thrift shop.  These were items that were either too bulky or not appropriate to send to the troops.  On. Dec. 7, 2006 I mailed 15 flat rate boxes to troops, 12 of those boxes went to troops who receive very little or no mail at all.  

Lee Lowery Post 568 and the Women's Auxiliary have offered to supply us with whatever we need to mail to the troops if we take care of the packaging, mailing and the coordination of the whole project.  Also, the Gibson City Boy Scouts of the United Methodist Church of G. C. have offered to help me in any way possible.  I will be supervising the Boy Scouts as they do the packaging/mailing along with their troop leader, Mr. Jon Clark. 

I can supply you with some names once I retype them from another program on my computer.  The addresses I have are the addresses I sent their mail to in Iraq / Afghanistan.

Now I'm wondering if you could help me with some names.  We have 12 boxes packed and ready to mail.  I need names of troops of ANYONE serving in Iraq/Afghanistan, I do not care where they are from.  If they are serving  over there I will send them a box. Also, I would like to have the name and address of a Chaplain [even more than one Chaplain] serving in Iraq/Afghanistan.  We have a large supply of  toiletries, hygiene items in bulk that we would like to mail to a Chaplain.  We would like for him to distribute these items to those in need.  We have foot powder, deodorant, soap, shoe insoles etc. to many of one thing to send to one soldier.  But surely a Chaplain would be able to distribute them for us. I would mail more boxes within the next month if I had the names/addresses.  This community has been phenomenal also in supporting us financially with the funds needed for postage.  It costs $ 8.10 to mail one flat rate box [each averages about 8 lb.]  Donations have come from the Amvets, American Legion, Women's Auxiliary and may other residents of Ford County. Also, I put a letter in with each box telling them who the box is from and giving them all the encouragement and support we.   

I have been on your e-mail list for quite some time and appreciate getting all your updates.  Also, I believe my husband heard you speak at the ILLINOIS Rifle assoc. mtg and really enjoyed. God Bless you for all you doing to serve our country.  Great things can be accomplished when we all work together.  I am so overwhelmed with the tremendous amount of support I have received with this project.  I will be waiting to hear from and hopefully we will be able to help each other. 

Thank You,

Marinell Jones

Ford Co. HCE President

marinelljone@yahoo.com

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Joan Bullard

Odell

Hi Dan,

Here are 2 pictures of my son Jim.  He is on his second tour of Iraq and was in the first Gulf War with 1st Armored Division. Jim was in Afghanistan with 12th Mountain Division. He is near the Iranian Border at a city called Baqubah north of Baghdad.  Jim is in charge of 167 fine young men and women. Jim always says it amazes him how brave they are.

Jim is a graduate of Odell Grade School and Pontiac High School. As long as I can remember he wanted to be in the Military. He is married with 2 children.  Jim has a young private soldier named Dillon Cannon from Texas that was shot in the neck right after Christmas.  I wish everyone would go into his website at http://dilloncannon.com/DillonCannonSite/Home.html and read every article on the site.  It tugs at your heart strings.  We owe so much to these young men and women.

I asked my son how he makes himself walk out the door when he knows what he is getting into.  He said mom "you sell Real Estate and I'm a soldier".  That just about says it all. Dan, thank you for recognizing our best and finest.  You are so thoughtful.  It means more than you will ever know.  Jim's address is as follows if anyone would like to e-mail or drop a note.

Thank you from his family.
Joan & Bob Bullard and Family

1SG James Schultz
571st MP CO.
FOB WARHORSE
APO AE 09336
e-mail is james.m.schultz@us.army.mil

1SG Schultz is on the left	1SG Schultz is on the left

FROM DAN: Joan, thank you for sharing. I did e mail Jim and thanked him for what he is doing. God Bless. I did look at the Dillon Cannon website and encourage others to do so also, it is quite touching.

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Praying unsettling war zone missives don’t suddenly stop

Chris Bailey
Posted Sunday, November 05, 2006

I can’t help thinking the man who has been doing my dirty work is living on borrowed time.

For the 10 years or so that I’ve known him, U.S. Army Sgt. Randy Henk has been a very personal extension of a U.S. foreign policy bewildering and quite consistently lethal to guys like him.

He has, at my behest and yours, spent those years attempting to ameliorate seething cauldrons of hatred and genocide, attempting to impose our notions of chivalry and fairness on areas where revenge and religious fervor are as much the philosophical underpinning to life as the Constitution is to ours.

He has suffered in freezing cold and devastating heat, buried too many dead and worried endlessly about the safety of the young men in his care. He has sent pictures, and wondered about his own sanity and humanity, thereby forcing me to remember that the true cost of war is often the souls of those who fight it.

He seeped into my heart when I was the editorial page editor at the Courier-News in Elgin. It took only a letter or two from Henk, who used to live in Elgin, for me to know he had a knack for writing. And better still, he had a knack for delivering us into a war zone and making us see both wondrous moments of humanity and the darkest sides of the human heart.

At the time he began writing, he was assigned to help mop up after the bloodbath in the Balkans, to restore some sense of sanity where there had been only ethnic and religious cleansing so horrific it made all of Europe turn away rather than witness what its lack of action had wrought.

In the years since his letters became a regular feature, his hands-on look at how different reality is from policy has left me breathless, laughing, terrified and in tears. With a few words in one letter, he painted a scene that lives with me still, stunning in its capacity to make me see the harsh contradictions — and terrible dilemmas — of his daily life, and the daily life of every soldier in a modern combat zone.

He and his men, he wrote, were handing out candy to Bosnian children, enjoying a moment when they could be human again. But, when he looked up at those standing in the background, he wrote, an old man reminded him that even that fleeting moment of humanity could cost them their lives. The man looked Henk in the eye and then slowly slashed his hand across his throat. A reminder of the hatreds endemic so many places in the world, and a reminder that a grandfather has learned those hatreds well and will likely pass them on to those enjoying the sweets, innocents only for the moment.

Though I work for another newspaper now, Henk’s letters remain a “must read” for me, reminders that in our comfort able and self-centered lives far from the war zones, we Americans take all too much for granted. Certainly, we take men and women like Randy Henk for granted.

I am proud, though, to live in a community that has embraced Henk and his men. Following a letter in which he discussed the privations of the battlefield, the small items his men didn’t have, area residents deluged Henk and his men with food, drinks, personal hygiene items, music CDs and party decorations. Odd how something as simple as a plastic pitcher could be so important. Box upon box of such simple comforts went into a war zone where death stalks relentlessly and home seems so far away.

Henk has had near misses before. But it seems now he is almost stalking death the way death stalked him before. Like so many others, his unit’s tour in Iraq was extended. And he is living in the veritable man-made Hell that is the Sunni Triangle. He works on death’s doorstep from the town of Hit in the explosive and lethal Anbar province, the main drag along the Euphrates for insurgents moving between Syria and Baghdad.

Drawing the fire of snipers waiting for just such opportune targets, he helps protect soldiers as they attempt to disarm explosive devices that have been tearing arms and legs from American soldiers daily.

I wonder how much longer he can defy the odds. I wonder that he never seems angry at those of us who put him there. But I still honor his only real request, one he makes at the end of every letter, that we “keep a candle burning on the Homefront.”

And I pray that his letters, unsettling though they are for those of us in our safe cocoons, keep coming. And coming. And coming.

FROM DAN: I have been in touch with Sgt. First Class Randy Henk stationed with the US Army in Iraq. He writes a column for the Elgin Courier about his experiences and is now sharing them with us, also. His photos, comments and articles are on the Our Soldiers: Stories & Photos

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Mark

Moline

The day before my son was to leave to Iraq he was too busy cataloging
equipment to spend time with the family. He specifically asked me to go to work. Normally, I'd have ignored him and at least spent the day helping my wife prepare. I had just started a new job, so made my usual sales calls (you can't imagine how much people buy when your boy is going to war).

My last call of the day was in LaSalle. My customer was placing a very large order and it was getting late. Right in the middle of my
presentation she says, "Pick the rest yourself. I know they'll be ugly,
we'll swap them next time. You should be ashamed of yourself. Hurry
home and be with your boy." I thought she was going to throw me out!

I did not go home, but drove straight to the armory. I'm not proud of
the way I drove, but it did me no good. As soon as I entered the door I
heard, "Confidential Briefings, all family members must leave." I was
horrified and felt like the worst father that ever lived. I drove away,
not really knowing when or if I might see him again.

A couple miles down the road, I got a phone call. It was my son's C.O.
He said he couldn't talk, but needed me back right away. I'm involved
with the family support group, so I thought it was just a family member
that wouldn't leave. He said it was important that I hurry, so I began
to worry. As I got out of my car a soldier said, "Sorry Mr. Hendricks,
you have to go with me." Now I was really upset, but how could my son
hurt himself in a huge, empty gymnasium?

When we didn't go directly in to the facility, I knew something was up.
As we came around the corner of the building I could see my son's entire
unit lined up and facing me! His C.O. and our family friend said, "I
knew you wouldn't make it in time (what a rep. to have). Rich was
promoted to Sergeant today and we want you to pin on his new rank."
Imagine, the day before he leaves for Iraq, I got to be a part of my
son's promotion! I don't know who was more surprised my son or I, but
you can judge for yourself in the photo.

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Diane

Normal

Dear Dan:

In regards to your request for stories of Military personnel, might I share
with you our experience of being parents to a Marine? Our son, David, was
very interested in enlisting in the Marine Corps right after high school
graduation. I emphatically resisted giving my consent, due mostly to his
age, and at that point in time, I thought some type of schooling was more
important. Our family compromise was that if David would acquire a degree
of some type, in a field of his choosing, I would withdraw all my objections
and he could enlist with my blessing. David graduated (with honors) from
LakeLand Junior College, Mattoon and left for basic training with the
Marines in May, 1999.

David chose to go the reserve route. His schooling at LakeLand was
sponsored by Martin Implement Co, of Lexington, IL. and part of his
responsibility was to work/study as a John Deere technician. He felt an
obligation to Martin Implement to return to them after completing his basic
training. Steve and I attended the graduation ceremonies at the Marine
Corps Recruit Depot in San Diego, California. I don't think I was ever
prouder of being an American and being a "Marine Mom" than during those 3
days in California.

David's teachers at LakeLand encouraged David to pursue a Bachelor's Degree
in Agriculture and eventually put him in touch with the Ag department at
SIU-Carbondale. SIU has a Capstone program that will guarantee a BS degree
in 60 hours (BS must be in the same field as the AA degree). David started
at SIU in the Spring semester of 2002. During this time he faithfully
attended his monthly Marine Reserve meetings at Terre Haute, IN. and the 2
week summer drill sessions too. Basically, most of his schooling costs were
taken care of by the GI Bill and his salary as a "reservist."

David attained his BS degree in December, 2004 and was enrolled to begin his
Master's degree, however, his unit was activated, so he was unable to
attend. Dan, can you imagine what it was like to take your son to an
attorney to have his will written and also draw up an "advance directive" in
case of disabling injuries? Then see him drive off on a cold dawn, not
knowing if we would ever see him again? I think it was the hardest thing I
had ever done. I was a full supporter of the Iraqi war before this and I
had resolved to continue to be a full supporter of it as long as my son was
in harm's way. I was vocal (probably rude) to several people who didn't
think we needed to be in Iraq, my statement was basically, "if we don't stop
the terrorists over there, we will be fighting them over here, and it will
still be my son bearing the burden for you!" David's Marine unit served at
Abu Grahib prison from March, 2004 until October, 2004. The prison was
attacked by rocket-propelled grenades many times, one attempt to get a bomb
inside via a garbage truck and some prisoner unrest inside. David's unit
had only 1 purple heart awarded. David's 6 year enlistment was completed in
July, 2005.

Did anyone force David to serve? No, he did it of his own volition and did
it proudly. Would he do it again? I think so. Could I see him off again?
Yes, it would be just as hard as the first time, but he is a full grown
adult and able to make his own choices. The military was not an "out" for
David. We had adequate funds that we were able to help both our children
through school. He was able to complete his education by working and by the
help of the GI Bill. I think shortly he and Elizabeth will be looking for
their first home and he will use VA financing to purchase it.

David was paid around $3,000. a month while on active duty. This money
helped finance a new vehicle when he returned and paid his living expenses
for the 18 months necessary to obtain his MS degree from SIU. I also
believe it helped him get his first career job at ATS, Mossville, Illinois.
Could he have died or been tragically wounded in Iraq? Sure, but the same
thing can happen right here, you read the same stories in the paper as I do,
car accidents, work accidents, sad things happen. We lost a nephew in a
drowning accident when David was in Iraq.
 

FROM DAN: Diane, thank you for sharing such a real story of
your son and your family. You deserve to be very proud and he deserves
honors. Thank you for being such a great mom and a proud American for
sharing your son for our security!

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Chuck

Gilman

Dan,

I asked my step-son if he would write something for the project and he
declined.  I personally think he had about as rough of a time in Iraq as I
did in the Philippine Islands during Nam. We have a tendency to shove our
feelings on the back burner until years after things are over. Then we try
to sort our feelings out.  I don't think that is a healthy approach, but it
is the natural approach.  We tend to avoid things that are unpleasant.

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Bruce

Bloomington

Dear Dan -

My church, Holy Trinity in Bloomington, publishes a "remember them in
you prayers" list of active service women and men in our weekly mass
bulletin.  Any active duty GI can be listed, not just from our parish or
a catholic.

I remember how important knowing family and friends were behind me when
I was in 'Nam.

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FROM JOAN (when she received the Senator’s request for stories and photos to post)

I will send this e-mail to my son who is in Iraq for the second tour of
this war and he was in the first Gulf War.  He is a 16 year career
soldier.  Anything we can do to show support is very much appreciated.
 

Thanks
Joan

FROM DAN: Joan thank you and God Bless you and your son. We look forward to hearing from him.

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