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Soldier's campaign helps Iraqi kids put best foot forward

Dec-11-2005 » Filed Under: 172nd SBCT

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By Dermot Cole, News-Miner

FOOTLOOSE: While Iraq is struggling to get on its feet, a young soldier from Fort Wainwright is helping care for the feet of Iraqi children, thanks to donations from Fairbanks.

Over the past couple of months, Fairbanksans and businesses have donated more than 1,000 pairs of kids' shoes to send to Iraq.

That's enough so that Jammie Tinsley, 23, will be able to send a steady supply until next summer to her husband, Cpl. Mason Tinsley. She said she wants to thank everyone who helped make the campaign a success.

As a foot soldier in more ways than one, the 20-year-old Tinsley enjoys giving shoes away to Iraqi children. Many of the kids he encounters while on patrol have nothing on their feet. He stopped by the News-Miner office a few weeks ago when he was on leave from Iraq for two weeks.

He's now back in the desert and giving out shoes when he can. He began distributing shoes on his first tour of Iraq and is continuing it now that he is deployed with the 172nd Stryker Brigade Combat Team.

Jammie has been sending big boxes to Iraq, containing enough shoes that other soldiers and some of his superiors have also helped give them away, Jammie said.

"I never thought I'd be able to collect so many shoes," she said. "It's incredible. The outpouring from the community has been amazing and I give my most genuine thanks to everyone that made any sort of donation.

"I've collected enough to last the next year and I'm grateful for everything I received," she said. [...]


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