Home » Archives » "Inspiration from one set of heroes to another"

Inspiration from one set of heroes to another

Mar- 9-2008 » Filed Under: Tributes

By SCOTT FONTAINE, The News Tribune

“God bless you and come home safe” reads the message on a red T-shirt from the Fire Department in Lincoln, Neb.

“Thank you for your support” is scribbled on a shirt from the Spokane Fire Department.

“Hang in there, stay strong and be safe,” wrote a person on a shirt from Millerton, N.Y.

“Thank you for serving the best country ever!” says the writing on a shirt from San Antonio.

These shirts – and about 25,000 others – will soon head to U.S. and Canadian troops overseas as part of the Hero To Hero program, which had a PackOut event Saturday at Camp Murray.

Service members and civilians sat at long white tables and signed messages on T-shirts donated from fire and police departments around the world. The hope is that the shirts will provide a morale boost to troops overseas.

“There’s nothing like giving the shirt off your back for someone,” said Liz Jackson, who founded the program five years ago at her Lakewood home. “This allows heroes at home and heroes serving overseas to honor each other.”

This was the fifth and final PackOut event at Camp Murray. Jackson shipped 800 shirts in 2003, the program’s first year. In the run-up to Saturday’s event, her house was swamped with piles of shirts, donated bags of coffee and other supplies.

In place of the big PackOuts, organizers will instead focus on “playing matchmaker” by helping units deployed overseas link up directly with fire and police departments back home.

[...]


Post a comment

(If you haven't left a comment here before, you may need to be approved by a site administrator before your comment will appear. We appreciate your patience.)

Advertisements