A Co., 5-159th in Balad, Iraq:

I would like to inform you that Christmas was a huge success for A Co thanks to OSOT. SPC Harder did a wonderful job making this holiday happen. We started the day by promoting seven of the soldiers. All of them were extremely proud and excited to be promoted on Christmas. Then, the Brigade Commander, Top and I cooked everyone pancakes. We listened to Christmas music, opened the presents from OSOT, and had a good time. As you can imagine it was a difficult time for most soldiers. Being away from home and your loved ones during the Holidays is challenging. Small gestures are what makes these difficult times easier to deal with. Thanks again for your hard work in supporting us. You and all the other volunteers of OSOT are great Americans.

Sincerely,

MAJ Haugen

To see pictures A Co., 5-159th in Balad, Iraq, please follow this link.

It's the afternoon of 25 Dec 03 and we were able to distribute all the gifts, letters from adults and school children alike, etc. out to soldiers who have been so appreciative of everything you’ve done. Today I’ve gotten MANY thank you notes to forward to all our helpers in the states and I’ll be sending those out in the next day or so as well as some additional thank you gestures for all you’ve done for us.

We’ve really worked hard to give our soldiers a special day today. The mess hall here has done an excellent job of cooking a special holiday meal and we were able to pull many of our soldiers off the line and off mission for a little bit of much deserved rest. Many of our officers are pulling guard duty and manning bunkers today to give even more of our enlisted soldiers and sergeants a little extra time off.

Today has been relatively quiet so far (knock on wood) which is something that has surprised each of us (really expected some bad actions today) so that's good, hopefully it will pass uneventfully.

Know that your contributions, thoughtfulness, and efforts were a HUGE morale booster. I’ve included a couple of photos to show you some of the faces you’ve touched; the gift bags include items from so many great people! More photos will come later.

Talk to you soon,

Your friend,

MAJ Jordan S. Chroman

Executive Officer

To see pictures and more cards and letters from the 801st MSB, 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault) in Mosul, Iraq, please follow this link.

I wanted to take this opportunity to Thank You and your organization Operation Support Our Troops, for the very generous care packages that you have sent us! I know the soldiers in the company really enjoyed the items and it makes the deployment a little easier to bear knowing people like you and your organization support what we do here.

Sincerely,

CPT Jim Handura

Received the Christmas stockings. Thanks very much for motivating the soldiers!! They really enjoyed the stockings.

LTC Freeland

I just got an email from my friend who received packages from OSOT in Bahrain, Deana Miller. She was SOO thrilled! She said they have hung the stockings all over the office and are making a huge banner out of something else that was sent. They read the cards and were so happy to feel the love and support from us in the States. The packages are having a huge impact on everyone there, and will definitely make their Christmas a little brighter... not to mention a little sweeter with all the great food they got.

Thanks Sheryl, you're an angel.

Pam Johnson

Bo called last night. As you know, the boxes got there on Christmas Eve.

so...

He waited til they had all gone to bed. Then with a helper, they snuck through the barracks and were able to leave a stocking or a gift at each door! He never told anyone who did it.

The next morning, Christmas morn, he was outside having a smoke break and heard the guys asking each other, "Hey, did someone leave you something last night?" "You mean Santa? Yeah, check this out!"

Bo divided the letters up and put them in the stockings, every guy got something plus words from the kids back home.

He never told anyone what he did. Some know, but they aren't talking either!