|
Scott (age 9) at Support Our Troops Rally
Gulf War, 1991
with his cousin Regina, Great-Grandmother
Pauline Kniffen (Nadine’s mother)
and cousin Courtney |
SGT Scott Sheaffer
Combat Engineer
1st Brigade, Special Troops
Battalion
10th Mountain Division
2005 |
You see, during the Gulf War in 1991, Sheryl (Gulit)
Sheaffer and Nadine Gulit were active in Operation
Home Front – a “Support our Troops” grassroots
effort. Sheryl’s sons Scott and Adam were 9 and 7
years old at the time and participated in all of the
rallies and activities. Scott had remembered how
good it felt to be involved as a 9-year-old showing
support for our Troops and now was asking for that
same support as a Soldier. At the time of the Gulf
War, we never dreamed that Sheryl’s sons would be
involved serving our country 13 years later in the
same sandbox! SGT Scott Sheaffer is a combat
engineer with the 10th Mountain Division,
Ft. Drum, NY; PFC Adam Sheaffer is a medic with the
172nd Stryker Brigade Combat Team, Ft.
Wainwright, Fairbanks, AK and PFC Dylan Sheaffer is
also a combat engineer with the 10th
Mountain Division, Ft. Drum, NY.
Sheryl’s husband, Jim, is a Vietnam Veteran and that
is at the heart of our group – we never want another
generation of Veterans to be treated the way our
Vietnam Veterans were treated when they returned
home – we want our Troops separated from the
politics – to be honored and respected for their
devotion and service to our Country.
OSOT (as it came to be) rallied for the first time
on January 18, 2003. It was cold that day – all of
us remember shivering in the cold but were
determined to let our Troops know we were there for
them. We had all been listening to KVI Talk Radio
570 earlier in the week and heard a call to rally at
Camp Murray in support of our Troops. We gathered
at Camp Murray – none of us knowing each other – but
all desiring to show our Troops before they were
deployed how much they were loved and supported. We
waved our flags, held our signs of support and
shouted “Thank you” to the Soldiers we saw! This
was the image we wanted our Troops to remember as
they were deployed – American flags flying high and
fellow citizens expressing their support. We
started with about 25 people at that rally and grew
to 8,000 people participating in a rally in November
2003 to send our 81st Armored Brigade off
in style! We were there when our Stryker Brigades
from Ft. Lewis were deployed and when the USS
Abraham Lincoln came home. We will continue to be
there for our Troops until they all return home!
OSOT Rally on November 15, 2003
to send off our 81st Armored Brigade
When we decided that rallies just weren’t enough for
our Troops, we started Operation Holidays from Home
in September 2003 to send a little slice of home to
our Troops deployed overseas. Christmas that year
was a huge success – sending 1,700 troops a complete
Christmas with 300 volunteers packing boxes full of
goodies, including a Christmas tree with all the
trimmings. In 2004, we sent Holiday packages for
Valentine’s Day, Hero to Hero (First Anniversary of
Operation Iraqi Freedom), Easter, 4th of
July and Christmas. For Christmas this year, we
adopted 7,500 Troops deployed overseas!
Nadine Guilt, Sheryl (Gulit) Sheaffer and Dale Gould
(Nadine’s Brother-in-Law and Sheryl’s Uncle) were
the initial organizers of OSOT and Terry Harder
joined the core team shortly thereafter. We have
since been joined on the
core team
by Bill and Norma Anderson, Lee and Claudette
Sexton, Blaine and Diane
Anderson, Gail and Ladd Wilmoth, Donna Watts, Pat
Behymer, Jeff Gunno, Michelle McKee and Shelly
Nagel-Weber.
But as I have become notorious for saying, “You
can’t have a party if no one comes!” Operation
Support Our Troops wouldn’t be what it is today
without every one of us who has given time, talent
and finances to this incredible organization – it
takes all of us little parts to make the big
picture! OSOT has become a very close community of
family and friends! And I thank all of you for
that!
Sheryl (Gulit)
Sheaffer
January 1, 2005
