A flag was flown...

[Carol]

The comms product that my company makes is used primarily by Public Safety/LE agencies at varying levels, although recently we have attracted several private companies to our customer base. We also serve NATO forces as well.

A little while ago, one of our training coordinators sent out an e-mail asking for contributions for local troops in Afghanistan. I don't know if they are associated with our product/project or not....and frankly, I don't care. A few extra items from home can mean a lot to those who are serving. The items that were appreciated the most were items that we virtually take for granted -- New England newspapers/magazines, snack bars, and inexpensive webcams so the soldiers could occasionally Skype chat with their loved ones. We raised a collection, our training guy did the legwork to do the shopping and shipping.

What I wasn't expecting is the response from the Lieutenant that I received in my e-mail this morning.

Dear (Company)

As the Platoon Leader, I wanted to personally thank all of the employees of (Company).
All of my soldiers appreciate your support and we will put the donated supplies to good use.
The families of all of my soldiers appreciate and say thank you for the cameras and head sets,
this has allowed them to communicate with their families via Skype and even gave one soldier
a chance to see his newborn baby for the first time.

Attached with this letter there is a certificate and flag that was flown by our Task Force in
Afghanistan for 9 minutes and 11 seconds for all of the employees of (Company). Due to
mission requirements I am unable to give any info about our Task Force but the support
from (Company) is a huge help to bring every soldier home safe.

Thank you for all the support.

I have helped raise a flag many times in honor of our troops or our vets, but never in my life did I expect the gesture to be returned to me. :asian:

 

[arnisador]

Nice!

 

[DennisBreene]

Thank you for sharing that with us. Those little gestures from home are magnified greatly by the time they reach the troops.

 

[ballen0351]

Alot of our military over there just want to know people still think about Them and know they are still there. I keep in touch with a bunch of my old Marine buddies who are still serving some on 4th and 5th tour and that's the biggest complaint I hear from them is that it just seems people care more about who got voted off dancing with the stars then we still have many many thousands of our people in harms way. Small gestures like that really do mean a lot to them.

 

[oftheherd1]

Good on your company, especially your training guy, and good on the troops and lieutenant for the return gesture.