Somewhere in Afghanistan

Last week about 20 guys were going to a range, so they took some school supplies and toys with them. They said once the stopped and started to get out of the vehicles about a half dozen little kids came running to see them. So they loaded them up with as much as their little arms could carry.

The soldier that was telling me about it had a smile on his face the whole time. Said the kids all took off with their arms full of their new treasures, but one little guy was having a hard time carrying his stuff and running as fast as his little legs would carry him to keep up. He said they watched him run behind a little dirt hill and hide all his new stuff and than he came racing back to get some more.

Because of the generosity of people like you they had more than enough stuff so they gave him another armful. Well of course the other kids were intently watching this and when they saw he was getting more toys they sat their stuff down and came running back for more. From what I heard everyone seemed to have a great time. There were also some Afghani Army out there so we gave them some stuff for their families.

Recently, I learned that another South Dakota Soldier who is deployed in Iraq is going to continue Operation Caring Hands there. I know I have told some of you where OCH came from, but for those of you that don't know, it wasn't an orginal idea of mine. When the 842nd (my home unit and the unit my brother was in when he was in Iraq) was in Iraq they took school supplies and toys to a local school. So before I came here I asked if I could do it here, using their same name. So I am really glad it is being continued in Iraq with another South Dakotan Soldier, since it began there. As the saying goes, "a picture is worth a 1000 words" As you can see our guys and the kids had a great day. So thank you again for everything....

Sincerely,

Brandy (last name removed for PERSEC)

Bagram Afghanistan