Testimonials

-----Original Message-----
From: William Jones
Sent: Monday, January 07, 2008 9:55 AM
To: Hubbard, Paula
Subject: Thank You!

Hello! I just wanted you to know that we received your care package and
I've distributed amongst my men. Everyone was very thankful that you
thought of us and enjoyed the treats you enclosed. We've hung up the
girl scouts' cards on our dayroom wall to remind us of the people that
haven't forgotten us. Thank you!

LTC William Jones
Resident Engineer
Afghanistan-Tajikistan Bridge

My name is CPT Kathleen Moffatt, and I am the company commander of HHC, 1BCT 82^nd ABN. One of the officers in my company received a bunch of boxes from your parents' club today, and I was with her when she opened them. We gave out a bunch of the stockings and then put all the snacks and treats in the company morale trailer. That is where the troopers go to use a computer or call home, so they love to get other little things while they are there. I know they will find plenty and something for everyone.

I am also a West Point graduate from the Class of 2000. It really means a lot to me to know that the parents' clubs that helped get us through 4 years of school are still here helping us get through long deployments. Please thank the other contributors and let them know that this company of troopers is very appreciative.

Thank you for serving our country. The support we as soldiers receive from American citizens, like you, make this all worthwhile. Thank you for thinking about us during this holiday season and for taking time to send a message of encouragement. It is an honor and privilege to serve and protect grateful citizens like you.

Thank you so much for taking care of me and my soldiers throughout this deployment. I want to wish you all a Happy Holiday season and the best to you and your families. Maybe I will get the chance to meet you all when I get home.

Thank you all so much for the boxes of goodies. It is wonderful to know there are people back home who take time out of their busy days for us. It is starting to get cold here, so the hot chocolate was great to get along with all the chocolate. I hope and pray everyone there has a wonderful Christmas and a Happy New Year.

LTC David J. Freeman

325^th Combat Support Hospital Al Asad Air Base, Iraq

Dear friends and generous contributors,

On behalf of the many deserving soldiers of the 325^th Combat Support Hospital, Al Asad, Iraq, permit me to express my deepest gratitude for the Herculean effort put forth by all of you to make this Christmas a most memorable one. We recognize not only your abundant generosity, but especially appreciate the words of encouragement and prayers you offer on our behalf while serving our great nation thousands of miles away from home. Many of our dedicated soldiers might not have received anything from home without your thoughtfulness and generosity.

As soon as my email went out expressing the needs of individual soldiers, the response was swift and overwhelming, as I believed it would be. Within days the boxes of goodies started arriving. It was not so much the contents of the package, although what was sent met specific needs, as the fact that the box was addressed to an individual soldier adding a sense of connectedness to home. Without exception every person who was listed on the “request list” received several boxes full of an array of items. Some of my colleagues in other departments made similar requests regarding soldiers in their work areas and they too enjoyed an enthusiastic response. When the boxes were given out to those in various sections of the hospital, we caught glimpses of these soldiers quietly opening their unexpected gifts from generous patriots like you. It was tempting to take photos of the experience, but decorum and discretion dictated that those reflective moments go undisturbed. Suffice to say there were many glistening eyes and much lip-biting, none the least of which were ours. It was indeed a cherished moment for all.

For those of you who graciously sent boxes filled with flannel pants, socks, T-shirts, snacks, books, CDs , DVDs, house/shower shoes, toiletries and other personal care items for the general troop/patient population …Mission Accomplished. With the able assistance of the OICs and NCOICs of the Intensive Care Unit, Intermediate Care Ward and the Specialty Clinics, the many contents of the packages were distributed generously according to need. We will continue to distribute these items to our injured patients as needs present.

Please know of my heartfelt thanks, as well as those of our Command Staff, physician/nurse providers, other professional staff and senior non-commissioned officers. For those who coordinated the effort stateside in response to the needs of the wounded and those serving away from home this Christmas season, a special thank you to my wife, Evelyn, Dave Garrett of Mission Foods, Kelly Franz of Pinnacle: Partners in Medicine and TJ Anderson of Jackson, Mississippi. Each of you helped make this a memorable Christmas for all of us.

And finally, a big THANK YOU to all of you who sent various items to me personally, among which was enough coffee to open my own coffee shop complete with nuts and cookies! Know that your willingness to give selflessly to these deserving troops was gift enough for me.

May each of you have a blessed joyous Christmas season and Happy New Year!

In association with the "Gifts for Troops Program", Paula Hubbard has received (on behalf of the West Point Parents Club of Greater Houston) a U.S. flag that had been flown in Iraq as part of Operation Iraqi Freedom. Along with the flag, were the following two certificates:

The flag and both certificates will be mounted in a display case and exhibited at significant WPPCGH events.

I apologize for the tardiness of my e-mail, but I received another GREAT box from you and the West Point Parents' Society of Houston a few days ago. I've been busy lately flying missions and conducting an investigation for some government property that a soldier lost, so I haven't had much time to e-mail. The cookies and all the goodies in the box were awesome...I passed a bunch of the stuff out to soldiers in my company, who really appreciated it! Thanks again!

Thanks so much for your continued support. I am interested to know how the Larson family contacted you ... I am a Texas native but my parents are San Antonio residents ... the Browns. I am not sure if you know them. Anyway, all that is irrelevant except to say thanks so much for your continued support, which is doubly appreciated since it means you are reaching outside of the Houston-area graduates. It helps me keep goin' and the food is great. Please tell the Kottlowski family, another group of generous people I have never met, that I enjoyed the package they prepared. They left me a note inside.

God Bless,

Morgan Brown

From: rhonda kondo [mailto:rkondo@houston.rr.com]
Sent: Friday, April 20, 2007 9:43 PM
To: Hubbard, Paula
Subject: jacob's address

I went to see my older son and his wife in Hawaii this last week. I was approached by several wives who thanked me so much for the care packages you have sent to their husbands. You are doing great things.

Jacob has been in Taji. Which I believe in still north of Baghdad. I put a small piece of his email below.

"I'm in Taji right now and will be here for a while at least until we get everything done here. . This place is an old Iraqi base and when we first got over here in OIF1 we took it over and kicked all of the Iraqi forces out. You can still see bullet holes and rpg rounds in the buildings and all the old officer training areas where they trained the Iraqi officers. I've been going pretty hard and I don't think I'll have much time to write or check email, but maybe I will later. Just wanted to let you know in case I don't write for an extended period. Life's real busy, but I'm learning a lot and its really helping become a better officer. You really start to learn a lot about yourself when your all by yourself, but I'm doing fine, don't worry about me. Take care and I'll talk to you later. "

Last night I received your package – thank you so much! I can't tell you how much it means to anyone serving over here to get things like that. It's always nice to know people at home are thinking about us! I think the oatmeal will be especially useful – while flying on the night shift we always miss breakfast. Sometimes you just don't want to wake up and eat lunch!

I'm glad to hear you're receiving my e-mails. Hopefully there will be some tidbits in there that will help your son out at some point. On that note, if he needs absolutely anything in regards to deployment, Fort Hood, graduation, or anything else, I would love to help answer his questions. Have him e-mail me anytime. I think he'll really like Fort Hood. For the short time that I was there I really began to enjoy it. Close to Austin, close to home, lots of restaurants…it's no Las Vegas but really nothing to complain about!

Thanks again for the package. There's a lot of great stuff in there that I'll certainly use. Please let the Parents' Club of Greater Houston know how much I appreciate not just the stuff, but the thought too!

Thank you so much for care-package you sent us while we were on deployment. Everything was so useful and thoughtful. Support from you means so much. On behalf of myself & other troops, thank you.

From: James [mailto:aguila21@yahoo.com]
Sent: Thursday, January 25, 2007 7:39 AM
To: Hubbard, Paula
Subject: Thank you

Thank you so much for the care package. It is always nice to get mail and even better when it is from the Great State of Texas. Everything that you sent me will be used by me or my soldiers. We are living a good life here in Baghdad. We have running water, TV and even internet in our rooms if we pay for it. Things are not that bad here.

I am a 2005 grad and currently in an EOD (Explosive Ordnance Disposal) company. We are responsible for the IEDs around the Baghdad area. Our unit is stationed out of Ft. Stewart, GA. We are about two months done on this deployment and it feels like being a firstie again counting the days until graduation!

Thank you again for the care package. We really appreciate everything that y'all do for us. And it is never too early for a Go ARMY, Beat Navy!