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Adopt A
Unit
On March 10, 2003, the small town of
Medicine Bow (275 people) adopted a military unit stationed
in Iraq. Medicine Bow, Wyoming was the only town in the
state to adopt a unit, and the only town in the
United States to adopt a Marine Corp unit.
The town found
out about this program from Pat Paules, when Linda
Patterson was seen on Larry King live. Linda started the
program "America Helping Americans" when her brother was
serving in the military during the Vietnam Conflict. She
wanted to make sure that every person serving in the Armed
Forces received some kind of mail during mail call. Her
brother talked about his friends standing for hours during
mail call and never receiving anything from home. When her
brother was killed in Vietnam, she vowed to continue the
program to help all those serving their country.
Pat Paules, who is a town council member, brought the
idea to the rest of the council during the March 10th
meeting, and they unanimously voted in favor of adopting a military
unit. The unit to adopt was easily chosen, as one of our town's young
men, Clayton Colman, was a Marine serving in Iraq under the
command of Captain D'Itattiani with 181 Marines in the
battalion. Charlie Company 17 Marine Unit base stationed at
29 Palms, California.
After the unit was notified that we
had adopted it, our wonderful townspeople went to work
compiling items to send in the care packages. One of our
local ranchers, the Hewards, made hundreds of "cool
scarves". Mr. Heward helped cut the material while Mrs.
Heward busily made and sewed the scarves with the help of
Mrs. Curry, Mrs. Stoner, Mrs. Smith, Mrs. Culver, Mrs. Paugh
and Mrs. Fisher. Others baked cookies and brownies, while the
elementary school popped popcorn. Personal items such as
soap, socks, sunscreen, toothpaste, lip protection, books,
magazines, gatorade, gum, cup o'noodles and more, were bought
and donated (or money donated to buy these items) to be sent
to the Marines. Many people wrote letters to these young
men, so that no one was forgotten. We had contributions from
Colorado, Nebraska, South Dakota, Wyoming and Nevada.
The first shipment was 13 very large packages,
with an additional 14 sent, until the Unit was deployed in
October 2003. The townspeople got together at the Museum
for a town photo to be sent to the Unit. The Governor of
Wyoming sent a Wyoming State Flag that had flown over the
Capitol building. The community also sent each Marine a
medallion with the town's seal on the front and an
inscription on the back "Adopted Son USMC - March 2003".
This
was just a very small effort from a very small town offering
support and appreciation to those serving our country to
protect our freedoms.
We hope that all who read this will decide to
adopt a unit. The rewards are astronomical. If you would
like more information on how you can adopt a military unit,
you may contact Pat Paules at 307-379-2382.
Copyright 2003 Cheryl Hobson (a mother with a son
also in the Marine Corp)
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