Cheers to gifts on way

[thedrifter]

CHEERS to the determination and ingenuity of Vietnam veteran Tim Gallagher of Amherst and Nashua Salvation Army Maj. Carl Carvill, who had to execute some complicated maneuvers of their own to get 1,200 care packages into the hands of Marines serving in Iraq.

A former Marine and Vietnam veteran himself, Gallagher wanted the care packages delivered to members of his former regiment. But the war in Iraq ended before the packages could be delivered, and Gallagher?s regiment came home. He tried to find other Marine battalions still stationed in Iraq (The Telegraph, July 14).

That?s when he ran into the Pentagon bureaucracy, which could not for security reasons disclose information about Marine battalions still deployed, and could not guarantee that the packages would be delivered to any Marines, specifically.

Displaying the resourcefulness he may have acquired during his Marine training, Gallagher started working the Internet until he finally made contact with a commanding officer who was grateful and enthusiastic. Maj. Carvill has been working with U.S. Rep. Charlie Bass to get the packages delivered by military transport.

All of this was done without disclosing the location of the Marine battalion or other security-related information, which begs the question: When hundreds of residents of the Nashua area donate enough material to fill 1,200 care packages, why should the organizers of the effort have to work so hard to get them into the hands of soldiers so anxious to see a demonstration of support from the home front?

http://www.nashuatelegraph.com/Main....rticleID=85029


Sempers,

Roger