12/03/03
A Soldier's Thanksgiving
A Soldier’s Thanksgiving
BY CHRIS HANSEN
JOURNAL ASSISTANT EDITOR
Lake Stevens Journal
Gunnery Sergeant Carter Wolbaum knows what it’s like to be thousands of miles from his home in Lake Stevens. Wolbaum returned from Kuwait in July, after serving there with the Marine Corps Reserves since last December. He also knows what it’s like to know people back home are thinking about him.
“Care packages are really important because when you’re over there, those packages are a part of home,” says Wolbaum. “The care packages are a godsend.”
Now that he is home, he wants to make sure his companions still involved in the military efforts in Iraq don’t miss out on the support he felt while serving. So Wolbaum, his wife Janel and their four children spent the day before Thanksgiving assembling Operation Interdependence™ packages with students at Lake Stevens Middle School.
This is the first time in the nine months since OI™ began that LSMS students had the opportunity to package the items for troops overseas. A donation barrel was set up on campus in March, allowing students to provide supplies for troops.
In a matter of minutes, the Wolbaums and the LSMS students separated and packaged candy, books, socks, Crystal Light, and every imaginable hygienic supply into two 30-pound boxes that troops should receive next week.
GySgt. Wolbaum was unable to spend last Christmas with his family so he knows how important it is that troops overseas know they are loved during the holidays. “It was a big morale boost to know that the community supports you,” says Wolbaum.
Wolbaum says that people would be surprised how much a little thing like a razor or bar of soap means to a soldier serving on the front lines for months at a time. Even things one might not normally think of sending, like a Disney video, mean a lot to a soldier, says Wolbaum. “You’d be surprised how many soldiers watch Sponge Bob because they are away from reality.”
Dick Cowden has been coordinating Operation Interdependence™ with the middle schools, Lake Stevens Lions Club and American Legion and was there to help the Wolbaums and the first-timers at LSMS get going with the boxes on Nov. 26.
Cowden, who fought in Vietnam, remembers how much it meant to get something from home. “I got some cookies once. They were stale but they still tasted great to me,” says Cowden. “Morale wise, this is terrific. You’re away from home for 18 months and you want some kind of support. You want people back at home to remember where you are.” Operation Interdependence™ does just that, says Cowden.
People may not know what’s the best thing to donate to a soldier serving in Iraq, but the answer is simple, says Cowden. “Anything you think you can use on a desert island, they can use,” says Cowden. “They really appreciate it.”
Lake Stevens Middle School and North Lake Middle School both have 55-gallon barrels set up on campus with lists attached to give people an idea what to send. Cowden hopes to get more barrels stationed at the high school and several elementary schools as well.
Not all the goods packaged and sent overseas go to American soldiers. Teddy bears, toys and a lot of other items get donated to Iraqi people, especially children. “One of the things we had to do was win their support,” says Wolbaum. “And what better way than to give them something like this. To see the kid’s expressions when they get a teddy bear or something - it’s great.”
Wolbaum says that when he was serving in Kuwait there were lines to get the care packages. He wants to make sure it stays that way.
“Like I said, the packages are a godsend,” says Wolbaum.