Angels watching over soldiers overseas
Of The Post and Courier Staff
A soldier who's wounded in Iraq often loses track of everything but the clothes on his back. His personal effects catch up with him later, if at all. However, a charitable organization known as Soldiers' Angels is plugging the gap.
"Our focus is on all military soldiers deployed" to a war zone, said Patti Patton-Bader of Pasadena, Calif., with a special nod to those who are wounded. "Let's bring home healthy soldiers."
I spoke with Patton-Bader by phone last week after retired Air Force Lt. Col. Tom Turner of North Charleston alerted me to Soldiers' Angels. Patton-Bader is a grand-niece of the late Gen. George S. Patton Jr.
She said she started by sending "care" packages to her son last year when he was deployed to Iraq. The idea of sending small gifts grew, and now the Soldier's Angels organization she leads is a nonprofit foundation with 15,000 members nationwide.
"I wanted to find a way to steadily support our soldiers," she said.
But first, the wounded. Soldiers' Angels prepares small backpacks containing toiletries, clothing and morale items for wounded soldiers. Each backpack costs $40, and individual donors can send tax-deductible gifts to the organization in any amount.
"Last month, we sent 600 backpacks to the wounded," Patton-Bader said.
"We have angels at four hospitals -- Brooke Army Medical Center in San Antonio, Bethesda in Maryland, Walter Reed in Washington, D.C., and Landstuhl hospital in Germany. We also have contacts at four combat hospitals in Iraq."
Whenever a wounded soldier goes into a hospital, one of the Soldiers' Angels checks to see if the soldier needs items found in the backpacks. A typical backpack contains a zippered, hooded sweatshirt, a military brown T-shirt, black sweat pants, a package of boxers and socks, a 120-minute AT&T calling card, a CD player with extra batteries and a full comfort kit.
Soldiers who aren't wounded but are serving in Iraq, Afghanistan and other austere places can be connected directly with members of Soldiers' Angels. These soldiers receive care packages valued at about $18. All of the soldiers who receive gifts and letters have been referred to Soldiers' Angels either by their commanding officers or a chaplain or Red Cross field agent. They are selected because they haven't been getting much support from home.
"We've helped a total of 10,000 soldiers this way," Patton-Bader said, but some precautions are in order.
People who want to be a Soldiers' Angel must fill out an application found on the organization's Web site at soldiersangels.homestead.com.
Or they may apply by mail. In that case, send name, address, phone number and e-mail address with a $10 donation made out to Soldiers Angels to the following address:
"I just returned from Fayetteville (N.C.), where we assembled and sent between 300 and 400 care packages," Fuentes said.
Fayetteville is a military town, with Fort Bragg and Pope Air Force Base nearby. Fuentes said Soldiers' Angels has a number of members in Fayetteville and around North Carolina, but only a handful in South Carolina.
"We'd welcome new members," she said. "We need people who will make the commitment," -- two care packages a month, plus letters to a deployed soldier.
According to Patton-Bader, the mission of the Soldiers' Angels is to provide aid and comfort to deployed soldiers. Their motto is "May No Soldier Go Unloved."
Fuentes said she has three soldiers to whom she sends packages and letters each month.
