Mail clerks: ‘Santa's Christmas helpers’

Multi-National Force-Iraq ^ | Staff Sgt. Jeff Hansen, USA

[SandRat]

Spc. Krystal Juarez, a mail clerk assigned to Company A, Division Special Troops Battalion, 1st Cavalry Division, sorts letters during the holiday rush in the division mail room on Camp Liberty, Dec. 23. According to Juarez, daily mail has nearly doubled since the end of November. Photo by: Staff Sgt. Jeff Hansen, MND-B.

BAGHDAD — Troops here receive more mail around the holidays than any other time of year, and U.S. Army mail clerks take pride in serving as a liaison between the service members and their loved ones.

Spc. Krystal Juarez, a mail clerk assigned to Company B, Division Special Troops Battalion, 1st Cavalry Division, estimates that she delivers about twice as much mail daily during the holiday season. This has been going on since the end of November and has not slowed down since.

"It hasn't stopped," she said.

Most of the mail received recently has been care packages, whether from families or non-profit companies like the United Service Organizations. Some companies even send care packages directly to the mail room, the contents of which are distributed to any Soldier who comes in.

Juarez said she wants to make sure everybody gets something, and having a box full of items like candy and "thank you" cards seemed like a good way to hand things out.

With her fellow service members in mind, Juarez helped start a program she calls "Soldier to Soldier" to assist troops at remote locations who do not receive mail as often as those on the main bases.

Bases like Contingency Operating Station Hammer, for example, only receive their personal mail when their shipping container is full, due to the manpower and time it takes to deliver bulk mail over great distances.

Juarez, with help from Spc. Ashley Callines, Spc. Murphy Wakefield and Spc. Ryann Gilmore, has asked division staff and unit members who find themselves with an abundance of care package items to donate to the Soldier to Soldier program. This way, she hopes, the shipping containers will fill up faster, and Soldiers can receive their personal mail more often.

(By Staff Sgt. Jeff Hansen, Multi-National Division – Baghdad)

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[AirForceMom]

God Bless them!
Merry Christmas everyone :)