There is a young man in Plymouth, Mass, Alan Burgess, whose cousin, Marine Cpl Jeffery Burgess, died in Iraq in March. Alan admired his cousin, and called him a hero.
Alan wrote to his cousin when he could, and one thing he remembered his cousin saying was that once the Marines were done for the day patrolling, they would go back to their base and were bored and wanted some way to relax--someting like throwing a baseball back and forth, or a football. Alan sent in a couple of gifts to the troops, including his cousin's friend. Alan admired these Marines, and wanted them to feel that the people back home supported them, and he did all he could to let them know he did not forget their efforts.
Alan's cousin, Jeffrey, died as a result of combat wounds he suffered in Fallujah. Cpl Jeffrey Burgess died a hero in the eyes of his family, and in those of this 11-year-old cousin, Alan.
Allan chose to honor the memory of his cousin by donating sporting goods and toys to the troops in Iraq, and collected 12 boxes full!
Alan did a great thing, and wanted to do something even larger. Now, in order to expand on the efforts of this young man, a friend of mine who was on his cousin's burial detail spoke with the young man, Alan Burgess, and agreed to work with him to arrange a larger sporting goods drive for the troops and the Iraqi kids that visited the Marine Camp daily to talk with and occasionally play with the Marines.
Because I am still in contact with some Marines on active duty, I was brought in to find out what would be needed by the troops or desired by the local Iraqi children, and also how to arrange how to get the goods to Iraq. I have been in contact with a VERY SENIOR 1st Marine Division officer, who I once served on the same ship with 25 years ago. He has placed me in touch with people who are now working on providing an aircraft to fly over what can be collected for the troops and the Iraqi kids!
And that is no exaggeration!
However, the story is NOT about me, or the people I know, it is about Alan Burgess!
This young man's story is what I think we should all tell. He has shown more patriotism than most adults do in their lifetime, and he is only 11 years old. Because of his dream to honor his cousin's death, two old Marines got off their duff to help him succeed, and we even got a VERY SENIOR Marine to chip in and fly the sporting goods and toys to the troops and Iraqi kids!
Alan's dream is for the troops to have things to amuse themselves with on off-duty hours. This SENIOR MARINE wants us to send stuff for the Iraqi kids too, so we hope to do both! But in keeping with Alan's original goal, we need to concentrate on the sporting goods for the troops first.
On June 23, 2004, the Marine Corps League of Orleans, Massachusetts, honored this young man with a ceremony, awarding him a Certificate of Appreciation while the Marine Corps Silent Drill team performed at Orleans in Mass on Cape Cod.
I have enclosed some pictures of the event, with some pictures of the young man.
What I am asking all who are interested, is to arrange for a Sporting Goods Collection drive, to be collected at a central location that you can control or can be controlled, preferablly a Marine Corps/Navy Reserve Center near you, and for you or someone to stay there during the collection, and then forward the Sporting Goods collected to an address to be determined later.
This is ALREADY A DEFINITE THING HERE IN CONNECTICUT, the collection day is July 17th, and thee Navy Marine Corps Reserve Centers in Plainville, Connecticut, and the New Haven Navy and Marine Corps Reserve Center.
The types of sporting goods were are specifically requesting are:
Baseballs,
Gloves,
Footballs,
basketballs,
and by special request of the Marine Corps, SOCCER BALLS for the Iraqi kids! And, Any soccer related equipment.
It does not have to be new equipment, all it has to be is usable equipment that you would not be ashamed to donate for someone to use.
What I am asking here is:
Are there any Freepers with a CLASS-1 or CLASS-A license with a lot of time on their hands, who can pick up a small load at maybe two or more locations that Freepers hold the Sporting Goods drive at, and then drive the Sporting Goods to a final location on the East Coast, at a later time to be determined? (Newburgh, New York; Chicopee, Mass; Cape Cod, Mass) ?
Are there any Freepers willing to call a few trucking companies to ask if they can make a SINGLE FREE toy run across country to pick up the Sporting Goods and deliver them to an East Coast address, at a later time to be determined?
Are there any Freepers with a desire to hold a Sporting Goods drive in their town or at the local Reserve Center and can store the collected items at their home or ask if this collection can be stored at the Reserve Center?
It MAY be possible for the Sporting goods to be stored at that location (Navy/Marine Corps Reserve Station) for a short period of time until they can be picked up by truck.
In order to protect names, I have to keep some things confidential, but I can say, this is being worked on from the TOP!
We would like to get this on every talk show in the planet, we would like to SWAMP the collection centers with recreational Sporting Goods for the troops and Iraqi kids, we need to let our Troops KNOW they are NOT forgotten, and we need to let the Iraqi Kids KNOW, we are not the bad guys!
For the Connecticut, Southern Mass, Eastern New York, and Rhode Island Freepers, our drive will be July 17th, at the Navy/Marine Corps Reserve Centers in Plainville, Ct, and New Haven Connecticut.
Anyone interested, please Freep Mail me with how you can help or any questions.