Donation to Baghdad R&R site is music to Soldiers’ ears
Story and photo by
Sgt. Shauna McRoberts
1st Armor Division PAO
BAGHDAD, Iraq – When Brian Freshley was 18 months old he picked up a toy tennis racket and tried to play it like a violin, using a plastic golf club as a bow.
Amused, his maternal grandmother gave him a violin that once belonged to his grandfather, a World War II veteran. His parents had the violin restored and put it away in a closet until Brian was old enough to play it.
But Brian, a native of Kennewick, Wash., never got the chance to grow into his grandfather’s violin. Instead, the 11-year old Boy Scout decided he wanted to donate it to deployed service members.
Now his grandfather’s violin is just one of several musical instruments available at Freedom Rest, an R&R facility in Baghdad, where Task Force 1st Armored Division Soldiers—the majority of whom have been deployed for over a year—can go to get away from the fight for a few days.
“It was nice to play music and think about something else for a little while,” said Spc. Everett Gaston, a light-wheeled mechanic with Headquarters and Headquarters Company, TF 1AD, who recently visited Freedom Rest. “It means a lot to us that there are people in the United States that want to help Soldiers out here.”
The idea to send musical equipment to Soldiers started with Dave and Karen Carpenter, also Kennewick natives and owners of Kennewick’s Music Machine, a retail music store.
“We have many customers, employees, and friends in the Armed Forces and we wanted to give a little back,” the Carpenters said. “When you think about the sacrifices and commitment the troops make for us to be able to live our lives the way we do, it makes you want to help in some way, even if it is small in comparison.”
The Carpenters contacted a local radio station and shared their idea. The radio station then contacted Jan Sass, a volunteer with “U.S. Troop Care Package,” an organization that sends care packages to deployed service members.
“Dave and Connie Carpenter wanted to send a guitar to a (Washington) Soldier,” said Sass. “I suggested that the equipment be sent to Freedom Rest for two reasons: Soldiers wouldn’t be able to drag around musical equipment while fighting a war and more Soldiers would have access to the equipment in an R&R facility.”
The Carpenters agreed with Sass and a plan was born. While Sass figured out how the organization would get the equipment to Baghdad, the radio station immediately began to ask for financial donations to pay the $600 shipping costs.
It didn’t take long for the community to respond; within weeks enough donations had been dropped off at Music Machine, the radio station and U.S. Troop Care Package to send the equipment overseas.
On Dec. 24, 2003 Brian’s violin, along with an electric guitar, a bass guitar, a drum set, amplifiers and microphones donated by the Carpenters, was sent to Freedom Rest.
“I think my grandfather would like the Soldiers to be able to play his violin and feel better,” Brian said. “I feel proud to be able to send my violin to Iraq and help the Soldiers. “We read an article about a Juilliard School violinist who played for hours for the rescuers at the Twin Towers. It said music helped the firemen and policemen. I was hoping my violin could help the Soldiers.”
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