ARMYMAN30YearsPlus said:
Mike:
Again I must say thanks and now with emphasis after seeing what you do for Soldiers. I know from experience a cook with a bad attitude can ruin a hot dog. I am in the middle of lots of training and the Reserve Soldiers that came in for it in my Movement section are doing a great job. I hope you can come to Aberdeen some time in the future for a rally as the dessert table would fit right in after Garbee's roast hog.
Thanks one more time for supporting the best Soldiers in the world
Thanks David ...Lisa and I didn't plan on doing this , it just happened. My Wife and I own (owned) a small Restaurant , we closed the Restaurant after 9/11 when the local Base asked if we'd be willing to run the Mess Hall . Because of all the Troops headed for ground Zero , they didn’t want to activate a Mess Section and have the Unit leave and move on without them ...we were told by the State it would be for only a few weeks and we'd be doing our part to take care of the Troops ..so we closed , and we've been at it ever since... 7 days a week , 4 meals a day (incl midnight meals) for almost 6 years without a normal vacation ( we did finally take 3 days off about 4 months ago) ..
It hasn't been all fun though , dealing with the Gov has not been easy ..twice it's taken over a year to get paid and the Politics involved are unbelievable.The thing that keeps us going is knowing that what we are doing IS making a difference and the Soldiers DO appreciate everything . We get Emails from Iraq ..even had phone calls …they don’t forget and they make up for much of the grief.
The 258FA had a “Freedom Salute” Ceremony at York College when they came home. Colonel Jackson insisted Lisa and I attend …in front of 700 people , they presented us with the Bronze Minuteman Statue ..it’s a very high National Guard Award …that meant a lot to us
On a lighter note ….So far Lisa and I have sent quite a few – 800 gallon Swimming Pools to our NY Troops in Iraq ..the guys get a big kick out of it …and Regular Army can’t believe it when they see New Yorkers have Pools in the Desert !
Even though we can’t feed them over there …we can still take care of them in a way!
We feel like we're part of a really large Family ..and my Wife has "adopted" all of them !
We're so proud of our Troops .
--Mike