Combat Out Post 6 GOOD NEWS STORY

Paratroopers from Combat Out Post 6 meticulously take the time to sift through 6 pallets of donated items from Middletown, NJ.

“We mailed a ton of supplies at our local post office - and I literally mean a ton”.

Cindy A. Herrschaft Public Information OfficerMiddletown Township

Middletown, NJ comes to COP 6 in IraqMiddletown, NJ comes to COP 6 in Iraq

Combat Out Post 6, Iraq – When Cindy Herrschaft, the Public Information Officer for Middletown, NJ emailed CPT Mike Donahue, the Commander of C Co, 1BSTB and told him that there were literally a “ton” of supplies headed over to Iraq to support the Paratroopers for his company, he and his 1SG, 1SG Stephen Smith, didn’t know quite what to expect. The phone at the Out Post rang the day of the delivery and a voice on the distant end said “you got a lot of mail coming your way…ALOT!” Hours later, as the tractor trailer arrived carrying 6 large pallets of boxes address from Cindy in NJ, 1SG Smith knew exactly what to do. He gathered all available Troopers from around the Out Post and told them to begin separating and sorting all of the items. After hours of opening boxes and sorting them by household item, food, hygiene item, etc, the 1SG told the Troopers to then “line up” in order for them to gather what they needed ensuring to leave enough for the other Combat Out Posts that we work so closely with. After the dust settled from all the excitement, there was still plenty of work to do to evenly distribute the remaining pallets of donations across 3 other Out Posts and also a local village.

The generous contribution not only assisted Charlie Company and the majority of the Paratroopers from the entire 1st Brigade Special Troops Battalion but there were enough humanitarian supplies left over that were set aside to delivery to one of the local villages at a later day.

The relationship between Middletown, NJ and C Co, 1BSTB goes back to December 2006 when Charlie Company enrolled into an organization called “American Supporting Americans (ASA). ASA coordinates with both civic and community groups in order to facilitate "adoptions" between towns, cities, or counties and individual military units throughout the country to support both at home station and more importantly, while the unit is deployed. Linda Patterson, President & Founder for the ASA program, is to thank for the establishment of the relationship between C Company and Middletown, NJ. “If by chance the Army will allow you to personally meet with your City Mayor and Council before you deploy I think that would be great” stated Linda. So a few weeks prior to deployment, the Charlie Company Leadership did just that. They flew from Fort Bragg, NC to New Jersey to meet with leaders of the town and to discuss ways to build their relationship over the course of the deployment and re-deployment. The Charlie Company leaders were able to meet Mayor Gerald Scharfenberger of Middletown, the Town Administrators, Firemen, Policemen, the VFW Post 2179, and the Middletown First Aid and Rescue Squad.

Before they left Middletown, Mayor Scharfenberger presented the 1SG and the Commander with a Proclamation proclaiming that 21 May 07 as "Salute the Troops Day" in the township of Middletown, NJ in honor of the brave men and woman who proudly serve in C Co, 1BSTB.

“We really can’t thank the town of Middletown enough, we are forever grateful” the Paratroopers of COP 6.

Combat Out Post 6 GOOD NEWS STORY

Unloading one of the Pallets A few more to unload

Before the sort Beginning to sort

High Moral

Sorting Sorting

New Flip Flops

Hours of sifting

New Flip FlopsEating Good!

Tough Decisions

The partial aftermath

Where to beginThe line never ends

Bottom of the box

Sending the rest out to the other Out PostsSending a Pallet out

Proudly flying the NJ flag over Iraq

Thank you!!