« 'Good luck' Sent To Soldiers In Iraq | Main | In Country With Our Troops »
April 04, 2007
Austin Girl Scouts Send Morale-building Cookies
Pfc. Karla Hiquiana (left), Specialist Alex Teesdale (center) and Chaplain (Capt.) Ben Clark, read messages on boxes of Girl Scout cookies sent by troops from the greater Austin, Texas, area. The three, from Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 4th Battalion, 227th Aviation Regiment, 1st Air Cavalry Brigade, 1st Cavalry Division, separated 1,100 boxes of the cookies that would be distributed to the battalion’s Soldiers. Each Soldier in the battalion got two boxes and extras were handed out to other Soldiers in the 1st ACB.
Story by Sgt. 1st Class Rick Emert
By Sgt. 1st Class Rick Emert
1st ACB, 1st Cav. Div. Public Affairs
TAJI, Iraq – It’s a yearly tradition that 4th Battalion, 227th Aviation Regiment, 1st Air Cavalry Brigade Soldiers would have missed out on – Girl Scout cookie season.
Instead, Girl Scout troops from the greater Austin, Texas, area sent about 650 pounds of the treats, that many crave this time of year, to the Soldiers from 4-227th stationed at Taji, Iraq.
The battalion has received about 1,100 boxes of the treats with more on the way, according to Chaplain (Capt.) Ben Clark, the chaplain for 4-227th.
“It was an outstanding effort for them to collect and put a message on all of these boxes of cookies,” Clark said. “I can picture in my mind the effort that the person who put this all together had to put forth.”
Clark and his chaplain assistants, Spc. Alex Teesdale and Pfc. Karla Hiquiana – both from Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 4-227th – separated the cookies into boxes to go to each of the battalion’s companies. Each Soldier in the battalion gets two boxes, and the excess will be handed out to other Soldiers from the 1st ACB at such events as the Bunker 182 group meeting, which takes place every Sunday at Camp Taji.
Most Soldiers have picked up their boxes, and were not so patient about getting their Girl Scout cookie fix.
“I had Soldiers coming up to me for a week asking: ‘When are we going to get those Girl Scout cookies?’” Teesdale said.
“People in my office have been looking forward to getting them,” said Spc. Misha Argall, HHC, 4-227th. “I thought it was great they sent these; it’s not something you would associate with a deployment. It’s nice to know that people at home are still thinking about us.”
Clark said he has received other donations, such as items to set up a coffee bar in his building, but not on a scale like this.
“Before we knew what was in them, we saw all these boxes for the chaplain, and I thought, wow, his family really does love him,” Hiquiana said.
Clark is planning to send flags that will be flown over Iraq by the 1st ACB’s helicopters to show his gratitude to the Texas-based Girl Scouts.
The shipment of cookies coincided with a playful request from the1st ACB commander Col. Dan Shanahan for Girl Scout cookies to be sent to his Soldiers during a live town hall meeting that he attended via the Digital Video Imagery Distribution System on Feb. 27. Clark said the troops had been preparing the cookies for shipment before Shanahan’s request. But the brigade soon found itself inundated with cookies – not necessarily a bad thing.
“Who doesn’t love Girl Scout cookies?” Teesdale said.
“And, who doesn’t have a favorite Girl Scout cookie?” added Clark.
Certainly not Clark (Peanut Butter Patties), Hiquiana (Thin Mints), Teesdale (Thin Mints) or Argall (Caramel delights).
Wild Thing's comment..........
Wouldn't it be awesome if our POS Media had done this story. American chilidren supporting the troops, American children realizing more why they are living in the land of the free then our Congress.
Posted by Wild Thing at April 4, 2007 12:47 AM
Comments
Another fantastic story!
Everyone DOES love girl scout cookies!
And to get a treat from home makes it even
more wonderful to have.
Posted by: Lynn at April 4, 2007 06:20 AM
I just love these stories, as we grow older we tend to forget the bad things that happen and dwell on the good things, one of those good things was an anonymous 'care package' that showed up just in time for Christmas in '68, yep it had girl scout Shortbread cookies inside, thoughtfully broken up of course so we could share them with our buddies.It's the little things that count.:)
Posted by: Jack at April 4, 2007 11:41 AM
What a neat story. Girl Scouts and US troops. Both are examples of what makes America great.
Posted by: TomR at April 4, 2007 01:45 PM
HI everyone, I was so glad to see this story, it made me feel so good knowing about it.
Posted by: Wild Thing at April 4, 2007 11:30 PM
Great story.
Posted by: raz0r at April 5, 2007 10:41 PM
great to see cpt. clark's pic....his family is very proud of him...he is married to my niece, jennifer...scotty croom vietnam 68-69
Posted by: scotty at April 12, 2007 10:59 PM
Hi Scotty, nice to meet you. Thank you so much for commenting and sharing about Cpt. Clark.
I am so proud of our troops and so grateful for all they do.
Thank you too Scotty, for serving our country. Welcome Home!
Posted by: Wild Thing at April 13, 2007 01:39 AM
