Hundreds pack with care for troops

Click to Enlarge Browse Vail Daily Photos Sara Harris, left, helps FranChoice colleagues pack United Service Organizations care packages for service men and women Monday in Vail. Kristin Anderson/Vail Daily Get News Feeds

Steve Lynn
Vail CO, Colorado
September 10, 2007

Comments Print Email

VAIL — Tears welled up in Vic Yosha’s eyes and his voice trembled as he described getting mail when he was a soldier in Vietnam.

“Mail call was the most important part of any day and any week,” said Yosha, of Denver.

Almost 40 years later, Yosha was packing care packages for U.S. service men and women, hoping he would remind them of home before they left for Afghanistan or Iraq.

About 250 people packed phone cards, cameras, batteries, snacks and other items for almost 500 U.S. service men and women at Ford Amphitheater Monday morning. United Service Organizations, or USO, will give service men and women those care packages before they are deployed overseas.

The items in the packages totaled thousands of dollars donated by the people who did the packing. Working in teams, the packers also scrawled messages on cards with magic markers. IPods where included in the care packages with cards that were judged to be the best.

“I don’t remember any care packages like this,” said Barry Auchenbach, a Vietnam veteran and franchise owner of AMCO Transmissions. “The greatest thing you could get was to hear anything from the states.”

Some cards said, “Be proud and strong, be safe” and “Words cannot express our appreciation for what you do. Thank you. Be careful and God bless.”

The event also was a chance for franchise owners and consultants to pitch their brands to potential franchise owners, said Lori Kiser-Block, president of FranChoice, a network of consultants who guide people through the process of buying a franchise. FranChoice picked Vail as a meeting place for its beauty, she said.

Nancy Landino, of Payson, Ariz., drew a heart and affixed a Polaroid photo of her and her team members on her card. Landino packed some gifts she picked out on her own, such as the novel “The Bourne Ultimatum” and a Carrie Underwood album.

Lt. Col. Chris Petty of the Colorado National Guard arrived home from Iraq three weeks ago with 600 service men and women from Colorado, Utah, Nebraska and Minnesota. Petty and the members of his battalion got the same kind of care packages at an airport before they left for Iraq, he said.

“It’s kind of that last taste of home before you get on the airplane to the great unknown,” Petty said.

The franchisers also donated almost $26,000 to the Rocky Mountain USO. The nonprofit USO provides Internet access, libraries, housing assistance, family crisis counseling, support groups, game rooms and nurseries at 130 locations around the world.

For Jeff Elgin, founder of FranChoice, the packing hit close to home. Elgin’s son, Patrick, could be deployed to Iraq after his officer training.

“His mother and I are less than totally excited about it,” said Elgin, adding that he is proud of his son.

Elgin asked people not to put religious or political statements in their cards’ messages.

Whether or not they supported the wars in the Middle East, people agreed that they were there to support U.S. troops.

“I don’t like any war,” Auchenbach said. “But when there’s a war, I support the men and women fighting in it.”

Yosha recalled his loneliness when he arrived in Vietnam and he said he imagined a service man or woman would be grateful when they get his card and care package.
“It will be great to overwhelm our troops with this kind of support and love,” he said.

Staff Writer Steve Lynn can be reached at 748-2931 or slynn@vaildaily.com.