Key to the Home Front Newsletter of the79th MP Company Family Readiness Group May, 2003

Notes from Karen (Karen Butler is the FRG Leader) St As you can see, we now have a name for Notes from 1 Sergeant Arpin (sent via e-mail to the unit) our newsletter! Since our unit has a key insignia on their uniforms, attendees at Our soldiers are doing a great job over the last meeting voted to incorporate the here. We have been receiving key into the name of the newsletter. compliments from all the units we have supported on our escort missions. An LTC Every month we get a few new families to from a Civilian Affairs unit told the BN add to our list, as the “left behind” unit CO (battalion commander) that he would keeps getting new additions. Our Family gladly serve with the 79th anywhere and Readiness Group is not only for those anytime. He stated our soldiers were families that have a family member very professional and knew their job. The overseas, but also for the families of BN CO concurred with those sentiments. those still here. We would like to Our soldiers are enduring the heat and welcome the families of the new soldiers. keeping each other’s morale high. The packages are pouring in and everyone is I have been getting a lot of very useful sharing the goodies. Keep them coming. web site information e-mailed to me from Powdered drink mixes, jerky and baby the family members and other people in wipes are the most popular. the community. While I will try to include these sites in the newsletter, please do E-mail and phones are still hard to use, as not be offended if I miss some. My e- the systems go down often and there are mail has never been this busy and it’s very long lines. Sometimes three hours hard to keep up with everything! just to talk for ten to fifteen minutes.

Now that the unit has been gone for a We have no date for coming home. The while, we thought it would be great to CO will let the FRG know whenever we get devote space in the newsletter to bits of a confirmed date. information that families have obtained from their soldiers. If anyone has anything they would like to have included in future newsletters, please let me know. There are phones and computers that the Notes from Shannon soldiers can use, but the line to use them (SFC Shannon Larsen is the FRG Military is extremely long! Usually they have to Liaison) wait between 2.5 and 4 hours in order to use the phone or email. And then they Hi everyone. Hope things are going ok at have a very strict time limit (I think 10- home. Personally, Caitlin and I are doing 15 min) which includes the log-on time and well - we seem to be very busy! I didn't any downloading time - and the realize how much extra time it takes to connections are very slow. If you send care for a baby! She is now 7 weeks old your soldier an email, don't include and beautiful, and she's sleeping around 6 pictures or jokes - send those by mail. hours in a row (yahoo!)! She has been Otherwise you will make them forfeit the coming to work with me while I put in half time that they can reply to your email, or days. Next week, I will teach her to type! they won't be able to read it all. I I have been taking pictures every Wed wouldn't tell anyone other than close (the day of the week she was born) for family either! Mark so he can see the differences in her. I think he will even like the "bad" They have finally been getting a few faces and the boring, everyday stuff! missions and it seems things are fairly safe and busy. Please remember not to There hasn't been a lot of news "from spread over the internet their pinpointed the front." We are just now starting to location - all you have to tell people is hear from our soldiers. Mark has been that they are in Iraq and working hard! I able to send a couple letters each to don't know much about their missions, but Caitlin and me and the main thing he has knowing our unit, I am sure they will mentioned is that is it unbearably HOT!! shine!! Also, no matter what you have It was 104 degrees in the shade on the heard - they do not have any idea when day of Mark's last letter!! What was it they will get to come home!! like in the sun?! My brother joked and said, "Send air conditioning!" According I guess a few people have met some Iraqi to the date that Mark sent it, it took a people and they have enjoyed getting to tad more than two weeks to get to my know their side of things. There are mailbox. He hasn't gotten much from me some religious sites close to where our though. I guess that the main collecting troops are located too, and some people point for the mail, waits until they get a have discovered the actual place where full conex of mail, and then they deliver Abraham was born. it. So each soldier might then get several letters and packages at once! Not like More news from the home front....SGT the US Postal Service, is it?! I hope you Chris Herdine was able to come home to remember from our first newsletter that be there for the birth of their child....I this will be the test of patience!! haven't heard how it went or what they had, but we wish them all well!! I am so

2 happy he could make it for the wonderful presentation about personal safety. event!! Considering that many of the families of the soldiers who are deployed include a APO Address “single” parent right now, this should be interesting and informative. The APO address given to us by 1st Sgt. We also need to know how many people Arpin is as follows plan on attending. The Army picks up the tab for the soldiers, but there is a fee of Name/Rank/Last 4 digits of the Social $5.00 per person (10 and under free) for Security No. th th family members to cover the cost of 744 MP BN/79 MP CO/Platoon # food. If you are planning on attending APO AE 09331 the family picnic, please complete the enclosed form and send it in no later For those of you who may not know the than June 21, 2003. platoon your soldier is in, you may refer to the telephone tree that was sent out News You Can Use to everyone with the March newsletter, as it is done by platoon, or you can call Listed below are several websites that Gary Butler or Kristy Finley at the unit at might be of some assistance. Please note (507) 289-6869. that listing these is not necessarily an June FRG Meeting endorsement by the FRG of any of the companies involved. We suggest that you check closely into anyone that you may The next FRG meeting will be held on think about using. Sunday, June 8, 2003 at 2:00 p.m. at the unit location in Rochester. The Project Home Front – This is through the address is 1715 Marion Road SE, Home Depot. The website is Rochester MN 55904 phone (507) 289- www.projecthomefront.com If you have 6869. a home repair that needs to be done, Family Picnic there is an application that you can complete and Home Depot will assess it to As you can see from the FRG meeting see if you qualify for assistance. minutes, we are coordinating a family picnic with the soldiers who are still here. First Lady’s Military Family Care The picnic will be held on Saturday, July Initiative - This is the site Minnesota 26, 2003 at Eastwood Park in First Lady Mary Pawlenty has developed. Rochester. The park is located just east While it indicates it is a part of the of Rochester on the south side of Minnesota National Guard, it is actually Highway 14. Darryl Hildebrandt, from for all military families in Minnesota. It the Rochester Police Department, will be has a link that asks specifically what need there at 10:00 a.m. to give the families a

3 you may have. The website is E-Mail Addresses www.governor.state.mn.us/flmain1.asp We have amassed a very long list of e- Twin Cities Volunteers – This site is mail addresses for families of the 79th. actually a site that one can go into and This is GREAT! It saves us the cost of find out what types of volunteer copy paper, envelopes and postage for opportunities there are in the Cities. mailing out the newsletters and also gives However, you can access the site and find those with e-mail addresses access to out what types of organizations are out more up-to-date information. If you have there. The website is an e-mail address and would like to get www.volunteertwincities.org the newsletter and other information via e-mail, please e-mail Karen Butler at Website for Care Packages – This site [email protected]. has a multitude of information regarding what can and can’t be sent in care Notes from the Front packages www.marinemoms.us/usmc/deploy-care- From Roger and Marlene Leick – Adria has pkg.asp finally started getting mail from home, including a much wanted care package. Stacy Murphy has indicated that there is She has 'tailed' a US army vet going to a support group in Faribault for families outlying villages caring for various of deployed military. They meet on the animals. As she is nearly ready to be a first and third Thursday of every month. certified vet tech, this was valuable If anyone lives in the Faribault area and civilian experience for her. Not much is interested in attending a meeting, other news from her besides it is HOT please contact Stacy. Her number is on and the duty schedules are 12 hours on nd the 2 Platoon Telephone Tree. and 12 hours off while doing EPW duties.

There is also a support group that has Requests for care packages include started in the SE Minnesota area. If you Powdered fruit drink mix such as are in this area and are interested in Gatorade, Koolade, various fruit drink attending any of the meetings, please call mixes, Trail mix (NO chocolate in it), Karen Butler and she will get you in touch Baby wipes (for bathing when no showers with the proper person. are available), Battery run hand held personal fan with attached water bottle It has been suggested that it would be (?????), A quick resolution to the current great if there were a support group for conflict. single parents in the Twin Cities area. If anyone in that area would like to From Susan Andre - My wonderful volunteer to coordinate this, please husband, known as SSG Andre to most, contact Karen Butler. wanted to send me a present from afar.

4 He found a lovely tea set and while looking closely at it - admiring its beauty They have been going on missions, and - saw on the bottom a "made in China" have had the chance to see several cities. stamp. Oh well, it's the thought that He said there are plenty of soldiers to go counts. around, so missions are a welcome change from camp life. He said the biggest From Darcy White - Phil called on Monday problem is boredom - so tell everyone 5/12, I also got a letter dated 4/27 on that if they send a package, include 5/14...nice postal service. He said he did reading materials, playing cards, etc. - "laundry in a bucket" without a shirt for anything for them to do. They have a 30 minutes outside at 0900 and got food trailer, where they basically add sunburned!! Also they are ready to come water to dehydrated food. Yesterday's home! temperature was 117 degrees.

From Emily Miller - Pat called last night Nosy News about 3am (5/17/03). He is hot and tired, but otherwise well. He suggested that I Congratulations go out to Chris and Amy send Koolaid to mix with his water. That Herdine, who are the proud parents of a may be a good idea to pass along. They little girl, Katrina Joyce Herdine. Katrina exchange books amongst each other, so was born on May 13th, weighing in at 8 lbs that may be a good thing to send. He also 7 oz. She was 21 inches long. Chris was suggested crossword puzzles or word able to come home for the event. As finds. It sounded like the chances to there are several spouses in the unit in make phone calls or emails might happen this same situation, we will keep our more often, but no more than once a fingers crossed that all will have the week, if that. same opportunity!

From Sue Petty - I really haven't heard much myself. In a letter Randy indicated they had to build their own bathrooms and showers. He said the temperature was around 105. 79 th MP Company Information:

From Corrie Anderson - I heard from 1715 Marion Road SE Ryan last night at 2 a.m. (5/7/03) I was Rochester MN 55904 so excited, I had to make a list of things Tel: 507-289-6869 we talked about before I could go back to sleep! He said they are in a desert camp Karen’s Tel: 507-529-5608 with several other military groups. It is Karen’s e-mail: [email protected] very hot, dry and dirty. He compared it to Tatooine, the desert planet in Star Wars. Shannon’s Tel: 507-289-7731

5 Shannon’s e-mail: [email protected]

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