Q: And Denise, this is a project that has taken on such a special meaning, in a way to say thank you to our soldiers. Denise, when did you begin to get the idea that you wanted to be able to have letters sent from all across the country to our soldiers who are serving abroad?

A: Well Letterstosoldiers.org is now in its third annual Operation Ensuring Christmas Campaign. Last year we were able to send 1,543 care packages to six units, including a hospital in Kuwait, that we have been sending to now for our second year. And it’s thanks to amazing companies here in Utah like: UPS, Tahitian Noni, Neways, Richard Paul Evans, Cricket Communications and on and on and on that we have been able to raise last year, fifteen thousand dollars for the shipping costs. And with the help of so many volunteers here in Utah: from the companies, individuals, the Veterans of Foreign Wars, Disabled Veterans and their auxiliary wives, we were able to send so many special Utah products and handmade things like Christmas stockings. Christmas cards from forty school districts across Utah, and this year we hope to be able to send 2,500 which is our goal.

Q: Is that because you’re envisioning our soldiers or troops abroad and how much they sacrifice that you want like a personal thank you? Is that your whole idea: we as a community can tell them that no matter what holiday it is, we are thinking of them?

A: Absolutely. That is what we want to do because our Utah military that deploys, and some of them will actually be going on their third deployment this Christmas; our biggest volunteers the Utah Army Reserve at Fort Douglas 96 Sustainment Unit will be going this fall. They were our biggest helpers at our Operation Ensuring Christmas Concert and our Welcome Home Troops celebration last June. They are our dearest friends and we want to make sure that they know that while they are away from their families—one of my dear friends Lt. Colonel Felsch is going to be there for—he’s been in 26 years, and he is going to be in Iraq away from his eight children and his wife in Heber—and I tell you things like this from home will really boost up their spirits while they are over there away from their families at Christmas. That is when it means the most. We also ship all year long.

Q: I’m curious though, Denise, I mean: Are you a daughter of a military family? What is it, I know that you have done a lot of other Philanthropic activities in the past with animals and kids rescue, what is it that drove you to be so involved in making sure that our military felt appreciated throughout the year?

A: I know; everyone always asks me that question, “What got you started? Why do you continue to do it; it’s a lot of hard work? I’m disabled myself, but let me tell you in someone else’s words because I don’t like to toot my own horn, basically from our Chaplain Montoya who served for twelve months for our Utah National Guard Task Force Wasatch. With three hundred and ten men and women from Utah, “Dear Denise we are writing to thank you for offering your support to us while we are here in Afghanistan serving in the military. Thank you for all your long hours and many efforts to make this holiday special for us. Thank you to all the supporters of your efforts—soldiers that thank me for your kindness. There were a number of soldiers whose only package for the holidays this last year was the one you sent to them. Because of you no one was forgotten.” That says it all Rebecca, because honestly that is why I started doing it. When I heard that soldiers during twelve months sometimes got one or two emails the whole time and that some of these soldiers and Marines and Airmen and Seamen didn’t get anything as far as a package, I thought, “I can round up a bunch of people.” And so now with so many volunteers, I collected more at the Disabled Veterans Convention this last Thursday, and next weekend I am going to the wonderful VFW, Veteran’s of Foreign Wars Convention. With the helpers across Utah, I am able to make sure our Utah military and others that request it like this beautiful hospital—and if the public and everyone out there want to join us and come read the letters, see the pictures we get back from all those packages. The thousand Marines sent us pictures. The 328 Army Reserve Hospital, Unit of Nurses and Medics in Camp Liberty sent us the most beautiful pictures. You can see them all on the website and you can join us in this Operation Ensuring Christmas effort this year.

Q: Now I have also seen that you have even the littlest throughout the state writing: schools and classrooms that will take on the project to try to make sure that they get every child in a class to write ‘X’ amount of letters or an entire school or a school district. And so it really has become kind of a groundswell throughout the community to be able to join you. That must be really empowering for you?

A: Absolutely. It really is Rebecca, we love our card makers. They are the best card makers in the world. We get them from all over the country, but our Utah cards mean so much. And every box that we sent last year had at least 20 to 50 cards stuffed in there, with all the items so that they are able to really, really feel the love from home. And what they do with these, and Brownie Troops and Eagle Scouts collected CDs and made huge banners, because in some of these locations, especially the clinics, the hospitals, the ERs in Kuwait, they put these huge banners on the walls so that the military and the wounded soldiers read them and see them and see how much they are loved from back home. So we want to enlist everyone: the Scouts, the Brownies, the Girl Scouts, everyone, all the schools, all the teachers, all the Church young men, young women and all the different church groups. We want to enlist everyone to show our military from Utah we love them; we’re thinking of them and we want them home safely.

Q: Well and I know that you are getting letters of thank you from all troops that are serving in all the different countries, but there is an increased amount of stress for our troops that are facing the combat in some of the more difficult areas of Iraq.

A: Exactly.

Q: And I know this is also not just a friendly reminder that we appreciate them, but in some sense an emotional boost to them when they are under so much stress.

A: Absolutely. We sent to a medical unit in Mosul, Iraq, where we’ve lost many of our troops and it is the hardest fighting area right now, and they love it so much; they appreciate it. They come back from Mission and they write and say, “There were your packages and we opened them up and it just cheers us up and it helps our morale because we had to go to a funeral ceremony of some of our brothers just recently. And it is wonderful to have this boost after that.” As well as in Afghanistan and Kabul right now, there is a lot of fighting and we are supporting people there. So we are so grateful that we can be a little part of their wonderful service. They are our heroes; the children love to write that. But I have a very special surprise for our Personal Touch audience and for you. I have on the line a patriot who risked his life. His life was threatened three times. And his family as well because once they find out, the bad guys find out, that he’s helping our soldiers and our soldiers have told me over and over again how much Iraqi interpreters are helpful to them. Because without them they couldn’t do the work that they do. And I have on the line Hussein who is going to tell you in his personal words how much our American Military means to him. Hi Hussein.

Hussein: Hello, how you doing?

Q: Hussein you have been a translator for our soldiers, our troops in Iraq, or you had been for many years?

Hussein: Yeah, I spent like more than four years with them and I was serving with them as interpreter and sometimes give them some advices about the Iraqi culture and their wealth; how they are living in Iraq.

Q: Well and you are now living in Utah, and that is because as Denise is saying, and thank you Denise, is that as you would facilitate the work of the U.S. troops as they try to make the different communities more safe, your life and your families’ lives were endangered. So you are here in some sense seeking asylum, is that right Hussein?

Hussein: Yeah you can say that, because you know that the militia, the bad militia, which they get their support from Iran and from other countries, because they realize we are working with the Coalition forces we try to serve. My country, Iraq, and they were helping the Americans about that. So they try to chase me and chase my brothers. So they tried to kill me three times and they couldn’t but they tried to kill my brothers. So now me and my brothers we are in different places. So now I am here, and I have like a special immigration visa because I deserve that.

Q: Yes.

Denise : Yes you do, Hussein. Can you tell us just that one story where a fellow soldier was killed and how it touched you and what your thought was?

Hussein: Okay. Well that was Ramadan and I remember in 2007, his name Daniel, and he had a few days to go back home for vacation and he told me that he can’t wait to see his wife and to see his son. So when we were in the patrol that afternoon, I was in the third HUM V he was in the second HUM V. He was a gunner and he was a specialist too. So the first HUM V passed and the second HUM V when she was moving on that IED explosive so that it would explode. He was the gunner and unfortunately he died. And I was thinking about him and when I saw him like that it was really, it was terrible because I said, “Poor guy he just have a few days to go back home to see his kids and wife.” So I was wondering about what his family they are going to say? He said he is gone, just we waiting for him. I know they were counting day after day, minute after minute to see him. So it was very terrible. I couldn’t handle it and started to cry for him. And I don’t know what I am saying because unfortunately the people who made that, they are Iraqis, and if they can say these are my people they kill them. Why? Because he is serving my country and he’s serving America, but what I am gonna’ say, “The man is gone, and I hope he is in Heaven now and just give the, patience for his family. I don’t know what to say. It is really hard for me.

Q: Well I think it does and I appreciate that you would share that with us, because I think it does show that there is, and we that there is, a division within different countries as to how our troops are perceived. But knowing that there are Iraqis like you that understand that the troops are there to stabilize and to strengthen your country, it helps the family. It absolutely does.

Denise: You know, Rebecca… Hussein came to me at the Air Force Air Show where we had a booth for lettersforsoldiers.org and  I asked him where he was from when I heard his accent. He said, “I am from Iraq.” And I said, “Oh how wonderful,” and then he told me what he did and then he started to tell me all his love. And he literally said, and he does not stop saying this, “I want to help you support the coalition troops, the American soldiers, Marines, Airmen, and Seamen. I want to help you while I am here to support them. So we are so grateful. We believe that God sent Hussein to us to help us, because he had that desire in his heart to do all he can for his friends over there that he is still in touch with. He still emails everyone and they really love him. He has friends here in the States with the military. And so we are going to work together to send as much as we can. If I could tell you just real quickly, if everyone could go to letterstosoldiers.org, we have two events, tomorrow night at the Tahitian Noni Free Concert with Shaun “Hammer Hands” Barrowes and another amazing singer Annelise LeCheminant, are going to devote the night and songs to our military and their families. It is a free concert as well as on the Fourth of July, the Patriots’ Day Tea Party with Mark Shurtleff, Angela Winston, and the One Voice Children’s Choir. Shaun Barrowes, food at the Lake Ridge Junior High at 951 S. 400 W. in Oren from 10:00 to 2:00 on the Fourth of July. It is going to be an amazing day. We have Veterans coming, army recruiters, Civil Air Cadets, DAV, VFW and our HOme Town Hero UTNG Drew Reese is coming to sing some Michael W. SMith Songs. We are going to have giveaways, food, everything. If you can come to letterstosoldiers.org, come and participate. Come help us, come volunteer! We need to raise $25,000 for just the shipping costs this year. We need 2,500 stockings made by volunteers; everything we can do to show our military overseas that their sacrifice is so appreciated and that we are here waiting for them.

Q: Thank you so much and I wanted to also have one more opportunity to thank Hussein, because the heroes in the wars come from all countries, and from all cultures, and from all faiths. And we know that Hussein, you indeed are also a hero for risking your life as a translator for our troops. So thank you and thank you for your dedication to help our soldiers who continue to serve in the coalition. And Denise DeVynk, thank you for your energy and your passion to make sure that there is not one soldier who is forgotten who is serving abroad.