Attached is the latest newsletter from our adopted soldiers in Iraq.  As you can see, they are working hard and accomplishing some pretty amazing things over there.  This 4^th of July Holiday lets remember that the freedom we celebrate is defended by these brave men of Bravo Company and their fellow military members.  Thank you Bravo Company!

I have to announce a change of dates for the next boxing event.  Due to some fire department commitments I need to move the day to Wednesday, July 16^th.  Still at 7pm at Fire Station 34.  That gives you two more days to collect donated items to send to the soldiers we support.

I wish all of you a happy and safe 4^th of July…

Don Dornell, Fire Chief

Central County Fire Department

Hello to everyone, 

One of our first adopted soldiers, Jason Hoover, recently returned from his 3^rd deployment in Iraq to have surgery.  He's now assigned to the Rear Detachment where he's helping with the families and keeping things running at Ft. Campbell.  Jason called me this morning with a request that I think is a great idea.

  They are looking for donated children's books that can be sent to our soldiers in Iraq.  The plan is to have the soldiers recorded or filmed reading the children's books.  They will then be able to send a recorded bedtime story to their children back home to help with the long separation.

 I told Jason that I'd put out the word and see what we can do to help them on this.  I'm thinking a one-time book drive over a limited amount of time would get us enough books to send over.  I would not want to send tons of books due to the cost of shipping, but we could send 10 or 20 of our flat rate boxes to help.  I also think that we'd want a variety and avoid too much duplication.  Any thoughts or ideas on this would be appreciated. 

On a related note, Captain Billingsley and our guys are very much touched by our boxes and donated items.  They continue to do good work in their area of operations.  Our 1^st platoon has been assigned to Headquarters Company to assist in security of a major oil refinery near Bayji.  They have a small platoon from Delta Company assigned to work with our guys.  The Bushmasters are finding lots of weapons caches in the desert and are getting more bad guys. 

We do need to think about another collection push and set a date to put together the next shipment.  At this point I'm looking at May 13^th as a target date, so get the word out and let's see if we can top 130 boxes of goods for our soldiers this time. 

I hope all is well for you and your families.  Let me know if you are interested in handling the book drive.  Thank you for your continued support of our project and Burlingame's adopted soldiers in Bravo Company. 

Here's a nice email that I received today from SSG Jason Hoover, a former member of Bravo Company.  He's now assigned to Abu (A Company) that was adopted by San Mateo in 1968 when ASA started.  We've kept in touch since I met him in 2004.  Great guy.  He's working in the same area as our Bushmasters.

Hello there, sorry it's taken me so long to get back in contact with you.  I hope everything is going well in Burlingame.  As for me, well things here are about the same as always- we spend roughly 10-12 days out in sector at the Bayji JSS, followed by 5 or 6 days back at the FOB for rest and equipment maintenance.  While out in sector, life isn't too bad, we have our patrol set and the security set, so the guys get some downtime.  As far as the locals, it's the same old story we've been running into for years here-- the majority want to go back to a peaceful area and they realize that they have to help us to achieve that.  As for the rest of them, well, they like to do everything in their power to make life hard for us and the local security forces.  All in all, I'm doing well. I'm still 2nd platoon's Platoon Sergeant for ABU.  That might change in a few months since I've had a year of rated time, but who really knows the way things change here on a constant basis.  Molly and Jasmine are doing good as well, Jasmine just turned 1 year old.  She's pretty much walking all the time now, and trying to get herself in trouble all the time.  She keeps Molly busy, so that is a plus for us.  I want to thank you and Phyllis for all that you guys have done for us, and everyone else that is involved in the program.  It's greatly appreciated knowing that there are people back home that still think highly of what we're doing here, and of what we're trying to accomplish.  Take care, and I'll try to drop another line when I get the chance.  Jason

(650) 558-7604

Hi to everyone.  I hope you are all well and ready to help show support to our adopted soldiers now that they've deployed to Iraq again (#3 for some).  Many of us have begun to collect many of the requested items to send to Bravo Company.  The classroom at Fire Station 34 is filling up and our firefighters are working to keep things organized and ready to be boxed for shipment.  I'd like to schedule the first boxing party of this deployment for Tuesday, October 23 ^rd at 7 pm at the fire station.

Please continue to collect donated items from the list and monetary donations to support our efforts.  Remember that all money goes towards the guys either by a special purchase or by paying for the postage.

 Now for an update:

The soldiers arrived in Kuwait around mid-September.  They continued to train, process and inventory their equipment and prepared for movement into Iraq.  Captain Billingsley sent me an email from Kuwait last Friday that stated they should all be at their assigned Forward Operating Base (FOB) Summerall by the end of the weekend.  They will be near Baiji (Bayji) Iraq north of Baghdad.  Now that they arrived we can begin sending items to them.  Feel free to write a note from you and/or your family to "any member of Bravo Company".  We can place them in a special box that I'll notify Capt. Billingsley (Aaron) of so he can make special deliveries if necessary to those who don't have family here.  Aaron's wife, Tracy, is my contact for the company at Ft. Campbell.  We've had some emails and phone conversations and will continue throughout these next 15 months.

 Please consider collecting small holiday decorations or items that can fit in the shoe or shirt-sized boxes to help them with the holidays too.  We have some new partners from the New Life Community Church who are going to help with birthday cards, Lisa (from my office) is working w/ Tracy on a plan to show support to the families left back home.

 Phyllis and Norma staffed a table at Burlingame's Centennial Picnic this past weekend.  They received some small donations, solicited volunteer support, and arranged for a special show of support for our guys.  Sorry, but I can't write what it is in the email (don't want the word to get to our guys yet).  Come to the boxing party on the 23 ^rd and you'll see for yourself.

 Norma is invited to speak to a 4H group in San Bruno this Wednesday night.  I have a commitment to the San Mateo County Legal Secretary's Association about our project next Tuesday.  I've already gone to the Mason's Lodge for a presentation (waiting for a donation check) and have made contact with the Superintendent of the High School District and some teachers.  Lisa and Rubina (also from my office) are making progress with their kids' schools to have them take us on as a project too.

Hope to see you on the 23^rd.  Keep spreading the word, collecting donations, and keeping our young soldiers in your thoughts and prayers.  Thanks to Anita (from the office too) for finding the article in the San Mateo County Times on our project.  It ran this past weekend (Oct 5 or 6).  As soon as I can figure out how to find it in the archives I'll send the link.