Operation Shoe-Fly

Sgt. Hook, a milblogger whom I have an enormous amount of respect for, writes of a 1st Sergeant who is looking for shoes to donate to children in Afghanistan:

Whilst deployed to Afghanistan a few years ago, my unit launched a program to deliver much needed shoes to the Afghan children. The program, coined Operation Shoe Fly, was an incredible success thanks largely to the generosity and kindess of my readers and the families and friends of the unit. I recently received an email from a first seargent currently deployed to Afghanistan asking if I might be able to help his unit obtain shoes for the barefoot children in their AO. They’€™ve named their program ‘€œOperation Care,’€? but the intentions are the same, to bring the hearts of America to the soles of Afghanistan.

So in the spirit of Operation Shoe Fly, I’€™m asking you to dig into the back of your closets, pull out those gently used shoes your kids have outgrown, and mail them to:

1SG Larry Clutinger
‘€œOperation Care’€?
Task Force Tiger
Bagram Air Field
APO AE 09354

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Each time I gave a pair of sneakers, boots, sandals to an Afghan child, my heart swelled and my eyes misted at seeing the incredible joy that crossed their faces. Equally as moving was the look in their parent’€™s eyes, sincerely appreciative of your generosity and caring of their children. Granted, it will take generations to change long held perceptions and attitudes towards the West in general and Americans specifically, but I’€™m willing to bet that 15 or 20 years from now, young Afghan adults will remember who it was that built schools for them when they were kids, who it was that dug wells for their villages, and who put a pair of shoes on their feet when they had none. Truthfully, we may never know if it makes a difference, but it sure seems like the right thing to do.

Granted this isn’t the usual sort of news or technology insight that we post here at The Blog Herald – but worth noting that while we celebrate this holiday weekend here in the United States – that there are others in need that each of us has the ability to help…