A Nice Veteran's Day Email

About 5 years ago we received a request from a U.S. Army officer in a special forces unit in Afghanistan asking if we could donate some of our disc sets for his troops to watch. The officer is a space exploration enthusiast and felt as if his men had never really seen the moonwalks (most of them were born a good deal after they happened) and on off days he felt it would be good to have them as entertainment. Naturally we sent some sets to his unit.

Over the next year or so he updated me from time to time by email. In my favorite emails from him he described which missions everyone liked best, with the winner being Apollo 16, mainly because of Young and Duke and their conversations on the surface. Most of the men in the unit had no idea about our explorations of the moon, and found watching the transmissions from the lunar surface a great distraction and source of pride in their country.

Eventually he told me they were moving out to another assignment which he couldn't reveal, and didn't know when he'd be able to be back in touch. A few months later we received a photo of the unit (I have it, but it is still in storage from the move). For the past several years I haven't heard anything. I have wondered many times what may have happened to him and his unit.

Sunday afternoon I received an email from him. His unit is now in Iraq and he wants to do the same for these guys. He says it better than I - from his email:

"I know the impact it has, and the patriotism it inspires. I like to keep my troops feeling that way. Sometimes over here you can get pretty run down and ragged. Keeping spirits up with video of our nation's greatest achievements is a wonderful way to maintain morale."

Major, the sets are on the way. Thank you and all the veterans who have served this country.

Comments

[Neal Cook]

Very nice gesture, Mark!