On the 27th May a few days for Memorial Day, American and German Angels visited sick and injured soldiers in the Kleber Barracks. Mary Ann from Munich, Nita from Darmstadt, Regina from Hochheim, Bonita from Mannheim and Rudi and Willie from Gross-Gerau are there. In the Kleber Barracks are average 150 outpatients, they average stay there between 7-10 days before they are going home to the US or back to Iraq. On this Friday we had cotton drawing bags with us. 75 large ones men, 9 large ones for women, 110 small ones all filled with a stick deodorant, comb, bottle of shampoo, soap or normal body bath, special Shave Mate combo razor (this is a new disposable shave system), toothbrush, tube of toothpaste, card games, cards, candies and more.

Missy sent us again wonderful Get well books with nice stuff animals. Our young Florida Angels Rebekah Mann and Talia Arnon daubed and filled wonderful cotton bags for our hereos. Their picture is hung up now on a wall in the Kleber Barracks. Mary from Florida wrote me, "...My girls had a great time making the bags and felt so special to see their pictures displayed!" We say Thank You to Rebekah and Talia for their awesome work.

Rebekah and Talia with handmade bags

Amy from FL wrote me, "The Florida Angels did me proud. They did a wonderful job decorating the bags and showing the Pride of the Sunshine State... "


Microwave meals for the coffee bar

SSG Broom told us last time, "personal hygiene items and candies are good but it is hard to keep the coffee bar stocked. Soldiers who come in after dining hours are in need of microwave meals as well." Groups of outpatients can arrive in Kleber Barracks after official meal hours. In the library there is a small coffee bar soldiers find something to eat there. Here they have a microwave and they can boil water. Angels help us further that SSG Broom can keep the coffee bar stocked!

For the library we had 4 writing cases with paper, envelopes and pencils with us, too.

Coming Home Soon

All these signatures are of kids from the Florence Elk's Lodge 314's "Youth Dance Group."

This picture is from our Kentucky Angels. It decorates now a wall in a TV room in the Kleber Barracks.

Backpacks for wounded soldiers in LRMC

For the LRMC Hospital we had with us 27 backpacks and 7 shoulder bags this time. In everyone we had a blanket, t-shirt, underwear, socks, personal items, candies and more. We let all the backpacks at the Chaplains Office at Kleber to hand it out to wounded soldiers in Landstuhl Hospital!

Lynette Frascella, Wounded Team Leader Soldiers' Angels wrote me, "look for wounded SSG Ray B." We found him at the Kleber Barracks. As we arrived SSG Broom introduced us SSG B. He is a very nice man. He will stay still a week in Kleber and he must go further to another hospital in the States for more medical treatment.

SSG B. was so happy as we gave him a backpack and a nice handmade green blanket from our FL Angels. He said, "green is my color."

On 05.05.2005 J., a soldier from Iraq wrote, "I need a prayer for my best friend J.B.---he is the only family I have out here in Iraq, today while on mission we got it with an IED and it hurt him badly, J. is not expected to live and if he does he will lose his right arm, I was with him and he was in my arms and we did all we could for him, he is in Germany now, please do two things today before the sun set, pray for him and tell the ones that are close to you how much they mean to you, I am devastated now--and emotional messed up, but I will push on, but to S. and C. I love you with all my heart, mom and dad... and tiff the same to my friends and family thanks for all, your support and love and to all the angel you are the best, I love you al, so pray for Jason, is should have been me there and not a 22 year old Kid, I was the gunnery an hour before we got hit, we were changed in mid shift, pray for him, like I said he is the only family I have out here, thanks"

Later our Angel Jennifer wrote, "I adopted J. B. just a couple weeks ago” and now he is wounded and it is possible that he is in LRMC here in Germany. So we tried to find him! It was terrible to hear! At first we could not find him! Later we heard he is on a ward where we cannot visit him!

The news told us, so we looked for following wounded:

"...Lt. Frank Washburn, a Lockport native and 41-year old lieutenant in the 467th Engineers Battalion of the U.S. Army, was in a Hummer with his troops May 17 when they drove over an improvised explosive device, or IED, destroying the motor and blowing both doors off the vehicle...." http://www.tonawanda-news.com/story.asp?id=2776

"...Specialist Shannon Cassell was in Iraq with the Third Infantry Division. On May 13th his humvee was blown up by a suicide car bomber" http://www.wdef.com/servlet/Satellite?pagename=WDEF/MGArticle/DEF_BasicArticle&c=MGArticle&cid=1031782932390&path

"Sgt. David Hinkle, 27, of Mount Union, who received shrapnel wounds"
http://www.dmregister.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20050525/NEWS/50525005/1001&lead=1

In Landstuhl hospital troops with serious injuries requiring surgery and hospitalization are staying there in average a week there before being stabilized and going further to a military hospital in the US. I am so sad that we could not bring the wounded soldiers a backpack! All wounded were on the way to other military hospital in the US for more medical treatment.

Mary Ann collected a lot of photos for this picture wall!

Here look by yourself! Wounded SSG B. was helping her!

Shoes for the wounded soldiers

We had 33 new pairs of shoes for the Chaplains office with us. We saw that the soldiers in Kleber need shoes, too. So we let the shoes there. If anyone can donate shoes for the soldiers so let us now!
To all Angels and friends a great "Thank you" for all the food, goodies, the cotton drawing bags, backpacks and more - you send to us for the wounded heroes here in Germany.

Willie
Wilhelmine Aufmkolk, Germany
"May No Soldier Go Unloved"
http://www.soldiersangels.org