|
|
Major Richard Sele
|
11/09/07 |
|
Major Sele, I am writing this e-mail on behalf of The American Legion, Smith Weaver Post 651 of Sayville, first I would like to let you know how proud we are of the job you are doing over seas in Iraq. Our vice commander Gary Vertichio went through quite a bit to get your e-mail address and unfortunately it took me awhile to find the time to write you. I am writing you today to ask if there is anything that The American Legion, Smith Weaver Post 651 of Sayville can do for you. Weather it be sending supplies, goods or any other need you or your soldiers may have, or if any of the family members of the soldiers here at home need any help we would like to be there to lend a hand. We would also like to be informed of any fallen soldiers from our area, so that we can attend the wake and funereal to pay the proper respects a soldier deserves. On behalf of The American Legion, Smith Weaver Post 651 and all it’s officers, I’d like to thank you for your time and for the work your doing over in Iraq rebuilding a nation and helping create a new. Thank you, Thomas D DeLuca The American Legion, Smith Weaver Post 651 of Sayville Officers Jim Kampe – Commander Gary Vertichio – Vice Commander Frank Ciulla – Adjutant John Culloty – Financial Officer Ray Tomich – Chaplin Pete Regan – Sergeant at Arms Thomas, Thank you for the kind note. It’s easier to serve in a place like this when we know there are support groups back at home that are thinking of us. My soldiers get a pretty even flow of packages from their families so there isn’t much we actually need, although little things like hostess cakes, candy, etc are always a sure bet. It is so much different than when I was here for Desert Storm. Mail is fairly quick and there is a small px on the base that has the basics. If I think of anything in particular that we could use I will certainly let you know…I know there is a great sense of pride for the folks in the states to be able to support us here. The mailing address is C/445th CA BN (3BCT / 3ID), FOB WARHORSE, APO AE 09336. I have great memories of growing up in Sayville (I graduated from Sayville HS in 79). I often wonder if some of the old haunts are still around (Sal’s Pizza, Sayville Pizza, the diner across from Sayville Theater, etc). In fact, I worked at Sayville Theater while in school. Attached is a photo of me with my interpreter. Thanks again for the support, Rich Sele MAJ Richard Sele C/445 CA BN Commander FOB WARHORSE NIPR: richard.sele@us.army.mil SIPR: richard.sele@bde3-id3.army.smil.mil DNVT: 670-9100 Major Sele, Thank you for the picture and the return note, I shared it with the other members and we were all happy to hear it is easier for you get what you need. Again though anything you, your men or their family’s need please let us know. I grew up in Kings Park and now live in Coram, most of the guy’s from our post are from Sayville and they do not remember any of those places so it might be safe to say they are no longer there, sorry. We would like to also let you know about the tribute we are doing at our post for past, current and future veterans. We will be simulating a walking a post here in Sayville, we will have a guard mount at Sparrow Park that will begin at 12:01am on Friday the 11th 2005 and go until 11:00am on Friday the 11th 2005. Rain, snow, sleet or hail we will be out there standing a post here in Sayville to honor you and your troops and everyone who has ever stood a post during peace or war. We wanted to let you know we are here now and will continue to be there for our Veterans and our soldiers. We know the price of freedom and will continue to educate the public the best we can. Most people see Veterans Day as a day off from work but we know it is much much more and we want the public to know the same. Attached is a picture of some of the men at our post, it was taken on Memorial Day at Sparrow Park; I am not in the picture as well as some of the newer members. After our ceremony on the 11th I will send you a more updated photo of us. I hope you will pass this on to your troops and let them know they are in our hearts and minds, we will be there when they need us and hope one day you will be here helping us to help Future Veterans. On behalf of The American Legion, Smith Weaver Post 651 and all it’s officers, I’d like to thank you for your time. Sincerely, Thomas D DeLuca
Thomas, We certainly appreciate your dedication to educating the public on the military service. You are truly great Americans. The guard mount is a great idea and hopefully people will have a better appreciation for the meaning of Veterans Day and a better understanding of the price we pay for freedom. I wish I could remind people as they relax on Veterans Day and Memorial Day that soldiers are in harm’s way and some of their families have suffered tremendous losses. I have to cringe when I hear someone stateside “not in the know” commenting on how it seems that Iraq is calming down. Last night we suffered another KIA as one of our company commanders in the brigade was killed by an IED. He leaves behind at Ft Benning a wife and two young daughters. He was well liked and very well respected. One of my own soldiers has been in Walter Reed for a few months after being seriously wounded in a bomb blast. The husband of someone my wife knows is fighting for his life in a burn center at Ft Sam Houston after being injured in an IED blast. Our own camp was hit again with a rocket last night…you just never know when or where something like this will occur. I look forward to seeing the photos from the guard mount. Best Regards, Rich Sele _____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Major Sele, I apologize for the time it took for me to get this to you. The day was a huge success, we began on the 10th with the assembling of the guard and marched from our post to the park where we were guarding and set the flags. We had a small ceremony and a few people from the town came to see, we began walking at exactly 12:01 am and did not stop until 11am. The night was the coldest of the year and most of us have not walked that long and carried a M1 grand for that amount of time since we were active and some of us never carried a M1 grand. This was a small sacrifice for us not like what you and your men are doing and we made sure none of us missed our post knowing you can not. At 11 after the siren went off a local drum and horn band played taps for a huge crowd of people from Veterans, Active duty, politicians, town’s people and celebrities. We had Ginny Fields a local assembly women speak, A WWI veteran from the VFW, Tom Westman from the show survivor spoke, a few men who were home from Iraq spoke of their experiences and Gary Vertichio from our post spoke. Gary was very moved by your last letter and read it to the crowd Frank Ciulla the adjutant of our post MC’ed for us. The day ended with 2 black hawk helicopters doing a fly over, from the Army Aviation Unit at Mac Arthur Airport thanks to Staff Sergeant Trinette Zizzo, USANG. I attached pictures of our day. The one picture of all of us in front of the fireplace (11.11.05 VETERANS DAY 044.jpg), I am the one crouched down with the blue jacket on. I thank you for all you are doing for us over there. We all pray for your safe return and want to let you know if there is anything that Smith-Wever Post 651 can do for you, your men or there family please do not hesitate to ask us. Thank you, Thomas D DeLuca Thomas, These are great photos and thanks for the brief summary of how it went. I will share this with my soldiers. Thank you again for all the Legion does in the community! MAJ Richard Sele
Major Sele, We had a though that we would like to share with you to get your opinion on if it is a good idea or not. With the holiday season rapidly approaching we were trying to think of what we could do, we know most of the organizations out there will be sending packages over to our soldiers, the idea we had was to send toys over to you to spread to the children in the towns around your base that have been directly affected by the war as well. We know how important our soldiers are and we do not want them to feel we are not there for them but it seems they receive all they need and instead of sending another package maybe we could help in other ways. We would like to show them we are not the monsters they make us out to be by sending the gifts to them via you. If you think that this is not a good idea and feel we should send all to who ever you feel is right, please let me know. This is just an idea and we value your opinion. We do not want to go against the grain but to help move forward in new ideas and new ways to help, we thought this could be like sending an “olive branch” of sorts to the children. Please let me know so we can properly send our packages to who you feel is right. Thank you once again, Thomas D DeLuca American Legion Smith-Wever Post 651 Thomas, I think that would be a wonderful idea to send some toys for the kids here. I need to ensure you realize that we will distribute them along with the Iraqi soldiers and Iraqi police with whom we work extremely closely, as we are trying to help them promote their image in the communities as well. If you go with these guidelines you’ll be safe: - baby dolls - small stuffed animals - coloring books and crayons - small cars such as matchbox cars - soccer balls that can be inflated - any educational cards or books that would help a child learn English (maybe 1st or 2nd grade level) Please do not send any toys that can be mistaken for weapons such as toy guns. Also, do not send any large stuffed animals or bags as these can be used to hide improvised explosive devices and placed in public places. Finally, do not send anything that requires batteries or electrical power. Attached are a few Veteran’s Day photos from here. One is the memorial ceremony; another is the “Wall of Heroes” of 3rd Inf Div soldiers killed, the last is a few of us officers relaxing around the fire, smoking cigars and drinking “near-beer.” (I am 2nd from left holding a can). I thought I’d reciprocate since you sent me all of those great photos from your event. Thank you again, Best Regards, Rich Sele MAJ Richard Sele
Major Sele, Those are great pictures, we have them hanging in the post. We are working hard at gathering toys but it seems we have started too late and I do not know how much we will have to send. If it isn’t much we will continue to collect and send them when we have enough. I hope we can send them by the holidays but I’m not sure. Thank you for your support in this, we appreciate it enormously. I have created a web site for the post, it is located at www.smith-wever.com, I would like to put up some of our correspondences and photo’s but I need your permission first. Again thank you for everything and please, if you or your men and family’s need us let me know. Thomas D DeLuca Smith-Wever Post #651 Thomas, I had a chance this evening to take a closer look at your web site. It really looks great. The letter from the soldier was nice to see in there as well. Please continue this great work! As I previously mentioned, I’d be honored to have our correspondence and photos included in this ongoing project. I thought the attached photos might also be of interest to you. First one is an Iraqi man outside a polling site in a nearby village in October. His finger is purple to show he just voted for the Iraqi constitution (the purple ink prevents voters from multiple voting). When I think about the face of freedom, his picture comes to mind. I remember watching him emerge from the polling site as he had his chest out and his head high, proud as can be that he just had an opportunity to vote in a Constitutional Referendum in a country that only a few years earlier, was ruled by a sadistic dictator. The second photo is one of my gun trucks on security outside a polling center. The kids were pretty excited to have us around as you can see. You can see my interpreter in the middle of the group. The third photo is outside a polling center. I am on the left side. The fourth photo is me outside a government building where I attend weekly provincial council meetings. Fifth photo is one of my soldiers having fun on the range here. Last photo is one of my female soldiers talking to local villagers. She may be small in stature but she is a hardened troop. Warm Regards, Rich Sele MAJ Richard Sele
Tom,
Tom,
Thomas,
Tom, .Tom,
Tom, |
Home| Events| Correspondences| Letter From a Soldier| Photo Gallery | Links | Newsletter
This site was last updated 11/09/07
