In gratitude to faraway soldiers and the people they’ve left behind, Boy Scouts and leaders of Troop 481 helped create packages for the 145 families of the Illinois Army National Guard’s 133rd Signal Battalion, Alpha Company.
The packages contain everything from patriotic refrigerator magnets and bags of candy to notes of support and a compact disc with music compiled by a local resident. They were mailed last week to the guard unit from Crestwood sent to the Middle East more than nine months ago. The unit won’t return for at least another nine months.
More Top Picks Best Portable Monitors
“The people back home have to survive and pay bills and put the kids through school,” said troop leader Joe Ferreri.
Ferreri of Burbank has long been a scout leader with Michael Clemens, who is serving in Iraq. He sings in a Burbank church choir with Clemens’ wife, Debbie. Clemens’ son earned the rank of Eagle Scout with Troop 481.
“Her son was one of us,” Ferreri said.
While their loved ones are gone, family members must find a way to cope.
It isn’t always easy, acknowledged Debbie Clemens, although she considers herself luckier than some because her children are grown. But she misses her husband of 33 years every day.
“My soldier is gone. I have to do everything on my own,” she said.
Clemens keeps busy with work and by volunteering with the Family Readiness Group, which helps inform, support and connect the families of deployed troops.
“The soldiers worry about us, and we worry about the soldiers,” Clemens said.
The group takes a little of the worry off the soldiers’ minds because they know the support network is there to help their loved ones, she said.
Some family members just need someone to talk to. Others have a specific issue that needs attention, Clemens said. Often, families just need to know they aren’t alone.
The packages assembled in the scout troop’s meeting room at St. Albert the Great Church will remind the military families that their sacrifice isn’t forgotten and that they have support from people they may not even know, Ferreri said.
“We were glad to do it,” he said.
Clemens said the Family Readiness Group was grateful for the support.