Valley Independent Sentinel

Letters From Connecticut Soldiers

by Jack Lardis | Drums For Troops | Nov 8, 2010 9:27 am

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Connecticut soldiers serving overseas have received painted oil drums filled with dry goods.

The drums were painted by Valley students last spring.

The “Drums For Troops” initiative was created by Jack Lardis of Oil Drum Art and members from the Valley Arts Council in Derby. The council committee members are Jill Nichols of Trumbull, Betty Barriga of Seymour, Tracy Mariano of Naugatuck, and chairman Lardis of Beacon Falls.

Some of the soldiers who will received the drums are: Captain Justin Anderson of Middletown, Fran Evon of Newington, 1LT Garrett Sheehan of Derby, SPC Alan Poulan and SPC Albert Barnes of Oxford, SSG Joseph Paoli of Shelton, and Hammond Henry and SPC Jason Litke from Naugatuck.

The following thank you letters have been sent back from soldiers:

Captain Justin Anderson
Task Force Iron Gray
Afghanistan

To the students of Derby Middle School, Derby Bradley School, Oil Drum Art of Beacon Falls and the Naugatuck Valley Art Council of Derby Connecticut.
My name is Captain Justin Anderson. I am part of Task Force Iron Gray, 1-102nd IN (MTN). We are the only Infantry Battalion located in the state of Connecticut. As such, we have been very busy since The War on Terrorism began.

I have already deployed four times: Bosnia SFOR-10 in 2001, Operation Noble Eagle 3 in 2003 and Afghanistan from 2006-07, and I am currently in Afghanistan for the year of 2010. Less than 1% of Americans join the Armed Forces, so those who serve are serving multiple tours of duty.

I come from a very patriotic family. My great grandfather fought with the 102nd Infantry during WWI. My grandfather was a US Marine and saw action in the Pacific during WWII. I follow in their footsteps, but my immediate family pays the real price. I have a wife and three sons who all live in Middletown Connecticut. My youngest son, Joshua, is only eight years old and has only seen me half of his life.

When you look at history it seems thirty years cannot pass by without a war on the horizon. WWI, WWII, The Korean War, The Vietnam War, The first Gulf War and now this current war which has been ongoing for over nine years in Iraq and Afghanistan. My biggest hope is that we can secure peace once more and maybe have thirty years without war. Thirty years without a terrorist threat. Thirty years without having to worry about my sons following in my footsteps.

I read each and every letter that was sent. Some were heartfelt letters, others were great poems. Everything the schools have done on this project is absolutely amazing! Other Army units stationed here on our Forward Operating Base, in Mehtar Lam, Afghanistan have made mention of how much our state supports us. This is evident by the amount of time that was spent on this project. The sponsors, the community, the schools, the students have all done a great job and will be remembered for their time and generosity.

Justin Anderson

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Lieutenant Fran Evon
Task Force Iron Gray, 102nd IN (MTN)
Afghanistan

Jack,

On behalf of Task Force Iron Gray I’d like to personally thank you and your organization for all your support to the military.

I’ve attached a photo of two of my Soldiers opening one of donations.

Your generosity is unparalleled.

Thanks again,

STAND FORTH!!

LTC Evon

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SSG Joe Paoli of Newington
Afghanistan

Hey Jen —
I got the Oil Drums the other day and I have to say I was amazed. What a fantastic job on the art work and filling them we some great supplies. I can’t thank you enough for going out of your way to do this for me and my guys.

My soldiers had a blast opening them up and they are very appreciative that people back home think of them while they are serving. I will get some pics for you of us and the drums. Make sure you let everyone involved with the donations know that we are very grateful and will always remember their good deeds. Hope you and your family are doing well and thanks again for thinking of me over here. Talk to you soon.

God bless
Joe

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