Donations come from above to Afghan village

I work with a guy (Keith) who's neighbor flies Apache helicopters for the Army... combat missions... very lethal. Contrast that with what Layne S. Pace and his unit does in their off hours. It makes me proud to be an American!

On a side note... another NACT employee, Sterling Truex maintains the Apache helicopters that Layne S. Pace flies. In fact, him and Layne Pace are in the same unit together in Afhganistan. Sterling has worked for NACT for several years in Technical Support, getting employee of the year honors etc. He was called up to fulltime service from his reserve unit here in Utah about a year ago.


The following article comes from the 12Dec04 edition of Freedom Watch


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Freedom
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Page 6 Freedom Watch September 12, 2004
JILDALEK VILLAGE, Afghanistan
–– As the helicopters touched down and
Soldiers exited the aircraft, many villagers
looked on with anticipation.
The two CH-47 Chinook helicopters
that landed in Jildalek Village were carrying
more than 800 pounds of humanitarian
aid donations including food, clothing,
shoes and toys for the villagers. The
donations were the result of the
"Operation Shoe Fly" and "Angels for
Afghanistan" programs.
Operation Shoe Fly, started by
Company B, 214th Aviation Regiment,
and Angels for Afghanistan, started by
1st Battalion, 211th Attack Aviation
Regiment, are donation programs that
have been set up by the family members
of the Soldiers.
Starting off as local programs in
Hawaii and Utah, respectively, the home
states for the two units that comprise
Task Force Pirate, they have grown
nationwide. Angels for Afghanistan has
even grown internationally, with donations
coming from Australia, said Chief
Warrant Officer Terry Stauffer, TF
Pirate maintenance officer.
Due to the popularity of the two programs,
some of the donations have been
allocated to Honduras, since the donations
can be used to help the locals there
as well, said Stauffer.
While the main delivery for Angels for
Afghanistan, two cargo planes full of
donations, has not yet reached
Afghanistan, packages have been
received by individual Soldiers on a constant
basis during the last few months.
Using the supplies that have already
arrived in Afghanistan, TF Pirate has
been working with the Parwan Provincial
Reconstruction Team to locate villages
that are in need of donations from an
outside source.
Jildalek was identified as one of those
villages.
"When we found out the Soldiers were
there for the donations, we sent word
out to the surrounding villages that
donations were available at the school
construction site," said Qayoom, the
regional security commander.
The construction site that was used for
distributing the donations is a PRT-funded
project to help rebuild the education
system in the area.
While the PRT is working on improving
the educational opportunities in
Jildalek, the Soldiers of TF Pirate are
using the donations supplied through
Operation Shoe Fly and Angels for
Afghanistan to improve the everyday
lives of the people.
Although not all the villagers knew
about the donations in advance, more
than 200 people came to the donation
site to receive needed clothing, shoes
and humanitarian aid from the Soldiers.
Along with supplying the villagers with
needed supplies, the Soldiers are also
working to make the village elders a part
of the re-stabilization efforts in the
region.
In an attempt to give the village elders
a larger role in the donation process, the
Soldiers let the elders hand out the gifts,
while they oversaw the process and took
care of crowd control, which was necessary
due to the large turnout.
While a recent trip to Jildalek was a
success, the only villagers that came to
receive the donations were the men and
boys, said Chief Warrant Officer Layne
Pace, TF Pirate AH-64 Apache pilot.
This time the Soldiers had a nice surprise.
"This time, while there were still no
women, there were quite a few young
girls who came to the donation site and
received shoes, clothes and stuffed animals,"
he said.
As a sign of gratitude for what is being
done for the people in the village,
Qayoom invited the Soldiers to a tea
lunch, which included green tea and
cookies, in the shade of a tree.
Qayoom again thanked the Soldiers for
all the help they are providing to the village.
"We welcome all the help you are able
to provide to the region," said Qayoom.
"We know that all help is from the heart,
and we are very grateful."
Qayoom also talked to the Soldiers
about other needs in the village and
future projects with the PRT.
"This isn’t the first time you have visited
our village and I’m sure you will continue
to help," he said. "My only request
for more donations is for coats, blankets
and warm clothes that will help the people
make it through the winter. The winters
here are very harsh and the people
don’t have warm clothes."
Pace told Qayoom that they were
awaiting a shipment of 1,000 blankets to
come in before the next donation, and
also that they would find out about any
jackets that are being sent.
Before the helicopters returned to take
the Soldiers back to Bagram Air Base,
Qayoom had one last thing to tell the
Soldiers.
"We are ready and willing to help the
military in any way possible in the work
they are doing to improve the region," he
said. "I hope this is the beginning of a
long and lasting relationship between the
military and the people of our village."
With that, the Soldiers boarded the
Chinooks, with the agreement that they
would return again soon.
Story and photo by
Spc. Cheryl Ransford
17th Public Affairs Detachment
Donations come from above to Afghan village
2nd Lt. Jon Richardson, TF Pirate, distributes shoes to a group of young girls
who visited the donation site Aug. 28. The donations came from the "Operation
Shoe Fly" and "Angels for Afghanistan" programs.