EDITOR:
Santa did his best and delivered the majority of the boxes to the members of the HS-6 Squadron on the USS Nimitz by Christmas Eve. That day, I received the following message from my brother, Lt. Cdr. Greg Mendenhall, on Facebook, "Delivering over 30 packages from the benevolent people of Carson Valley ... Life is great. Thank you. You rock."
And then, on Jan. 11, 2010, I can't tell you the goose bumps I got when I received a very official letter stating for official business, on Navy stationary with a return address from the Department of the Navy, Commanding Officer. It reads as follows:
Dec. 27, 2009
Dear Mrs. Easley and Elves,
Thank you so much for the packages and your support. It means a lot to every Sailor serving overseas to know that there are people like you that continue to devote their time and effort to making sure that sailors know they are appreciated, and that the sacrifices they've made and continue to make are not forgotten.
This is especially true during this time of year when being away from family and loved ones can magnify the stress and isolation of an extended deployment. Thank you for remembering our servicemen and women around the world, and particularly our Indian family here at HS-6 during this holiday season. I cannot express my gratitude enough. I sincerely hope you and your family had a blessed Christmas and I wish you a very happy New Year filled with much laughter, love and joy.
Sincerely,
W.R. McCall
Commander, U.S. Navy
Commanding Officer
Helicopter Anti-Submarine
Squadron SIX
I want to personally thank everyone who helped to make this a success. It would not have happened without everyone's participation and it was definitely a compilation of love and support from the beautiful Carson Valley of Nevada. As The R-C article from Dec. 16, 2009 stated, it all started at Minden Elementary in Mrs. Moyer's class and literally snowballed from there. Thank you to everyone. Oh, and a correction to the original article ... it wasn't 22 homemade cookies, it was 22 dozen homemade cookies made by my clients that literally had a trip of their own just getting to our efforts due to weather. But, they arrived and all baked goods were gratefully enjoyed by the squadron.
As our note stated in each of the boxes, "We wish you were home but thank you for your service to our country - we appreciate it more than you know. We wish you all a very Merry Christmas, a Happy New Year and a safe return home." The USS Nimitz is scheduled to return home the end of March and we can't wait.
Ginger Easley
Re/Max Realty Affiliates
Minden
