Courtesy Photo | The Soldiers of the 10th Sustainment Brigade and the 2nd Battalion, 36th Iraqi Army...... read more read more
CAMP TAJI, Iraq — 10th Sustainment Brigade donated school supplies with the assistance of the 2nd Battalion, 36th Iraqi Army Brigade, May 3, to the Al Mustaqbal school in 50 Dar, a town in the Salah ad Din province.
The brigade gathered an array of papers, notepads, pencils, pens, book bags, books, erasers and many other supplies to donate to the school, the majority of it coming from Killbuck, Ohio, Staff Sgt. Joel J. Mathie's hometown. Mathie is an intelligence operations non-commissioned officer for 10th Sus. Bde.
"I [started collecting] supplies in January, after I had heard someone here on Camp Taji was collecting them. I thought it would be a good event for the Muleskinners to support, so I sent an email back home to my Mom and she put the word out to have people send out supplies to me in Taji," said Mathie.
After amassing a sizeable amount of supplies, the mission was coordinated about two weeks before, in April, said Maj. James D. Brown, the brigade's intelligence operation officer in charge, and Englewood, Colo. native.
The convoy left in the morning with two vehicles filled with school necessities, and met an escort of Iraqi army soldiers at the school. The supplies were off-loaded into the head master's office, from where Iraqi and American Soldiers began to distribute them to the classes. "It felt good delivering the school supplies to the kids. They all seemed really excited to get them. I wasn't expecting to get mobbed passing out notepads," said Spc. Evan L. McLaren, a Manassas, Va., native and intelligence analyst with the brigade.
The children were excited to receive gifts, particularly when they were given candy, said McLaren. The Soldiers made their rounds delivering the school supplies and candy, but there was one final treat in store for the students — soccer balls. Each class' teacher chose four students to receive a ball, which immediately led to a wave of groans from those not selected.
At the end of the visit, the Soldiers posed for a few group photos and exchanged pleasantries with each other and the children.
| Date Taken: | 05.25.2009 |
| Date Posted: | 05.25.2009 10:37 |
| Story ID: | 34063 |
| Location: | TAJI, IQ |
| Web Views: | 232 |
| Downloads: | 149 |
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