Delivering a 'slice' of home to deployed Marines

Photo By Chief Warrant Officer Bobby Yarbrough | Petty Officer 3rd Class Richard Burski and Pfc. Ian Foster eat pizza and watch Super Bowl XLVII at the Wounded Warrior Section berthing area aboard Camp Leatherneck Feb. 4. The pizzas were provided by Pizza4Patriots, a nonprofit organization, whose mission is to provide service members with a "slice" of home while they are deployed. (Photo by Sgt. Bobby J. Yarbrough)  

CAMP LEATHERNECK, AFGHANISTAN

02.04.2013

Story by Sgt. Bobby Yarbrough 

II Marine Expeditionary Force   

CAMP LEATHERNECK, Afghanistan—Service members aboard Camp Leatherneck, Afghanistan were treated to a “slice” of home as they watched Super Bowl XLVII Feb. 4.

Members of the Regional Command Southwest command element and II Marine Headquarters Group (Forward) Field Mess coordinated efforts to hand deliver 60 pizzas to troops at the Role III Hospital aboard Camp Bastion, Afghanistan and Camp Leatherneck’s Wounded Warrior Section.

The pizzas were part of Operation Eagle, an initiative by Pizza4Patriots to feed service members deployed throughout Afghanistan and Kuwait during the Super Bowl. Pizza4Patriots, a nonprofit organization, delivered more than 21,000 pizzas to service members overseas.

The organization has been providing pizzas for deployed troops since its inception in 2008 and has sent more than 100,000 pies overseas. According to retired Air Force Master Sgt. Mark Evans, the organization’s founder, the mission of the organization is to make a positive difference in the lives of service men and women.

"Since 2008, we have had the pleasure of providing our brave U.S. service men and women overseas with the most delicious, authentic 'slices of home', letting them know we care and we are thinking of them," said Evans in a statement. "While our soldiers' presence in the Middle East continues to become smaller, they still need to know that we appreciate the sacrifices they make for us, our families and our country."

Although Marines had to wake up by 4 a.m. to watch the game, many were very appreciative to have the pizzas.

“It is the little things like this that make all the difference in the world while deployed," said Sgt. Robert D. Fraser, a Marine with the II Marine Expeditionary Force (Forward) personal security detachment.

• Date Taken: 02.04.2013
• Date Posted: 02.04.2013 09:52
• Story ID: 101432
• Location: CAMP LEATHERNECK, AF