Photo By Sgt. Daniel Blottenberger | Sgt. Michael Daniels, a military police Soldier with the 716th Military Police...... read more read more
Subscribe
By Sgt. Daniel Blottenberger
18th Military Police Brigade
BAGHDAD – Anxious but appreciative orphan children in the Salhiya District of Baghdad had something to smile about when Multi-National Division – Baghdad Soldiers arrived, Aug. 13, 2008, to hand out school supplies as part of an assistance mission named "Operation Iraqi Children."
During the engagement, military police Soldiers from the 716th MP Battalion, 18th MP Brigade, lent a hand in the delivering of the school supplies to the local orphanage as Soldiers from Battery A, 4th Battalion, 42nd Field Artillery Regiment, and policemen from the Salhiya Iraqi police, teamed up to help the children prepare for school.
Operation Iraqi Children, which began in 2003 and was founded by Laura Hillenbrand and Gary Sinise, is designed to distribute donated school supplies to needy children in Iraq, Afghanistan and Djibouti.
"Operation Iraqi Children is a wonderful way for the people of the U.S. to help the children of Iraq, and by doing so, we are helping our Soldiers, who are working so hard over there," said Sinise, on the Operation Iraqi Children Web site.
The IP and MND-B Soldiers will hand out more than 3,000 school supply kits that were donated to the children in Baghdad. The kits contain: a pencil bag, composition books, notebook paper, colored pencils, large eraser, a small pencil sharpener, pencils, ruler and scissors for the eager Iraqi children.
"The kits have been a huge hit with the local children," said Capt. Nate Brookshire, a native of Richmond, Ken., who is the commander of Headquarters and Headquarters Detachment, 716th MP Bn. "The kits have also given the maneuver units and Police Transition Team a positive avenue to interact with local children with our Iraqi counterparts."
The 716th PTT has handed out more than 400 kits so far, since mid-July, to the children in Salhiya while on community policing patrols with the Salhiya IP.
The PTT assist and train Iraqi police as they continue to develop into a fully functional police force. The interaction between the IP and the people within their communities continues to build each day, and school supply handouts, such as this is one, help develop a positive relationship with their local citizens.
The 716th MP Bn. is deployed from Fort Campbell, Ken., and is currently assigned to the 18th MP Bde.
| Date Taken: | 08.13.2008 |
| Date Posted: | 08.20.2008 10:01 |
| Story ID: | 22688 |
| Location: | BAGHDAD, IQ |
| Web Views: | 302 |
| Downloads: | 163 |
This work, Operation Iraqi Children delivers in Baghdad, by SGT Daniel Blottenberger, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
No keywords found.
LEAVE A COMMENT