Photo By Sgt. 1st Class Elizabeth Pena | Texas Army National Guard Spc. Joshua Jasso, with the 1st Armored Division Main...... read more read more
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ERBIL, Iraq – When a loved one is deployed in a combat zone, receiving a phone call or a letter from them can make a difference in your day.
“My son was here when the war first started in Iraq in 2001,” said Susie Avila, “A phone call, a letter or anything you can get means a lot.”
Avila, a mother of two combat veterans and the Camp Erbil post office supervisor is no stranger to her sons being away during the holidays—but now she’s the one away home and is determined to make sure families of service members back home get something special for the holidays.
“Making stockings for the kids that weren’t going to have their parent home for Christmas, is a project that I started seven years ago,” said Avila.
The tradition began when Avila realized her three-year-old granddaughter would be without her father for the first time due to his deployment. “When he left, I wanted to do something for her,” said Avila.
Avila customized a Christmas stocking out of fabric with her son’s name on it and sent it to her granddaughter in Germany, where the family was currently stationed.
“Her little friends in Germany saw them and their moms asked me to make them for them as well,” said Avila. That year, Avila sent approximately 15 Christmas stockings to Germany.
Every year, the requests gradually increased as more people heard about the famous stockings; eventually she began making them as surprise gifts for co-workers.
“At work, someone would touch me in some way or another so I would make them and put them in their P.O. Box.”
“There was this little boy, and he would say ‘I love the Army, I’m going to grow up and be a general.’ One day, I called him to the back and I said, ‘this is for you,’ he said, ‘this is the best stocking I’ve ever seen!’ His smile and hug made it all worth it,” Avila recounted. “It was just giving back a little bit to the Soldiers. That’s all it is.”
Eventually, her career in the post office brought her to the Middle East where she continued her tradition, first in Qatar and currently in Iraq.
Avila set a goal to make at least 100 Christmas stockings this year in Erbil, but first there were a few challenges she needed to work through.
“Back in May I thought to myself, ‘If I start now, I can cover a lot of people,’ it was way too hard to get fabric so I thought the camp’s mayor cell could help,” said Avila.
One of the responsibilities of the mayor cell is receiving unserviceable combat uniforms for disposal.
After gaining approval from the military chain-of command for the use of the uniforms, she was ready to begin.
“Morale starts to sink around the holidays, we are all missing people and wishing we could be home. Sometimes you just feel bad and you don’t even know how to put words to it,” said Kentucky National Guardsman Maj. Angela White, Chaplain in Erbil.
Avila customized a label for each stocking that read, Boots in Erbil. Aside from the donated uniforms, all of the materials come out of pocket for Avila. Knowing that she can bring comfort to families of deployed service members is enough payment for her.
“My son talks about the stocking all the time,” said U.S. Army Master Sgt. Desstre Combs, a father currently deployed to Iraq. “He took it to school and showed everyone. This is my fourth deployment and I’ve never sent anything like this home before.”
To date, Avila has designed over 130 stockings in Iraq. This small token of affection from Avila helps ease the pain of family members missing their service member during the holiday season.
“That heart. That mother’s heart of hers to bless people this way and lift their spirits is an amazing gesture for them to have something to send home,” said White.
“Every year they are going to look at their stocking and remember, my mom or dad was in Iraq and this is the uniform they wore.”
| Date Taken: | 12.22.2017 |
| Date Posted: | 12.23.2017 09:40 |
| Story ID: | 260064 |
| Location: | ERBIL, IQ |
| Web Views: | 663 |
| Downloads: | 1 |
This work, TEXAS NATIVE, MOM, USES ‘BOOTS IN ERBIL’ TO BRING COMFORT TO FAMILIES OF DEPLOYED SERVICE MEMBERS DURING THE HOLIDAYS, by SFC Elizabeth Pena, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
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