Photo By Sgt. 1st Class Jon Cupp | Batavia, N.Y.-native, Staff Sgt. Jeffrey Lambert (left) and Pfc. Michael Minch of...... read more read more
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By Sgt. Jon Cupp
1st BCT, 1st Cav. Div. Public Affairs
CAMP TAJI, Iraq -- The generosity of an infantryman's parents working in coordination with a major pizza restaurant's corporate office provided a feast to some Soldiers here Jan. 18., the unit's Family Readiness Group and a major shipping company.
Troopers from Company B, the "Bandogs," 2nd Battalion, 8th Cavalry Regiment dined on Little Caesars pizza shipped to them all the way from Detroit – a coordinated effort involving the Little Caesars Pizza Kit Fundraising Program teaming with L.S.S. Consulting, a global security consulting firm, in which both parents of a Co. B Soldier are executives, and DHL shipping who worked with the unit's family readiness group at Fort Hood, Texas to get the pizzas into the hands, and stomachs of Soldiers.
More than 100 pizza kits—enough to make about 500 pizzas--were flown to Iraq and then shipped by DHL – with the Army's help, via a military convoy-- and arrived here Jan 9. The kits were encased in a 42-cubic-foot refrigerated shipping container to keep them fresh for cooking later.
The whole pizza event came about when Walled Lake, Mich. native, Pfc. James Timmons' parents, Ned and Mary Timmons of L.S.S. Consulting, decided to send their son and his fellow Soldiers a taste of home. Ned and Mary teamed with the other companies and also paid the cost for shipping the crate.
"My parents first contacted me, so I knew (the pizzas) were coming," said Timmons. "There were a lot of people actually working to get these out here and it lets us know that there are folks out there who are grateful for what we're doing out here.
"When I saw it, the only thing I could think was 'We're definitely going to be eating some pizza!'" said Timmons laughing, explaining his amazement when first seeing the huge shipping crate when the pizzas arrived on Taji.
The company's first sergeant explained the importance of the event to his Soldiers.
"This means a lot, and even though the guys can buy pizzas here, this is more heartfelt as it's chow from home," said 1st Sgt. Damon Perez, Co. B first sergeant and a resident of Killeen, Texas who hails from Freemont, Calif. "This really motivates the Soldiers to see that people in the states really do care and support us."
The pizzas were cooked in a mobile field kitchen which was brought to Bandog's motor pool just for this occasion, and the company enlisted the help of food service specialists from their battalion's Company E, who opened each kit and placed the sauce and the toppings on each pizza prior to cooking.
It took about 20 minutes to cook each pizza.
"Doing this was no problem," said Staff Sgt. Brent Boodoo, senior food service operations sergeant for Co. E and a native of Brooklyn, N.Y. "We'll do anything to raise the morale of the Soldiers."
Soldiers from Bandog Company spend most of their time in Iraq pulling security, going on patrols, doing humanitarian missions and assisting local Iraqi government officials with projects and other issues. The unit also searches for weapons caches and looks for improvised explosive devices, while at the same time assisting Iraqi police (IP) and Iraqi Army troops based at the Mushahidah IP station.
More times than not, the Soldiers find themselves working long hours, sometimes seven days a week, so the pizza break was well-earned, according to Capt. Adrian Spevak, Co. B commander and native of Allentown, Pa.
"This (break) is well-deserved as a lot of times they're pushed pretty hard...they're out there when it's raining, when it's cold and they'll be out there when it gets extremely hot, but they never complain about it," Spevak said. "They do a lot of events on a daily basis within the local (community) to make the lives of the Iraqis better. They're proud of what they do."
The Soldiers said they were grateful to everyone involved in making the pizza break possible and enjoyed getting the "slice of home."
"This really tastes like home, and pizza always brings a smile to my face," said Spc. Abran Gonzalez, an infantryman with Co. B and a native of San Pedro, Calif. "I never would have dreamed that I would be eating Little Caesars pizza in Iraq."
Sgt. Robert Yesia, the Co. B commander's gunner and a native of Denver, said he could not find words to express his feelings so he decided to make one up just for this occasion.
"This is much better than anything else I've had it a while. It's fantastical," he said with a laugh.
| Date Taken: | 01.18.2002 |
| Date Posted: | 01.22.2007 11:51 |
| Story ID: | 8878 |
| Location: | TAJI, IQ |
| Web Views: | 237 |
| Downloads: | 101 |
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