Our View
Home front effort means
everything to soldiers

It never ceases to amaze us that when a call for help goes out in a western Monmouth County community, residents, business owners, municipal governments and community organizations respond like it’s the first time they’re being asked for help, and not the 1,000th time.

The spirit of giving took place in the immediate aftermath of the Sept. 11, 2001, attack on New York City; it happens week after week when residents and businesses support fund-raisers organized by groups such as the American Cancer Society and the American Heart Association; and, most recently, support for America’s troops has come to the head of the line.

We know there are thousands of American servicemen and servicewomen serving in treacherous conditions in Iraq and other hot spots around the globe. Although the war has been won in Iraq, winning the peace, as has been reported in the media in recent weeks, will not be an easy task.

Americans continue to be thankful for the brave men and women of the armed forces who do their jobs in conditions we at home cannot even imagine. They are far from home and far from their loved ones, but they persevere because that is the oath they swore to uphold.

In the face of all that, what can people on the home front do?

One resident of Marlboro, Andrea Mesh, believed that her hometown could support the soldiers from the community who are putting their lives on the line every day. Shortly after the war in Iraq started, Mesh began coordinating drives that would send so-called quality of life items to soldiers in the war zone.

Quality-of-life items are the things we at home take for granted with no thought whatsoever — wet wipes that cool our faces, batteries that operate our handheld electronic games, baby powder to battle bugs, CDs, a deck of cards and just about anything else that can make life a little bit more bearable in the middle of a desert war zone.

This has been a community effort that has involved municipal employees and officials, the Marlboro Police Department, the Marlboro Improvement and Cultural Fund and the YMCA of Western Monmouth County.

Perhaps the residents and business owners who have donated goods don’t think they are doing much, but they are.

The letters Mesh has received following the initial shipments of these "basics of life" indicate that the soldiers are thrilled by the fact that they are not forgotten; that people at home are thinking about them and praying for their safe return.

The mother of a soldier now serving in Iraq wrote to Mesh and said, "How can I ever thank you for all you have done to ease the difficult situation for mothers that ache for their sons’, daughters’ and husbands’ safe return?"

A Marine wrote, "My fellow Marines and I would like to thank you for your packages. You and all who contributed are true patriots. We do our job on the battlefield while you all do yours as supportive, patriotic citizens."

As the American occupation of Iraq drags on and soldiers remain the targets of Iraqi resistance, the result may be that Americans forget just who is fighting this war.

We must overcome that complacency and remember it is sons and daughters, husbands, wives and neighbors doing the grunt work. They deserve our continued support.