Local operation to help troops

Williams mom and daughter begin Operation Letters from Home for troops

On any given day, people reach into their mailboxes and pull out the day's mail. Often they stop to peruse the stack to see if anything stands out from the rest of the post. What they are looking for, as they sift through bills and flyers, may be that one personal letter from a loved one or a close friend. For many, that letter is the one they put on the top of the mail to open first. That personal letter may just be the one thing that makes their day a little brighter.

For soldiers in Iraq, that friendly connection is often even more important, as it just may be the only thing some of the troops have to look forward to. Sadly, however, not every soldier abroad hears from their loved ones or friends. Some never receive any letters at all. Williams High School student Taylor Gravill, along with her mother Stephanie Gravill, hopes to change that.

The two recently began Operation Letters from Home, according to Stephanie Gravill, in an effort to provide support to the troops abroad. Gravill is currently seeking to provide pen pals to every member of a unit currently stationed in Iraq.

"My girlfriend, my best friend from the time I was seven, her husband is in the Marines and they were stationed in Japan, then he got shipped to Iraq. He found out that there were eight servicemen in that unit that had never received one piece of mail," said Gravill. "So Taylor and I said, 'Give us names,' and she sent us the names of every single person in their unit. Our goal is to hook up every single serviceman, or woman, in their unit with a pen pal. Some of them might not write back, but we just want to make sure that they all get letters."

The family has already gathered some interest in the project through the Williams Senior Center, Williams High School and the third grade class at Williams Elementary-Middle School. Gravill is currently seeking support from the community to aid her in the letter-writing project.

She said she was shocked to learn that young soldiers did not receive any kind of word from home.

"It's unbelievable to me. Most of them are just kids over there that have never received a piece of mail," Gravill said. "The home school project has jumped in on it. My grand daughter wrote them a letter and put in a band-aid in case they got hurt. She drew a picture of a knight and she said, 'You're my knight in shining armor.' I think these kids are over there for our freedom, basically, and the least we can do is make sure they get mail. Mail call is such a huge deal over there. It doesn't matter how you feel about the war, whether you're against it or for it. That doesn't matter. What matters is that these kids are over there and we have to support them."

Over 81 letters have been collected and mailed to the unit in Iraq so far, Gravill said, though she added that 104 other letters are still needed to reach every member of the unit.

"We need more names," Gravill said. "People that didn't want to give their home address gave our address, it doesn't matter what they write, and it doesn't matter how long it is. It's first class postage, so it's the same as mailing it in the U.S. if they don't want to mail it themselves they can bring it to us, we'll mail it for them. They can drop them off at Java Cycle and we'll make sure they get mailed out. As long as we have a phone number for them, then we can call them and tell them they have a letter. These guys just want to hear from someone."

Interested parties can call Gravill to receive the name of a soldier. She can be reached at Richmann Construction by calling (928) 635-1511 or on her cell at (928) 595-0576. Gravill can also be reached via e-mail at chicklovessports8888@yahoo.com.

"They can take one or two names, or three names. The little kids just take one, but if you can write to two or three of them, that would be awesome. Our goal is just to get every person in this unit a letter," Gravill said. "We're trying to get it done as soon as possible, so they can get the letters."

Taylor Gravill said letters did not have to be long or in-depth by any means.

"People have asked what to write in the letter, if they are going to write a letter. If you don't want to give your name you can do that," Gravill said. "Just to hear from someone and hear about what's going on over here, having a pen pal over here, will just kind of warm their heart."