11/28/12
As you know from previous articles one of my passions for the last ten
years has been sending care packages to our troops in Iraq and
Afghanistan. I started back in 2003 when my nephew Alex first deployed
to Afghanistan. In a future article I want to tell you how that all
came about, but not today.
One of the units I was shipping to was 3rd battalion, 8th Marines out of
Camp Lejeune. I used to ship to each of the five companies of a combat
battalion and wrote asking the Marine in charge of each company to whom
I might address those packages and which Marines might not be receiving
mail. I was given the names of several Marines in each of the five
companies. It is the end of 2008, the holiday season. I packed each
box with loving care as if I knew the recipient, filled with
non-perishable food, toiletries and magazines that I know the guys
prefer to read. I pictured in my mind the joy their faces would
express when the boxes were opened. 25lbs of goodies. There were five
going out that week. One was addressed to LCpl Alberto Francesconi. I
got them ready a few days early so they were stacked and ready for me to
take them to the post office.
Each morning I receive email announcements from the DoD. (Department of
Defense), war related news and casualty reports. I see a name that
seems so familiar to me but I cannot place it.....for an hour I puzzled
over that name......until it registered...I went through the stacked
boxes and there was the box addressed to LCpl Alberto Francesconi, 21
years old, killed in combat January 1, 2009, the first casualty of the
new year. I was stunned........I felt as if I had my heart was torn
out. In all the years I had shipped to our Marines I never anticipated
this happening. Of course all of us at home realize the dangers of war
but I never expected it to touch me so personally. After the shock
passed I wept for the loss of this young man and his family. How
difficult it was for me to remove that label from that box and readdress
it to another Marine in his company. I felt that loss as if he were my
by brother or my son, and yet I did not know him.
A few days later I located an article on the internet that appeared in
the local paper where Alberto lived. He was from the Bronx, New York.
I contacted the author of that article and told her my story. She was
stunned as well, and wrote a follow up article about my heart breaking
experience. She shared my story with his family and made it possible
for me to send them a letter of condolence. They contacted me months
later to thank me for the card and package I had prepared for Alberto.
Many years late his sister contacted me on Facebook to thank me again
for caring enough to pack a box for her brother and for reaching out to
her family.
Fast forward to August 2011. I received an email from a journalism
student at Columbia Journalism School. Each student in his class had
an assignment to "write a memorial of a fallen soldier for the 10th
anniversary of 9/11"
and his fallen soldier was Alberto. He was unable to locate any
members of the family and by searching the internet found previous
articles about Alberto where my name was mentioned. I told him I
doubted my luck would be any better than his, but I would see what I
could do. Back to Facebook I found the old messages from his sister
and I wrote her explaining the situation regarding a student who would
like to interview the family members for this very special project.
Time was of the essence.....it was nearly Veteran's Day by now...as this
had all taken many weeks to coordinate.
Finally I heard from his sister and the family was willing to speak to
the student! Well, I have to thank the Lord for making this all work
out......never in a million years would I have imagined this meeting
would take place. Not only was the family willing to share Alberto's
life, but it seems the family had a memorial celebration every year, as
it was Alberto's birthday as well. A large family cookout with some of
his old Marine buddies who drove up to New York. The family invited
the student to join them to eat, chat and get all the material he needed
for his project. They also invited me to come up to NY to share the
laughter and the tears but because of my work I was unable to attend
although I was incredibly grateful that this gathering would take place.
Again the Lord was in control.... connecting me with people who have
had such an impact in my life....each one is a special gift and will
always hold a special place in my heart.
Great work warrior! Blog looks great!!!
ReplyDeleteMaj Pain
Thanks Gary....I spent some time loading photos but they disappeared...will try again later....I'm exhausted from all this!! LOL....but I have you to thank for getting me started! Semper Fi, my friend..........
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