Friday, November 23, 2012

CARE PACKAGE HEARTACHE

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.

2 comments:

  1. Great work warrior! Blog looks great!!!
    Maj Pain

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. 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..........

      Delete