Thursday, December 17, 2009

Charlie Battery Soldiers visit Alexandria

By Captain Nathan Minott
Charlie Battery Commander,
2-44th ADA

Soldiers from Charlie Battery, 2nd Battalion, 44th Air Defense Artillery from Fort Campbell, Kentucky visited their benefactors in Alexandria, Kentucky to thank them for their continued support of the Battery. Fourteen Soldiers were selected to represent the battery in this second visit to a city that adopted the unit in 2005. Since the relationship began, the city has sponsored individual soldiers through two deployments in support of OIF. Business owners, teachers, students and staunch supporters from Alexandria make up the group know in Alexandria as “Charlie’s Angel’s.” These were the supporters that Charlie Battery Troops thanked.
The Day started with a visit to the Ft. Thomas VA medical center. The hospital houses veterans from Ohio and Kentucky who have fought in WWII, Korea, and Vietnam. Veterans, workers and volunteers alike received thanks from Charlie Battery Soldiers for their service to the nation. The Soldiers then proceeded to visit five surrounding schools, K-12 to meet with students and discuss what it is like to serve in the Army. The elementary schools held special assemblies with a question and answer session and one even had Soldiers sing Christmas carols with the students. The trip ended with a steak dinner at the local VFW with 25 hand selected students from across the city. Gifts for each of these children and others were collected in a battalion wide toy drive. Each student received a personalized gift from Soldiers, returning the feeling that our Soldiers felt when they received care packages and letters addressed to them in Iraq. An additional 150 toys were given to the organizers of the event to hand out to needy children in the city.
The event is just one more in a long line of planned interactions between the city and Charlie Battery. Plans have been made to begin a letter writing campaign with one of the elementary schools, while the unit remains at fort Campbell, Kentucky. This will foster a closer relationship with the students, allowing children to place a face to a Soldier’s name in future support activities.

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