LIMESTONE, Maine — Over 160 Christmas cards, penned by students, staff and faculty at the Loring Job Corps Center, are currently headed over-seas to hopefully send a little holiday cheer to wounded and recovering soldiers at the Lasdsthal Medical Center in Germany and to members of the National Guard in Baghdad including the center’s own Information Management Specialist Ryan Cote, who is currently serving with his fellow guardsman. Members of the center also gathered on Tuesday afternoon to record a group message to e-mail Cote.
Messages to soldiers ran the gamut, from simple signatures to longer messages — even pen-pal offerings.
This is the fourth time that the Loring Honor Guard has coordinated a mass mailing of appreciation and cheer; cards have either been holiday cards or thank-you cards.
Honor Guard Instructor Roger Felix, an Army veteran himself, remembered a time when he was on the receiving end of such a sentiment — specifically when he laughingly remembered a little girl had once asked him in a letter what kind of plane he flew (even though he didn’t fly planes).
“They really are a moral booster because some of those soldiers don’t get mail too often,” he explained.
