Marine Lance Cpl. Christopher Sherman has a problem.
It’s not the roadside bombs or rooftop snipers that endanger him and his comrades in Iraq on an almost daily basis. It’s his gear … his sports gear or lack thereof.
“We have one ball and one wood bat,” he wrote from the war-torn country. “The ball is torn up because we don’t have gloves to catch the ball, so we play home-run derby with rocks. It’s not very much fun, so if there is any way that you could help us, we would greatly appreciate it.”
Well, because of Operation Slugger, help is literally on the way.
A 40-foot container packed with 26,000 pounds of assorted sporting goods worth approximately $499,000 was recently rail-loaded in Louisville, Ky., arrived in San Pedro, Calif., and then boat loaded for a final Pacific voyage to the Port of Shuwaik, Kuwait, for proportional distribution to U.S. troops.
Through the donated sports equipment program, U.S. troops stationed overseas in Kuwait, Iraq, Afghanistan, Qatar and the Horn of Africa are receiving 300 sports kits worth approximately $1,700 each.
The number of kits will be divided up based on the U.S. military population of each country: Iraq (144, 359 troops) – 230 kits; Afghanistan (17, 416 troops) – 29 kits; Kuwait (15,631 troops) – 26 kits; Horn of Africa (1,800 troops) – 5 kits; Qatar (1,083 troops) – 10 kits.
Each kit includes baseball and softball gloves, bats, balls and hats, footballs, basketballs, rugby balls and soccer balls. Each kit also includes volleyball and badminton sets, Frisbees, an air pump, Hacky Sack and a duffel bag to hold it all.
Operation Slugger came about after a famed bat-manufacturing company in Kentucky received numerous e-mails from U.S. Soldiers requesting baseball bats and gloves to replace equipment that had worn out from repeated use or for those troops who didn’t have any sporting equipment.
The Operation Slugger team, comprised of nationally known businesses and organizations with USA Cares as the lead team, spearheaded the campaign dedicated to boosting morale among U.S. troops in the Middle East.
Some 100 Veterans of Foreign Wars posts located across the country served as collection points for the donated equipment.
The Operation Slugger program signals to the troops that they haven’t been forgotten back home, said Roger Stradley, chief operating officer for USA Cares, a Kentucky-based nonprofit group that offers support to military families.
“A lot of us ride around with bumper stickers on our cars,” he said. “But this is more than a bumper sticker. This is a display of the emotion and the passion that I believe Americans have for their troops.”
“The Soldiers will be well-pleased with this equipment. It’ll take their minds off being deployed and being so far away from home,” said Sgt. 1st Class Larry Laster, Coalition Forces Land Component Command Surface Branch noncommissioned officer in charge responsible for tracking the Operation Slugger shipment into the Port of Shuwaik. “It’ll also bring troops of all services closer together and show them that Americans do care.”
Navy Senior Chief Raymond Covarrubias, a storekeeper stationed in Balad, Iraq, said the amount of support coming from those back home never ceases to amaze him.
“It’s nice that people go out of their way to provide for the troops,” Covarrubias said. “To get something like this sends a little of home to us. It’s good to see. Make sure to tell them thanks.”
