Soldier’s Angels: A Touching Opportunity for True
By Mass Communication Specialist
Seaman Adrian J. Escobar
Fire Controlman (SW/AW) 1st Class Dennis True browsed the Soldiers’ Angels website late November in search of care packages for Sailors aboard IKE. The next month, he was contacted by Janice Parker, an intern working on her master’s degree in social work at Willamette View, a retirement community north of Milwaukee.
Wanting to find a way to encourage residents in the assisted-living wing to socialize, she found him through Soldiers’ Angels. Soldiers’ Angels is an international organization that provides aide and comfort to the men and women service members and their families.
Parker asked True if he would be interested in being a pen-pal to a group of seven retirees at the retirement center. Without hesitation, True accepted.
“This was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to get to know people and hear their stories from a completely different time era,” said True.
Shortly thereafter, True was adopted into the Soldiers’ Angels foundation and received his first letter. Since then, he has received a total of 127 packages and over 250 letters.
“Two men out of the group happened to be veteran Sailors,” said True. “Each one had a 1944 Shellback certificate.”
True received letters of personal accounts during the Depression and World War II, as well as general stories from the 60s. He was told stories of their children,
husbands and wives. He also shared stories of his own, and was able to jog memories of Paul Gillette, a 91 year-old member of the center.
“I sent him a story of my travel through Cyprus [the post below this one]that reminded him he had hitchhiked from Chicago to Yellow Stone when he was between the ages of 18 and 19,” said True. “He was then able to share that forgotten memory with his family for the first time.”
Due to the great response in the group, Jim Mertz, Willamette View’s chief executive officer, extended to True and his wife, Marjorie, an expense-free invitation to meet the group for the first time. He felt it was important for the pen-pals to meet. True was greeted with warmth and lots of smiles during his visit.
“I had lunch with the Angels and gave a power point presentation about the deployment,” said True. “It was a moving experience to meet them in person, and I will cherish it forever.
Wanting to find a way to encourage residents in the assisted-living wing to socialize, she found him through Soldiers’ Angels. Soldiers’ Angels is an international organization that provides aide and comfort to the men and women service members and their families.
Parker asked True if he would be interested in being a pen-pal to a group of seven retirees at the retirement center. Without hesitation, True accepted.
“This was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to get to know people and hear their stories from a completely different time era,” said True.
Shortly thereafter, True was adopted into the Soldiers’ Angels foundation and received his first letter. Since then, he has received a total of 127 packages and over 250 letters.
“Two men out of the group happened to be veteran Sailors,” said True. “Each one had a 1944 Shellback certificate.”
True received letters of personal accounts during the Depression and World War II, as well as general stories from the 60s. He was told stories of their children,
husbands and wives. He also shared stories of his own, and was able to jog memories of Paul Gillette, a 91 year-old member of the center.
“I sent him a story of my travel through Cyprus [the post below this one]that reminded him he had hitchhiked from Chicago to Yellow Stone when he was between the ages of 18 and 19,” said True. “He was then able to share that forgotten memory with his family for the first time.”
Due to the great response in the group, Jim Mertz, Willamette View’s chief executive officer, extended to True and his wife, Marjorie, an expense-free invitation to meet the group for the first time. He felt it was important for the pen-pals to meet. True was greeted with warmth and lots of smiles during his visit.
“I had lunch with the Angels and gave a power point presentation about the deployment,” said True. “It was a moving experience to meet them in person, and I will cherish it forever.
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