Mt. Olive woman spearheads effort to send letters, packages to troops

Picatinny Arsenal providing names of soldiers

By Meghan Van Dyk
Daily Record

MOUNT OLIVE -- The force behind the All Veterans Memorial in Turkey Brook Park has launched a new project to honor American troops fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Charlie Wood Uhrmann is spearheading a letter-writing campaign and troop drive called Morris County Cares. She is seeking to bridge the more than 6,000-mile gap between the troops and their homes.

"Morris County is the home to three U.S. National Guard bases, which were recently deployed to Afghanistan and Iraq," Uhrmann said. "More than 3,000 of our men and women will be more than 6,000 miles away from their families and the country they love, leaving the simplest creature comfort of home behind. For many, this is their third or fourth tour of duty to the Middle East."

The campaign kicked off this week and lasts through November so that care packages filled with letters and necessities will arrive overseas just in time for the holidays.

Uhrmann has sent letters to dozens of Morris County organizations, including municipalities, high schools, churches, senior citizen groups, American Legion posts and Veterans of Foreign Wars posts, asking them to adopt a troop. She's also asking individuals to get involved by visiting participating restaurants and bars, such as Kennedy's Pub in the township, which are stocking postcards so patrons can write personalized letters to troops while they wait for their meal.

It costs participants $1, which will offset the cost of shipping the supplies overseas. A grant from Miller Brewing Co. in Milwaukee helped to offset printing costs.

Officials from Picatinny Arsenal in Rockaway Township are working with Uhrmann, providing soldiers' names, photos and a list of items they personally have requested to the donors. The soldiers receiving the packages are either from the area or have special needs because they are stationed in areas with rugged terrain and don't have access to a military store, Uhrmann said.

So far, about a dozen organizations have responded and pledged to write between 50 and 500 postcards.

"I wanted to do something a little different, something to make the experience more personalized for both the people who participate and the troops," Uhrmann said. "The number of troop drives has fizzled down since the start of the war, and a lot of them just send massive supplies -- they don't put a face to the name."

Students at Whippany Park High School will be among the groups participating in Morris County Cares, said Tom Callanan, the school's vice principal. Other groups include Mount Olive High School, Paragon Village and the Patriots Path Boy Scouts Council, which also sponsors a troop drive with state Sen. Anthony Bucco's office.

"We are very excited to be a part of the campaign," Callanan said. He added that the school's student government association will lead the effort.

"We have some groups that do a lot of service projects, but we liked this one because it is more personal than just donating items. I think the kids will have more incentive to be part of it because there is a specific troop on the other side of it."

Uhrmann said she got the idea for Morris County Cares through her work on the All Veteran's Memorial, which was built in Turkey Brook Park last year to honor all veterans from New Jersey who have died serving in the military, as well as anyone who has served during both wartime and peacetime. Uhrmann and her son led the design and fundraising efforts to create the memorial grounds.

"Four of the 102 fallen soldiers from New Jersey had no affiliated family members for us to give flags to," Uhrmann said. "There must be so many more (soldiers without family). That affects me. This drive will make a difference in their lives. I know it will."

Uhrmann, who does not come from a military background and has no family currently serving in the war, said she feels it is her mission to ensure that American troops are remembered and taken care of while they are abroad.