Gary Sinise & Laura Hillenbrand Launch Operation Iraqi Children On TODAY on 3/15

American Horse Publications ^ | March 2004 | unknown

[an amused spectator]

Actor Gary Sinise and Author Laura Hillenbrand Launch Operation Iraqi Children with Interview on TODAY Show, March 15

Actor Gary Sinise (Forrest Gump, Apollo 13) and author Laura Hillenbrand (Seabiscuit: An American Legend) announce the launch of Operation Iraqi Children, a program that will enable Americans to send school supplies and Arabic translations of Seabiscuit to Iraqi children. Hillenbrand and Sinise will be interviewed on the Today Show, March 15.

The Need. During and after Operation Iraqi Freedom, American soldiers passing through Iraqi villages were horrified at the squalor of Iraqi schools, which had been severely neglected under the dictatorship of Saddam Hussein. Corralled in sweltering one-room buildings without air conditioning, fans, windows, solid floors, or even toilets, Iraqi students lack even the rudimentary supplies that American children take for granted. Libraries and books are almost nonexistent. Without these basic tools of education, Iraqi children face an uphill struggle to learn. "Imagine sending your child to a school in which there are virtually no books, no pencils, no paper, no blackboards," says Hillenbrand. "This is the reality for Iraqi children. The future of the Iraqi nation is being squandered for lack of basic school supplies."

Moved by the plight of these children, many American soldiers have taken it upon themselves to help. Working in small groups on their days off, soldiers gather supplies sent by family members and church groups and take them to villages, sometimes coming under fire as they work to reconstruct the schools and deliver learning tools to Iraqi kids. Their efforts have met with immense gratitude from local Iraqis and their children, who now have access to the basic tools of education for the first time in their lives. "I have seen Iraqi kids climbing on our soldiers and hugging them and kissing them," remembers Sinise, who recently accompanied Army soldiers to a dilapidated school they were rebuilding. "I have seen their smiling faces and their attempts to say 'I love you' in broken English. The folks I saw had hope in their eyes and gratitude in their hearts for what was done for them."

Unfortunately, the need for help is so great and widespread, encompassing some 1,500 schools, that our soldiers' efforts cannot possibly answer the entire problem. The situation is critical. "The future of Iraq lies in the education of its children," says Hillenbrand. "We owe it to them, and to the hundreds of American men and women who gave their lives to bring them freedom, to give these children the basic tools of learning."

The Answer. Inspired by their conversations with Operation Iraqi Freedom soldiers as well as Sinise's recent tour of the region, Sinise and Hillenbrand founded Operation Iraqi Children, a grass roots program to provide concerned Americans with a means to reach out to Iraqi kids and help support our soldiers' efforts to assist the Iraqi people. The operation consists of two programs:

* Through the school supplies program, American children can help their Iraqi counterparts by gathering school supplies in school-wide drives, then sending them to a military base in Iraq, where our soldiers will take them to Iraqi villages.

* Through the Seabiscuit program, operated through Thoroughbred Charities of America, Americans can make tax-deductible donations that will be used to purchase very low cost Arabic translations of the book Seabiscuit: An American Legend, to be given to Iraqi children. This program is fully non-profit, and all author royalties will be reinvested in more books for the children. Like the school supplies, Arabic copies of Seabiscuit will be delivered to Iraqi schoolchildren by U.S. military personnel.

Sinise, Hillenbrand and the organizers of Operation Iraqi Children believe that the benefits of this program will reach far beyond the recipients of supplies and books. By bringing Americans and Iraqis together and demonstrating American devotion to the welfare of the Iraqi people, the program can foster understanding between our nations and generate goodwill between Iraqis and American soldiers. "Every time a book or a box of school supplies is delivered by our troops it will be another small victory for them in helping win the hearts and minds of the Iraqis," says Sinise. "It is a beautiful way to begin a relationship with the future leaders of Iraq. They have been forgotten for so long. Now there is a chance for them."

For more information and details on how you can help, go to www.operationiraqichildren.org. For interview requests, contact Meagan Armstrong at Polaris PR at Meagan_Armstrong@polarispr.com

or 323-939-7535 ext. 106.

[an amused spectator]

Sinise was just on with Linda Vester. I heard about this on Hannity last week, and meant to post it, but got caught up in the giant hamster wheel.

www.operationiraqichildren.org

[Taffini]

bump

[Bismarck]

Good people... what the Iraqi children need is more positive and constructive literature and less Koran.

[an amused spectator]

On today's Dayside (http://www.foxnews.com/dayside/index.html) Gary Sinise put the hurt on the American Media Sinister for affecting the morale of the troops with the false, relentlessly negative picture presented to the American public stateside.

The troops in Iraq know better, but they are innundated with the Left's propaganda through the media they have access to. (Not on Free Republic and FOXNews!)

[orionblamblam]

> send school supplies and Arabic translations of Seabiscuit to Iraqi children

Okay, the school supplies I get... but "Seabiscuit?" Is that really high on the Iraqi priority list?

[an amused spectator]

Okay, the school supplies I get... but "Seabiscuit?" Is that really high on the Iraqi priority list?

That was my first thought, but hey, I'm not going to look a gift horse in the mouth (sorry, couldn't resist the temptation...)

On the other hand, Seabiscuit is quite an inspiring story. Perhaps there's a method to the madness.

[eureka!]

This is great and serves another important goal--educating future generations of Iraqis that the US is good. W is going to go down in history as having changed the ME for the better. Bless him and the good Americans for what they are attempting to do. D*mn the UN and left....

[Paradox]

Probably not, but what are ya gonna do, look in his mouth?

[Peach]

I watched Senise on Vester's show and was very impressed. May God bless him for his efforts.

[Peach]

I just watched Senise on Vester's show and was impressed.

He has also visited wounded soldiers in hospitals. They have told him that the extremely biased, negative press hurts them personally.

May God bless Gary Senise for his hard work to help Iraqi school children.

[Sloth]

Cool. I guess Sinise is not just an outstanding actor but also a decent guy, as well.

[an amused spectator]

The Left is guilty of sedition, but of course you already know that.

[an amused spectator]

Gary Sinise (IMDB)- newest stuff

• Scheherazade (2005) (pre-production)
• Forgotten, The (2004) (post-production) .... Dr. Munce
• "C.S.I.: New York" (2004) TV Series .... Calucci
• Big Bounce, The (2004) .... Ray Ritchie

[IYAS9YAS]

I always knew there was a reason I liked him. Don't know much about her.

[FlyVet]

I really admire Sinise. Here's a Hollywood star, probably all the money and comforts he needs, putting himself in harm's way and volunteering his time for such a good cause. Hmmmm....Vester interviewed him....I wonder if Perky didn't wanna do it. I wonder why I would wonder that.

[Molly Pitcher]

WOW! I've always liked Sinise...wonderful of him to do this and in this way!

[an amused spectator]

I wonder why I would wonder that.

Gasp! You're not possibly suggesting that al-Katie Quric, the All-Aljazeera girl, could actually be anti-American, are you? ;-)

[cyncooper]

Gary Sinise was on Fox this morning with Tony Snow and I was so impressed.

I encourage everyone to visit the website for Operation Iraqi Children.

What a positive and uplifting message they bring. The innocent Iraqis are grateful (Hello Chris Matthews, stop lying to people and saying they aren't) and they have years of neglect under Saddam's rule they are left with.

I figured someone had posted a thread about this wonderful project and sure enough found this one.

Bumping for a good cause.

[cyncooper]

I'm so glad to see you heard about this program.

Let's spread the word. I was truly impressed and pleased to see Sinise this morning. I immediately went to the website and haven't even read it all before I checked FR to make sure a thread about it had been started so others know about it.

After the relentless negativity we are subjected to day after day, what a blessed relief to find an oasis of sanity and true good will.

[Hildy]

The message of Sea Biscuit is you can overcome all obstacles with hard work and persistance. And it doesn't hurt to have a wealthy backer. (In this case, I guess, the USA!)