Posted on 12/29/2007 12:55:09 AM PST by Jet Jaguar
Servicemembers at Kunsan Air Base awoke Christmas morning to find gifts left not by Santa, but by the people of Lubbock, Texas.
Volunteers from the city made, filled and shipped about 3,000 Christmas stockings for the airmen and soldiers in an effort to spread holiday cheer.
Spearheaded by the mother of a Kunsan-based Air Force officer, the donation began as a church project then ballooned into something much larger.
“The amazing thing about this project is that after hearing about it, so many people wanted to become a part of it,” project coordinator Dona Nussbaum said during a phone interview Thursday.
She said the project began as part of Westminster Presbyterian Church’s missionary outreach program, but businesses and people statewide quickly became involved.
One business donated 100 yards of denim. Another, she said, donated 100 yards of felt.
Others donated candy, promotional items, compact discs and sundry items. Local schools and World War II veterans made Christmas cards.
Lubbock mayor David Miller and Congressman Randy Neugebauer also sent letters to be included in the stockings.
“Once it started getting that big it’s hard to say how many people were involved or how much it costs,” Nussbaum said. “We had so many people praying for the project or donating candy, donating money or helping to make stockings.”
She said 300 people showed up at the Lubbock Volunteer Center on Nov. 17 to begin putting stockings together. After about 3½ weeks of work, Nussbaum said, her group had 606 boxes ready to ship, for about $6,000 in postage.
The bulk of it was paid with donations after she gave an interview on a local radio station asking people to “adopt a box” by contributing $8.95 to buy a flat-rate box at the post office.
Nussbaum’s daughter, 1st Lt. Rachael Nussbaum, 8th Civil Engineering Squadron, hid the stockings in an empty dorm to keep them secret.
On Christmas Eve, she and 20 to 30 volunteers, including unit first sergeants and chief master sergeants, hung the stockings on dorm room doors.
The gifts were appreciated, she said.
“We’re really grateful to Lubbock for sending this stuff,” she said. “There are a lot of kids here that are away from home at Christmas for the first time. This lets them know that someone is thinking of them.”
God bless the fine people of Lubbock!!
Cool stuff from the great state of Texas.
BTW, Kunsan is not a fun place to be stationed. Crummy comes to mind.
From the wiki —
Kunsan AB, home of the 8th Fighter Wing (Wolf Pack) was originally built by the Japanese as a fighter-interceptor base in 1938. Kunsan AB became home for the US Military Assistance Advisory Group in Korea at the end of World War II. In 1949, the US Forces left Korea, turning the base over to the then-fledgling Republic of Korea Air Force. In August 1950, during the Korean conflict, Kunsan was occupied by North Korean forces. The 3rd Battalion, 24th Infantry, US Army, recaptured the base and Kunsan City, September 30, 1950. Fifth Air Force took over Kunsan AB in October 1950 and began modifying and rehabilitating existing buildings, In March 1951, the 27th Air Installation Squadron started maintenance on the base runway; and the 3rd Bombardment Wing arrived August 22, 1951. After the 3rd Bombardment Wing returned to Japan at the end of the Korean conflict, Kunsan AB was home to many US Force units. The 6175th Air Base Wing operated and maintained the base from 1954 to 1971. The 3rd Bombardment Wing returned to Kunsan AB as the 3rd Tactical Fighter Wing and stayed until the 1974 arrival of the 8th Tactical Fighter Wing. The 8th Tactical Fighter Wing changed to the 8th Fighter Wing on 1 February 1992.
Housing units at Kunsan range from 5 to 40 years old. Consequently, the Wolf Pack Housing Office is in the process of “making it better.” Many renovations are 0n0going or are scheduled for the near future. A new dorm has recently been completed and more dorms are scheduled for construction in the next few years. New arrivals are asked for their patience and a willing “self-help” attitude. A lot of new construction to replace the base’s ancient infrastructure is on-going. In the next few years, the base will undergo a $250 million facelift.
Your tax dollars at work today.
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