What do World War II, Korea, Vietnam, Panama, Kuwait, Afghanistan and Iraq have in common?

If you replied solely as a history buff, you might have answered, “These were all areas of military conflict.”

If you replied as a former (or current) member of the military, you probably dug into your personal memory bank for your answer. You remembered the lonely times when you as service men and women were answering the call to duty.

You especially remembered the time when you were serving your country away from home, far from family and friends. Away from home is difficult; away during the holidays is tough.

Commodore Eugene Bentley, DCO, D5-NR inaugurated the phone card campaign. The Commodore learned of a similar campaign in District 7 and, as a former soldier, was very much aware of the plight of our Coast Guard personnel now serving in a harm’s way. “This is something valuable to the well being of our Coast Guardsman away from home, this is a great way to say thank you,” said the Commodore. He asked RCO Mel Borofsky to coordinate the program and the campaign was launched.

A goal of $1,500 was established, more as pacesetter than a gauge to success. A series of emails and flyers alerted the Auxiliarists of the 5th District, Northern Region (Eastern Pennsylvania, Southern New Jersey and the entire State of Delaware) about the program and their response was phenomenal.

“I remember a rather nasty Christmas I spent in Korea,” said one. “I remember standing on line for over two hours to make a shipboard 2 minute phone call,” said another. Remarks like this jogged the memories of some and enlightened others.

The contributions from units and individuals came at a brisk pace. When the dust settled on 31 October close to $5,000 was in the kitty. The phone cards were purchased through the Coast Guard Exchange. They were then shipped to Coast Guard personnel via the supply center in the Kingdom of Bahrain.

The generosity and joy of sharing by the Auxiliarists of the 5th Northern provided over 60,000 minutes of telephone calls to home. “We couldn’t bring all of them home for the holidays, but this is pretty close,” said Auxiliarist Mickey deFerrari of Lanoka Harbor, NJ.

By the way, the National campaign is still on and you can join in… www.cg-exchange.com