TV For The Troops, Part Two

Good news from Iraq!  The television that Gallery Furniture sent to a Houston soldier and his unit is there and they'll be watching the Super Bowl on it Sunday night!

I got an email from Sgt. Aaron Simmons telling me that he had just gotten back from his trip to Baghdad to pick up the TV and that it was working great.  That's good news to hear.

This long distance story began two weeks ago when I got a letter from Sgt. Simmons.  In it, he said that his unit would not be able to watch the Super Bowl because there was no television at their position.  He asked if Gallery Furniture could help him.  As I posted here earlier, Gallery Furniture could help. 

It took a team to do it and a lot of help from retired Col. Suzie Barlow who emailed and telephoned Army contacts in Iraq and elsewhere to find Sgt. Simmons since all l had on the letter was a military postal address.  The Colonel found him, and arranged for the television to be picked up at the Baghdad airport after it was shipped out by Federal Express.

The package arrived in Baghdad on Wednesday and another round of phone calls and emails from the Colonel arranged to have it released to Sgt. Simmons and get him and a vehicle to the airport in time.

It was close -- but the sergeant and his unit have the TV in time.

All the effort, especially from the Colonel, has been worth it.  I'm happy that Gallery Furniture could make this a Super weekend for some of the brave young people who are in harm's way on behalf of their country.

Gallery Furniture has gotten some attention for this and I'm grateful for that.  KPRC and KRIV TV have both done stories about the television shipment.  Here are links to KPRC and KRIV's stories on their web sites.

The Colonel and I were also interviewed for Sibley Cooley's cable show on veteran's matters.

As I said, I'm grateful for the coverage because it brings attention to the young folks in uniform and makes us all aware of the things we can do to help them out.

That's why Gallery Furniture has furnished and decorated the USO Centers at Houston Hobby Airport and in Gulfport, Mississippi.  That's why Gallery Furniture will be replacing the furniture at USO Centers around the country over the next few years until all of them are comfortable reminders of  home for all of these heroes who serve their country.