A Homemade Thank You                                                                                      Story and photos by Staff Sgt Justin Goeden, 122nd Fighter Wing, Indiana National Guard              Posted: June 18, 2008

VINCENNES, Ind. - “If they weren’t working so hard, they’d all be fat from the good cooking.”

That’s what Brig. Gen. David Harris, Joint Task Force 81 commander said of the Soldiers and Airmen under his command during the floods because many of his troops received homemade thanks in the form of around-the-clock meals.

Volunteers at the Hazleton Community Center offered their time, efforts, and talents for making the troops feel right at home.

The meals reminded the troops of Thanksgiving dinner at grandma’s house. They usually had choices from sausage and sauerkraut, to macaroni and cheese, to turkey and egg noodles made from scratch.

“They've been very supportive here. I think, you know, the food is excellent. I get waved at everywhere I go,” said Spc. Andrew Thode who spent the day placing sandbags in the rain and heat.

“They do great work. You couldn't find a more polite group of people in your life,” said Joyce Ellis, who runs the kitchen in the community center. “They thank you for your every meal, thank you for everything that you do for them ... they give hugs!”

The ladies of Hazleton supported the troops in town how they do it best – cooking homemade meals and desserts, some for special occasions.

In a chat between the troops and the ladies, one Soldier mentioned that his birthday was the next day. The ladies found the best cake maker in town, and had her make the Soldier his own birthday cake overnight. The next day the ladies surprised him with it and they celebrated.

“How do we behave? How do we say thank you? They've done their tour; this is just the town's way of saying thank you,” said Paul Huntsman, pastor of the local church.

During a conversation one night, a lady was telling of all the pies she was going to make overnight and a Soldier casually mentioned that he hadn’t had a red velvet cake in years.

The next day, sitting on the dessert table at lunch was a red velvet cake – next to apple dumplings, German chocolate cake, cherry cobbler, raspberry cobbler, blueberry cobbler, blackberry cobbler, and many others.

“I think that they are a blessing,” said kitchen volunteer Cathy Briner of the Guardsmen. “In 2005 when the Soldiers had come we thought that you wouldn’t come back again. Hazleton is a good place to live and there are a lot of fine young men and women willing to help us.”

Most of the ladies couldn’t understand how the National Guard troops could thank them just for the home-cooked meals.

“They thanked us for our food. I just can’t get over that,” said Jeanie Scott brought nearly to tears as she told the story of grateful troops.

“I don’t know what we’d do without you guys,” said Sue Lewis, a community center volunteer.

When activated to move more than 20,000 sandbags in Hazleton alone, the Soldiers and Airmen didn’t realize that they would be put at ease three times a day by hot, homemade meals.