Sgt. 1st Class Brad Lechner of Troop B, 1st Squadron, 167th Cavalry Regiment in Bosnia repackages items to forward to his son, Cpl. Gabriel Lechner of 2nd Battalion, 320th Field Artillery Regiment of 101st Airborne Division, deployed to Iraq. (Courtesy of U.S. Army)
CAMP McGOVERN, Bosnia and Herzegovina — Care packages that started arriving for Task Force North troops from Nebraska took them by surprise. First came 14 boxes, then another 25.
Different organizations and church groups, mostly from Nebraska, sent the National Guard soldiers baby wipes, toilet paper, shampoo, tooth paste — items U.S. troops in Iraq need, but not the ones in Bosnia.
“We got everything we need here,” said Sgt. 1st Class Bradley Lechner of Troop B, 1st Squadron, 167th Cavalry Regiment. “It’s not hard to find what you need.”
Camp McGovern’s troops have a great dining facility. They have enough showers and toilets. Free laundry service is available daily. A post exchange provides any extras they need, and there is even a cafe on the camp.
Then 1st Sgt. Larry Fisher remembered that Lechner’s son, Cpl. Gabriel Lechner of the 2nd Battalion, 320th Field Artillery Regiment of 101st Airborne Division, is deployed to Iraq and suggested the packages be forwarded to troops there.
Lechner knew how difficult it was to get some basic toiletries while deployed to the Persian Gulf region, since he was stationed in Kuwait two years ago.
So Camp McGovern troops removed the cards addressed to U.S. troops in Bosnia, rewrapped the packages and mailed them five at a time, so not to overwhelm the mail.
Lechner sent a heads-up e-mail to his son that mail is coming.
“I think they were just so happy to get anything,” Lechner said. “We don’t have it near as bad as the guys there.”
Fisher wrote a thank-you letter for the organizations and church groups that sent the packages and sent it to Nebraska papers. He did not mention that the packages were forwarded to troops who need them more, afraid that might offend the senders.
The troops at McGovern often receive packages of school supplies that they pass out to Bosnian kids when they are out on missions. But when they are asked what they need personally, it is hard to think of things.
“I couldn’t tell them what to send because we really don’t need anything,” Fisher said.
“In Iraq it’s the opposite because they don't have any conveniences.”
