FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
December 4, 2009

Information:
Greg Warnock
greg@owva.org

Oregon National Guard Soldiers Stranded for Christmas

Salem, Ore. - Brigadier General Mike Caldwell, the deputy director of the Oregon Military Department/Oregon National Guard (ORNG) asked the Oregon War Veterans Association (OWVA) to help provide transportation for 94 members of the ORNG, from Dallas, Oregon who will be stranded in Wisconsin for the holidays.

“OWVA has proven to be a valuable resource to the Oregon National Guard, providing goods and services to help to eliminate stress to our soldiers and their families by always offering a helping hand wherever and whenever possible," said BG Caldwell during a media conference today. “I asked for their help because the public knows them and supports their efforts to help our troops.”

With gigantic budget cuts affecting ORNG they simply do not have the funds to bring these veterans home for the holidays. The unit is currently at Fort McCoy, Wisconsin for explosive disarming and disposal training. They deploy to Afghanistan right after Christmas for more than a year of the dangerous duty of defusing explosive devices.

Fort McCoy will be shutting down operations from December 22-27, leaving Oregon troops stranded during the holidays. Now that the troops have the opportunity they wish to return home one last time before their deployment.

With your support, OWVA needs to locate and pay for a charter plane to help with this project. OWVA is also asking several of the organizations in Oregon who have their own airplanes to assist in this effort, but fuel and expenses still need funding.

There are only a few days remaining to raise the $40,000 required to fly our troops home for Christmas before their deployment.

Please find it in your hearts to help OWVA bring Oregon’s veterans home.

Three ways to make a charitable donation for this project:

1. Go online to www.OWVA.org, and click on the donate button.
2. Deposit at any branch at US Bank to Oregon War Veterans Association/ORNG account ending in 5051.
3. Mail a check to OWVA, PO Box 8043, Salem, OR 97303 (memo: “save Christmas”)

**All funds over the amount needed will be used toward sending Oregon’s veterans who have lost limbs and want to compete in the Para-Olympics in January to Vancouver, BC in January.