Thanks from the Vinson

[Susan mom to Niko]

While in San Diego a couple of weeks ago a group of Navy moms from Molly's adopt a sailor was fortunate enough to meet Chaplain 'Fish' and his wife from the USS Vinson. He was our contact when we sent cards and letters to the ship while they were in Haiti providing earthquake relief. I must confess that my heart was full as we chatted. What great men and women are in our armed services! Giving of themselves and making sacrifices to make our world a better place.

When I first contacted him, he was delighted to hear that moms across the US would think to gather cards and letters and pictures to send. There are always a group of sailors aboard Navy ships that receive no mail. As we emailed over the next couple of weeks, I shared that we wanted to be sure to send enough 'mail' to reach all the sailors... our first goal was 1,500 aboard the USS Vinson... quite a goal but I was sure that we could make this happen! Then other ships headed to Haiti and we wanted to include them in our efforts... That meant raising our goal to 5,000 cards and letters! Chaplain 'Fish' said that his first thought was 'what am I going to do with 5,000 cards and letters...'

So the first mail drop arrived... he said he received a couple of bags of mail. The Chaplains made trips around the ship and passed out cards and letters. He returned to his office to find that while he was gone the mail room had delivered boxes and boxes of cards and letters... Again he made trips around the ship passing out the many greetings. He also had boxes sent by helicopter to other ships in the area. With every mail drop... more boxes of cards and letters! More trips around the ship and more boxes sent to other ships!

Chaplain 'Fish' shared that the days were long and tiring. There were many days that they were ashore and the heat and the sheer volume of injured and dying were an exhausting task to minister to. And upon the return to the ship there were sailors aboard that needed counsel also. Everyone aboard and ashore worked long days and gave their most to the efforts to bring comfort and aid to the Haitians. Sailors helped to take care of injured and preparing shipments of medical supplies and food and desalinizing water to be sent ashore for drinking water. Some who were ashore helped transporting the injured to ships off shore. Some worked on clearing debris and searching for survivors. And they continued to keep the ship running while finding more ways to assist. Going without showers and clean laundry so they could send more water ashore the first days were common.

Chaplain ‘Fish’ said receiving that much love in the mail made him think of the story in Exodus when Moses stood at the top of the hill during a battle with his arms outstretched in prayer... while he was praying and his arms were outstretched the army of Israel won... as Moses would tire and his arms would begin to drop the enemy would begin to win. Those around Moses helped to hold his arms up and pray with him and the army of Israel won the battle. Chaplain 'Fish' said that with every one of those cards and letters, we were the ones that helped to hold the sailors arms up.

As we toured the ship we spotted kids drawings on the walls of dining halls. Chaplain ‘Fish’ said they would set out boxes of cards and letters for sailors to grab. He said they never lasted long. Without a doubt he said that our goal of 5,000 was surpassed!

Thank you, thank you to each and every one of you that took the time to reach out to these sailors! It truly did make a difference to them! Our efforts will not stop here... every month we adopt a different deployed unit. We would love to have you join us!

If you are interested check out our web site www.Mollysadoptasailor.com