Pacific Stars & Stripes,
March 3, 1953
With the U.S. 1st Marine Air
Wing, Mar. 6- A mother, a brother, a letter, and a hometown were combined
by Sgt. James F. Stanley, Norwich, Conn., to garner nearly 10 tons
of clothes for needy South Koreans.
It all began when Stanley visited one of the four
orphanages the group supports. He noticed that some of the 400 orphans
were in need of clothes. He returned to his base and wrote a letter
describing the orphans to his mother.
The letter was passed to his brother, Bill, a
Marine sergeant stationed at a Marine guard detachment at the New
London, Conn., submarine base, and things began to happen.
BILL ASKED his mother to arrange for him to speak
at a PTA meeting. At the meeting, he read his brother's letter. The
Norwich daily newspaper printed the speech and the letter the following
day.
The PTA was fast to act. It immediately began
a drive and appointed Stanley's mother as honorary chairman. The chamber
of commerce held an open meeting at which representatives of the Marine
Corps, Boy Scouts, American Legion, Veterans of Foreign Wars, Girl
Scouts, and the Army offered the services of their organizations to
make the drive a success.
Despite a wet snow and darkened skies, trucks
manned by Marines from the submarine base and soldiers from Battery
A, 745th Gun battalion, drove through Norwich and the adjoining towns
of Taftville, Occum, and Yantic. Citizens who had heard of the drive
by way of radio, newspapers, and word of mouth were ready.
Some trucks made as many as three visits to the
same area because of the large number of items donated. When a truck
was loaded it would drive to the state armory to unload and go back
for more. While the trucks were cruising through the city's streets
some 200 volunteers sorted the clothing that had already been collected.
After it was sorted, it was taken to the New London
submarine base to await shipment to Marine Air Group 12.
PSS-198
