Our Adopted Past Soldiers
Kenneth Woolard
Christina
Age: 25
SPC Kenneth Holliday (Army)
Home State: Virginia
Deployed From: Ft. Stewart, GA
Age: 20
LETTER TO US FROM PFC KENNETH HOLLIDAY
Dear Vitagliano Orthodontics, Linda, and the patients,
I have again received a number of packages from all of you at Vitagliano Orthodontics. Once again the thanks we would like to give over here goes beyond words. The countless amounts of goodies that you have sent has helped pass the time over here, and made our time a bit more enjoyable with a sense of home.
We are nearing the end of our current deployment over here and will hopefully be returning home shortly. Unfortunately because of this we cannot receive any mail after September 1st. With that being said, I would again like to emphasize on how all of the support you have shown throughout this deployment makes me proud to serve this country and reminds me of the reason why I joined in the first place. Your support will never be forgotten by myself or my fellow comrades.
I am sad that the Adopt a Soldier relationship we shared will soon come to an end. I wish I could repay my respect for all of you in the same ways you showed us. I will keep in touch with all of you as much as possible. We will be having platoon pictures taken later this month, and I will be sure to share them with all of you so that you can finally see the faces of the men you brightened up.
Talk to you again soon,
SPC Kenneth Holliday
Dear Linda, the Vitagliano Orthodontics, and all patients,
I have recently received 3 or your packages in the mail. I cannot begin to express my appreciation for all of the support you have shown. It was a great boost in morale in the dreadfully hot summer months of Iraq. I shared the contents of the packages with my entire platoon and I would like to say "Thank You!" on their behalf as well as mine. (The Girl Scout Cookies we're eaten within a matter of minutes )
It's this kind of support that you have all shown that reminds us that we aren't forgotten about. Again thank you for everything, you have no idea how happy we were to receive these packages.
- SPC Kenneth Holliday
Dear Linda and the rest of the Vitagliano Orthodontics family,
My platoon and I were recently told about AAUSS and encouraged to participate in its service. I took it upon myself to sign up for it a couple of days ago and I am surprised at how quickly I was adopted.
I'd like to start this by letting you know a little bit about myself. My name is PFC Kenneth Holliday. I am a 20 year old Infantryman in the US Army, deployed with the 3rd Infantry Division stationed out of Ft. Stewart, Georgia, and have now been in Northern Iraq for a little over three months. I am originally from the Northern Virginia suburbs of Washington D.C back in the states, and lived there my entire life prior to enlisting in the Army. In high school I played a lot of Lacrosse and had the opportunity to play for a college in Erie, Pennsylvania, however I felt it as my duty to serve my country in this time of war and enlisted shortly after graduating. I do not regret my decision at all and I enjoy doing my part over here in Iraq.
I would personally like to thank each and every one of you for showing your support to not only myself but to everyone over here. It is GREATLY appreciated and it does not go unnoticed. My platoon has quite a few people from the Empire State, actually, ranging everywhere from Brooklyn to Buffalo and they would like to show a bit of extra thanks to their home state!
I would like to thank everyone in advance if they decide to send anything. Anything and everything is appreciated. I'd also like to note that I enjoy giving some things out to the Iraqi children here, for some of them have so little. So if anyone would like to send any toys or school supplies, the local population absolutely loves it. You would be surprised at how much one Jolly Rancher can light up a kid's face over here. A lot of them do look up to us, as we are making a huge difference over here in their country.
For everyone to get a better idea of who you've adopted I have attached a few pictures. The first photo is me at a vehicle checkpoint my platoon and our partner Iraqi forces set up on Christmas Eve. The second one is two of my buddies and I before a night mission (myself on the far left). The third is after my first mission in Iraq (again with myself on the far left). The fourth is another photo of me riding in the back of our vehicle. And lastly a photo of me playing around with a few local children. At the time I do not have a photo of my current platoon but I will get one eventually.
Again I would like to thank all of you for this and look forward to hearing from you again in the future.
Thanks so much,
PFC Holliday
PV2: Donavan Kilby Logan (Army)
Home State: Georgia
Deployed From: Ft. Hood TX
Age: 22
Likes Hunting, Fishing and Paint balling
As you may already be aware, our office has adopted Private Kilby through the Adopt a US Soldier program. Private Kilby is in the Army and has been deployed to Iraq since December 2008.
