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Updated: 9:42 AM Jul 24, 2009
Red Arrow Letters: Making sure every soldier gets a note from home
At Country Jam, a little ways back from a main stage filled with big names like Tim McGraw is a little girl hoping every fan has time to send some love to our soldiers overseas Posted: 8:23 PM Jul 23, 2009Reporter: Mary Rinzel with Photographer Duane Wolter Email Address: mary.rinzel@weau.com |
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At Country Jam, a little ways back from a main stage filled with big names like Tim McGraw is a little girl hoping every fan has time to send some love to our soldiers overseas.
Slightly tucked away, her head just visible above her table, sits a ten year old from Stanley.
"I started a program called Red Arrow Letters,” Amanda Wright tells us. “I started it because I have a brother. His name is Kane Lambert and he's in the Wisconsin National Guard."
Kane Lambert is serving in Iraq with the 32nd Infantry Red Arrow Brigade.
"My family misses him a lot. He calls me and says he misses us too," Amanda says.
She says during one phone call, her brother thanked her for a note she sent him; then told her not everyone is lucky enough to get letters from home. Amanda's project was born.
"I decided to write some letters and send them over to the soldiers so that they'd have a letter. But, then (Kane) told me there's 3,200 soldiers over there so I said I’m going to need some help," Amanda says with a tiny smile.
"We were really proud of her. I think it's quite an idea for a 10 year old," says Chris Wright, Amanda's dad.
Chris and his wife Becky helped their daughter set up her stand around western Wisconsin.
"It brings tears to my eyes because I know how much this means to my husband," says Christie Anderson, a Jam fan up from Sussex, near Milwaukee.
Anderson's husband is also a Red Arrow soldier stationed in Iraq. When she saw Amanda’s pens and loose-leaf so neatly laid out, she stole a moment to help with something special.
"It really means a lot to them,” Anderson says. “It just shows us how much this war has affected our young children. They know what’s going on and that their freedom and future is at stake. They know they need our men and women over there to defend our freedom.”
So, as Jam fans wander their ways through the grounds, you can be certain that a certain ten year old will continue to stand guard at her booth until her mission is complete.
"I think it's important that they know they are thanked over here and people over here are thinking of them,” Amanda says.
Amanda and her parents will be at Jam all three days. You can find her right next to the National Guard rock climbing wall.
If you would like to write a letter, you can e-mail it to Amanda at redarrowletters@hotmail.com.
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