Cookies for Heroes, 1991, by Ashley Wroten
From MemoryArchive
Who: Ashley Wroten What: Cookies for Heroes When: 1991 Where: San Antonio, Texas
Growing up in San Antonio with a father who had been in the Air Force and a grandfather in Military Intelligence (which he said was an oxymoron), I was constantly aware of the US Armed Forces and our military involvement around the world. At the time of the Gulf War, there were five military bases in San Antonio (since then one has closed). Though I was very young I knew that the military was preparing for war by the increased number of aircraft that started leaving the city. The camouflage humvees carrying troops who were going and coming from the war games at Camp Bullis (a training ground for military exercises) filled the city streets. As a sidenote, when we were preparing to go to Kosovo in the late 1990s, my family had moved to a home that was only a few miles from Camp Bullis. As war became imminent, the ground below us would actually shake from the blasts at the practice battleground, and you could hear the rapid fire of automatic weapons at all hours.
My Girl Scout troop decided to get involved in the Gulf War effort by sending stuff over to the troops during the holiday season. Through the Girl Scouts of San Antonio, we rented out a community kitchen to bake cookies and send them to the troops in Iraq. Each group of girls worked in two hours shifts baking chocolate chip and oatmeal raisin cookies. We had learned that any materials sent to the troops needed to be in solid metal cans so they would arrive undamaged. Since metal cans were not “pretty” in the eyes of all these second-grade girls, we decided to decorate them. Looking back on it, I’m sure our permanent marker artwork on the cans was probably quite hideous! But that did not matter. What mattered was that our uniformed heroes were going to receive a can of cookies on Christmas with a card thanking them and sending love and prayers. We wanted more than anything to make them smile and get to have a glimmer of happiness during that tough time. While we were busy baking, adults and veterans talked to us about the honor and valor of our troops and how they deserve the highest respect for serving our country. I also remember them playing patriotic songs on an old-school boombox, and all my friends singing along with the adults while we worked.
It is a really special memory for me; I cherish that experience so much. I felt as though I was actually making a difference in someone’s life, and that is an irreplaceable feeling. We were afraid that our efforts would be in vain and the cookies might not make it. But later on we got a letter from a soldier who thanked us from the bottom of his heart with such simple sincerity that I still tear up thinking about it. If you are a soldier or a former soldier reading this post, thank you so much for everything you have done for our great country, you are a true hero.
