[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 156 (2010), Part 10]
[Senate]
[Page 13650]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                         KISSES FOR OUR TROOPS

  Mr. LEAHY. Mr. President, I am honored to share a Vermont community's 
tribute to the stout hearts and brave souls of the service men and 
women serving overseas.
  This year, in recognition of Vermont's largest military deployment 
since World War II, the townspeople of Clarendon, VT, sought a way to 
show their support for Americans stationed in Iraq and Afghanistan. At 
the town's elementary school, 39 children of the ages of 7 to 10 
recorded a song called ``Box of Kisses'' for our troops in the National 
Guard. With the help of two local musicians, James Mee and Michael 
Mugrage, the students of Clarendon Elementary School devoted their 
lunch and recess time to this project. Students also spent their free 
time handcrafting more than 500 paper boxes filled with brief personal 
messages and pieces of candy as tokens of their thanks for the 
sacrifices being made by these Vermonters serving abroad.
  Although Box of Kisses is being sent to hundreds of soldiers, this 
community's project is a highly personal act for many families in 
Clarendon. Within this school community of only 198 students, 12 people 
have family members serving in Afghanistan. Marcelle and I are so proud 
of and grateful for our Nation's servicemembers and their families. So 
are Vermonters in every community throughout our State, who are showing 
support for our soldiers' families in ways small and large every day--
by mowing lawns, babysitting, shoveling sidewalks, and through many 
other small kindnesses. Clarendon's story is another example of why I 
am proud to be a Vermonter.
  I ask unanimous consent that there be printed in the Record an 
article, published in the Rutland Herald, in which reporter Cristina 
Kumka tells this heartening story from Clarendon.
  There being no objection, the material was ordered to be printed in 
the Record, as follows:

                [From the Rutland Herald, July 14, 2010]

      Love in a Box: Vermont Residents Send Kisses to Afghanistan

                          (By Cristina Kumka)

       All it took was one small Vermont community and one song to 
     connect troops overseas with home.
       Shortly after Vermont's largest military deployment since 
     World War II occurred this January, residents of Clarendon 
     and students from the town's elementary school wanted to do 
     something for 10 families in their community with loved ones 
     sent off to battle in Iraq and Afghanistan.
       Children in grades 2-6, some of whom with mothers or 
     fathers serving overseas, recorded a song by Rutland musician 
     James Mee and fellow artist Michael Mugrage called ``Box of 
     Kisses'' and made 200 CDs.
       Then they crafted boxes using simple white paper and 
     crayons and filled each one with a note and red, white and 
     blue candy donated by the Vermont Country Store.
       The children wrote what they knew--a simple ``thank you,'' 
     ``I love you'' or other thought--to remind 500 troops 
     individually what their purpose there was and how much their 
     sacrifice meant to the children.
       Most of the project was documented--the song posted on 
     Internet and aired on public access television and student 
     fundraisers for materials and support filmed on DVDs.
       The CDs and the boxes are in the process of being airlifted 
     or parachuted in to troops in populated or desolate areas of 
     the Middle East until each gift is gone.
       What began as simple gestures intended to remind troops of 
     home has caught the attention of Americans across the 
     country.
       Mee said that in all in his 30 years in the music industry 
     no other tune or project has drawn so much attention.
       On Tuesday, Mee said he's been contacted by a major candy 
     company looking to invest in the children's idea, a top music 
     industry professional from New York and a Texas-based radio 
     station serving a million military personnel and other 
     listeners in more than 177 countries.
       ``I feel like I'm in a Disney movie,'' Mee said.
       The song he originally created 10 years ago as a love 
     ballad with the lyrics, ``When you're far from home, Feeling 
     like you're all alone, Don't be afraid . . . cause you're 
     always with us, When you open up your box of kisses,'' has 
     never been so popular.
       But the exposure is mere icing on a larger cake, Mee said.
       ``The kids are singing their hearts out, many who skipped 
     recess and lunch, and there's something about that,'' Mee 
     said. ``No matter how skeptical and cynical you may be, kids 
     singing like that just melts your heart.''
       Clarendon's Maria Stephan is hand-delivering one of the 
     boxes and a copy of the song to First Sgt. Francisco Herrera, 
     for his three children. Two of his children, Abigail and 
     D.J., attend Clarendon Elementary School and were key members 
     of the volunteer project.
       The project was a way for them to keep their dad close to 
     home even when he's away.
       Stephan, a strategic planner with the Office of the 
     Coordinator for Reconstruction and Stabilization who directly 
     reports to Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, said the 
     troops need reminders of home and America needs a reminder of 
     them.
       ``People (some troops) have a sense when they come back 
     that it's a forgotten war,'' Stephan said.
       ``With the whole McChrystal (former Gen. Stanley 
     McChrystal) thing . . . sometimes the dangerous stuff gets 
     forgotten,'' she said. ``It's nice to know people do care.''

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