Operation Support Our Troops Members Prove Compassion Is Healing

Operation Support Our Troops - America (OSOT) wants the men and women overseas to know that someone’s thinking about them. They do so with boxes crammed to the very brim with candy, puzzle books, drink mix packets, crackers and handmade cards.

“You’d be surprised how few of them get mail,” said Orland Park resident Lynne Wojcik. Her own son, Adam, served two tours in Iraq, but returned to civilian life around three years ago.

The organization is completely volunteer-run, shipping out more than 5,000 boxes annually. Recipients are added to the organization’s list via email referrals.

Army veteran Zach Arnold started his involvement with the organization as a recipient. The Naperville resident said he asked his mother to send him packages when he deployed in 2006. Since she was an OSOT volunteer, she obliged.

Arnold suffered injuries from an improvised explosive device in May of 2007. He spent a year rehabilitating, and tagged along to packaging days when he returned to the area. He’s remained involved ever since.

While volunteers simply refer to them as packages, ‘care package’ is a fitting term. Around 35 volunteers are present in OSOT’s Lisle warehouse on Sept. 10, and many of them have personal ties to individuals on active duty. The task is very close to their hearts.

Elmhurst resident Megan Osgood said she’s been particularly active with the group since the deployment of her fiancé, Joe, at the beginning of the year. Osgood “likes knowing other guys are out there with him.” She said OSOT’s efforts are a way for volunteers to show the troops they never leave their loved one’s thoughts.

“This is something they genuinely look forward to. One of them can be having a bad day or a bad week, get back from a mission literally days long, and come back to this awesome box that’s been packed just for them,” she said.

But many volunteers would say they’re helping themselves at these gatherings as well.

“No one understands what you’re going through unless they’re going through it,” according to Wojcik. Members offer each other emotional support through conversation while packing, whether it's telling stories, sharing letters or seeking guidance.

“Everyone here, regardless of where we’re at—having relatives in harm’s way or wanting to do our part to help—it’s a bond. We have military and they have to be supported,” said Marine mom Barbara Giacomino, of Naperville.

The group begins each packaging session with a prayer. OSOT does not have a specific religious affiliation. Lisle resident Betty Krupp said they were careful to introduce prayers into their packing ritual, but “no one has objected.”

“Faith needs prayer at times,” Wojcik added.

While he says he usually reads submitted prayers, on this particular Saturday Lynne’s husband, Rod, chooses a message related to Sept. 11, 2001.

One line of the prayer rings true to their task: “Compassion is healing.”

Taking a Leap of Faith

For some OSOT members, healing also comes in the form of a Leap of Faith.

The organization pairs with the Golden Knights, the U.S. Army’s parachute team. Golden Knights and trained photographers take family members of fallen soldiers on skydiving jumps—the activity is a chance for families to honor their loved ones by living to the fullest.

Naperville resident Joe Caruso coordinated the group’s latest Leap of Faith effort. Two weeks ago, Joe, his wife Gloria, and more than a dozen other participants traveled to Skydive Chicago in Ottawa, to take the Leap of Faith.

Joe said he went on his first jump last February for his son David, who was a Marine.

“He loved jumping, it was his favorite thing he ever did,” he said.

Gloria and their older son, Mike, took the jump this time around. She said after the initial whoosh out of the plane, it felt like floating.

“I wasn’t nervous,” she said. “I wanted to experience what he had done.”

(Find a picture of Gloria’s leap on the OSOT website.)