An Angel for Our Soldiers

 
Robin Schmidt, a Delta flight attendant from Covington, holds up one of the care package items to be sent to troops overseas before a recent flight.

After listening to the familiar speech of stowing all carry-on items and how the seat cushion can be used as a floatation device, Delta flight attendant Robin Schmidt then asks a favor of everyone on board.
She passes around a journal, asking people to write a personal message to a soldier in Iraq or Afghanistan. When the journal is filled with jokes, prayers and notes of encouragement, she packs it up and sends it along with a care package to a soldier.
"This is not about war or politics," said Schmidt, 47, of Covington. "It's about the personal sacrifice these soldiers are making and if I can do something to brighten their day, then I will."
Schmidt has brightened a lot of days. Since 2002, she has sent care packages to soldiers she meets on her flights or to soldiers who are recommended to her. She began passing the journals around the plane in 2005 and has done so on every one of her flights since then. Hundreds of soldiers have received a journal written just for them.
"If we can bring smiles and laughter, even if it is just for a few minutes, to these people, well, then it is worth it," she said.
Schmidt 'adopted' Army National Guard Sgt. Tim Gallagher last year and sends care packages on a monthly basis. Although he enjoys the snacks and toiletries, he considers the journals the most moving and thoughtful of all the gifts he has received.
"They will be something I cherish for the rest of my life," he said via e-mail. "Something for the ages to look at and see how people really feel about what we are doing here."
Even when Schmidt does not have time to put together a care package, she tries to send her soldiers a postcard or short letter.
"The morale of soldiers can be made or broken from the amount of mail they do or do not receive," said Gallagher, who is stationed in Kandahar, Afghanistan. "What Robin has done for me is kept my spirits high and me constantly guessing and laughing."
Schmidt's goal is that no soldier ever feels he is forgotten. So last year she teamed up with Taylor Mill Elementary School and asked the students to write cards and letters to the soldiers who are patients in military hospitals overseas. Now, three or four times a year, all students in grades kindergarten through fifth, send their greetings.
"This is really good for our students," said Lois White, principal of Taylor Mill Elementary School. "It is an easy way to thank these people for what they do for us."
White explains that the first batch of cards that are sent each year are tied to Constitution Day.
"The teachers talk to the students about freedom and what rights we have," she said. "Then they explain that these soldiers are over there fighting for these rights. It is a wonderful service learning project."
Gallagher could not be more grateful.
"What Robin has done for me and my unit and the other soldiers and their units has been and is a total blessing," he said. "Robin is the epitome of a patriotic American, through and through. She is, hands down, an angel watching out for all the troops everywhere."