Operation Panther

Hello,

We would like to give a heart felt “Thank you” for all the donations and thoughts, from the Bychinski-Downs’s family.

Brennen and his unit members look forward to those little pieces of home we send. Brennen sends his appreciation from Phoenix A.F.B. in Kabul , Afghanistan . Words cannot express the emotion your concern and generosity brings to our family. Brennen’s most recent e-mail on the last shipment he received:“Thanks so much for the latest box, every thing in there is good stuff we cannot always get here. Love the treats….keep them coming please.”

“Operation Panther” has become quite the phenomenon, we cannot express our thankfulness for spreading the word and the calls I have been receiving to support our troops. Some of the current projects are:

Ø Canterbury, Brownie troops (2^nd grade) are making “Operation Panther” Blankets as their November Service project, a special thank you to Nicole Bohn for coordinating!

Ø Canterbury, Brownie troops (3^rd grade) are making personalized stockings for the troops. A special thank you to my dear friend Melissa Seebantz for coordinating this!

Ø Highland View, is making Halloween good bags for the troops, a special thank you to Jill Zywicki for recommending Brennen!

Ø Sons of the Legion have donated money for shipping, a special thank you to Jerry and Diane Meyers for coordinating!

Ø Our cause ha even gone as far as Germantown ! Plat Elementary, grades K4-2^nd are drawing pictures and writing letters as well as collecting items. A big thank you to Julie and Caitlin Campbell. Caitlin is a teacher at Plat. Congrats on your first year as a teacher Caitlin!

Finally, since many of you are genuinely concerned and often ask how he is doing I have included a picture of Brennen being “coined” by his commander. Only 15 service men and women are coined each year for bravery or commendable service. This morning Brennen called and was about to explain what the “coin” represented but unfortunately as he started to tell me the line went haywire and we lost each other. He also called his father but unfortunately that call was missed. Once we know more background on this accomplishment we will send an update. We hope for that next week, unfortunately the calls and e-mails are far and few between. As Brennen expressed they get busy and the days tend to get away from them with little time to e-mail and call but luckily we do hear from he just about weekly.As many of you have seen on the news, things are escalating in Afghanistan . We appreciate you keeping all of our troops in your thoughts and prayers.

Regards,The Bychinski-Downs family.