ONE OF OUR OWN, TAKING CARE OF OUR OWN

And a special note to my friend and college roommate, Defense Contractor Guy - you didn't know how on the money you were, did you?

Anyone wondering what else to stuff into those boxes for the troops, this story tells you what they all can use.

A soldier from the Friedberg Judge Advocate General office is on a mission to put books into the hands of soldiers deployed to Iraq.

Spc. Heather Holder, noncommissioned officer in charge of Friedberg’s Trial Defense Service, is contacting major bookseller chains and publishers for donations of books for the troops to read during their down time.

“My fiancée (Sgt. Arthur Ford, Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 1st Brigade, 1st Armored Division) is in Iraq, and all he asks for is books, books, books,” Holder said. “I looked at my receipts and realized I’ve been spending up to $200 a month on books to send to him and for him to pass out to other soldiers.”

In all, Holder estimates she has sent about 75 books since the unit deployed to Iraq in May.

Yet, the requests for books haven’t let up.

To better meet the needs of the 1st Brigade soldiers, Holder last week began contacting major book chains and publishers for donations of new books.

She has secured about 25 books from a Borders Books in Syracuse, N.Y., where Holder will be on leave beginning in September. She contacted Penguin publishers, Amazon.com, Borders and Barnes & Noble by e-mail last week and has yet to receive responses.

While she is on leave, she plans to contact those companies and more publishing houses by telephone or in person.

“I figure if I contact them in that way, I’ll get more timely responses,” she said.

With hopes of raising 200 or more books for the brigade, Holder said she is also accepting donations from libraries and military families.

Although she is accepting hard or soft cover books, Holder said that paperbacks are much easier for the soldiers to carry around with them.