There are definitely more than 18,000 Americans in the military stationed all around the world but I am sure that they would all appreciate the gesture that a cigar company from East Allen Township. These good people are donating 18,000 cigars to troops abroad, in cooperation with Cigars International. If you total the costs, the whole donation will amount to more than $65,000.
If you cannot grasp just how important this seemingly small gesture is, try putting yourself in the shoes of an American soldier serving in a foreign land. Leigh Valley Live just published a feature article on this:
Staff Sgt. Kurt Johnson still remembers his first smoke in Iraq.
After a particularly stressful patrol, he said his fellow soldiers in the U.S. Army received a surprise donation of cigars.
They set up some lawn chairs they found lying around, lit up their cigars and, without saying a word, started smoking in the desert.
“It was a chance to just spend time with one another and not think about what was going on,” said Johnson, currently serving with the Bethlehem Recruiting Station. “It kind of gives you a sense of being back home.”
For most of us who live in our comfort zones, smoking a cigar may be part of everyday life. For our troops stationed elsewhere, though, it means so much more – as you can see from that short snippet.
If you want to help spread encouragement to our troops, you can actually do so yourself as there many programs involving this.