RIFLE, Colo.—Serving in Iraq, Staff Sgt. Sean Rash received his share of candy, shaving kits and other gifts mailed by donors back in the United States.
Nothing struck him like the arrival of some letters sent to him and his comrades from Cathy Meskel.
The mailings included medallions of St. Michael, the patron saint of soldiers. Before he knew it, Rash saw the medallions hanging inside Humvees and around soldiers’ necks.
The medallions proved meaningful even to troops who weren’t very religious, Rash said.
“They were able to grab ahold of something and believe in that, and that got them home,” he said.
Now Rash has returned home himself. He and his wife, Candi, and their three children live in Idaho, but the former Palisade and New Castle resident made a special trip back to Colorado so he could pay back Meskel, who has sent nearly 25,000 letters to soldiers.
Joined by family and friends, the two met for the first time Saturday in Rifle, where Meskel lived until recently moving to Cedaredge. At a Rifle city park, Rash presented Meskel with the Freedom Salute Award, on behalf of the Idaho National Guard. Rash said the honor usually is presented to soldiers, but a deserving exception was made in Meskel’s case.
“You’ve earned that as much as anybody else,” he told Meskel as he handed her a medal, American flag and certificate recognizing her volunteerism.
“It says American soldier,” Meskel said with a slight laugh, looking at the inscribed frame containing the flag.
“I’m finally a soldier,” she marveled, no doubt thinking of her efforts on behalf of soldiers dating to when she was 11 and put on a bracelet bearing the name of a prisoner of war in Vietnam.
“Can I put that on?” Meskel asked Rash, eyeing the medal he gave her.
“Absolutely,” he answered.
“I want to wear it all day,” she said, donning her medal just as so many soldiers have worn the medallions she has sent them.
The POW whom Meskel honored as a youth didn’t make it out alive, but that only seemed to fuel her desire to remember soldiers in future wars. During the Gulf War, she sent about 100 letters to soldiers. She expanded the program during the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan with the help of many financial donors.
“It’s just a sign of support, that we’re thinking and praying for them, that they’re not forgotten,” she said.
Saturday’s occasion was emotional for onlookers, Meskel and Rash. Her honor was announced about a year ago, but Rash’s latest deployment was extended and it wasn’t until Saturday that he was able to present it to her.
The date proved coincidental. It was three days after the fifth anniversary of the start of the war in Iraq. Five years ago Saturday, on the third day after the war started, Meskel decorated Rifle’s main street with yellow ribbons to salute the troops.
Meskel didn’t realize Saturday was the anniversary of her yellow ribbon project until it was pointed out to her.
“Oh wow, it is, isn’t it? How appropriate. That makes it even more special,” she said.
———
Eds note: Donations to Meskel’s Support Our Soldiers program may be mailed to Cathy Meskel, 205 N. Grand Mesa Drive, Cedaredge 81413. Names of soldiers for her to mail letters to may be e-mailed to soldierwatch@hotmail.com
———
Information from: The Daily Sentinel,
