Manteca Volunteers Worry Americans Are Forgetting About Afghanistan
MANTECA (CBS13) – Once a month, Chuck Palmer puts together care packages for servicemen overseas.
"Most of the people we send them to we've never met," Chuck said.
His wife Terri says they get help from dozens of volunteers inside the American Legion Hall, sending a bit of home to troops in foreign lands.
"They have what they brought on their backs. Give them something from here that tells them 'this is home,' remind them that we care about them," Terri said.
The Palmers started sending care packages to troops in their son's memory.
"It's always hard to hear other children, or grandchildren, be deployed in the same war that we lost our son, with a five or seven year difference," Chuck said.
The Palmers will keep sending packages because the war will keep going. President Barack Obama announced Thursday troops will not be withdrawing from Afghanistan – a war that has gone on now 14 years.
"I'm glad they brought up the fact they weren't coming home soon, because they haven't come home. There's never been a time yet when they've all come home," Terri said.
"America is starting to forget. They think that all of our troops are home. They are not," Chuck said.
While the Palmers agree with the decision to keep troops in Afghanistan, they want Americans to remember they are there.
If you'd like to volunteer, the Palmers will be putting together care packages for our troops on Sunday at the American Legion Hall in Manteca.
