Reporters on the Job

• Clothes for Soldiers: While researching today's story about Iraq (page 1), staff writer Dan Murphy came across a request by a member of the Civil Air Patrol (CAP), a civilian auxiliary to the US Air Force, asking for clothing for wounded soldiers arriving in Germany from Iraq. "The Landstuhl Regional Medical Center (LRMC) here in Germany got an influx of about 500 wounded troops from Iraq last week and more arrive almost daily. They arrive straight from the battlefield, with only the torn, dirty, bloody clothes on their back. They have no clothes, underwear, or toiletry items," says Lt. Col. Lori Noyes of the Ramstein Cadet Squadron in an e-mail to CAP chapters.

"The military gives them a $250 voucher to buy clothing and toiletries at the BX, but many [of the troops] are not ambulatory, and those who are have to wait for a bus to get down to the BX on Ramstein seven miles away. The BX runs out of the clothing and it takes weeks for more to come in." A list of items needed can be found at: http://scwg.cap.gov/sptg/home/ramstein.htm

Donations can be sent to:
Ramstein Cadet Squadron
NHQ-OS-119
Unit 3395
APO AE 09094

For those who want to help the Iraqi victims of bombings, contributions can be sent to the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies.

PO Box 372
CH-1211 Geneva 19
Switzerland

www.ifrc.org/helpnow/donate/donate_response.asp

David Clark Scott
World editor