Thanks to the efforts of Legionnaires and ACO Hardware in Michigan, a wealth of sporting goods has been delivered to U.S. troops fighting in Iraq. Enough volleyballs, footballs, golf clubs and basketballs were collected to fill 18 large boxes. Legionnaire Gary Tanner and ACO Vice President Bob Dunlap coordinated "Operation Recreation," which attracted volunteers from American Legion posts, Michigan Military Moms, Michigan National Guard family readiness groups, and local veterans and servicemembers returning home from Iraq and Afghanistan.

"Bob Dunlap contacted our department adjutant, Pat Lafferty, and our PR director, Warren Stensrud, with a request to do something corporate-wide for our troops," Tanner said. After discussing several possibilities, it was decided that another collection drive would be best. "We took a survey among our various volunteer groups, and the overwhelming response was ‘Send them sporting goods!'" Tanner said.

ACO Hardware volunteered to use its trucks to collect donated equipment and store it in a vacant fabric store in Dearborn. But that store was sold before all the golf clubs and various types of balls could be sorted and packed. The Legion needed another storage place - fast.

"I contacted FOX-2 News in Detroit to see if they could help us," Tanner said. "They agreed to run our story, and sent out a camera crew to get some footage and interviews." When FOX-2 ran the story on its TV broadcast, four viewers contacted the station with offers to help. One of them suggested the Legion contact Kalitta Air out of Willow Run Airport in Ypsilanti; it had supported U.S. troops during Desert Storm and is currently supporting them in combat zones.

Tanner called up Kalitta Air and asked for help. Fittingly, the company has a U.S. postal contract to fly mail from the United States to Iraq and Afghanistan. Conrad "Connie" Kalitta, the company's owner, said Kalitta Air could fly everything overseas if the Legion could get the sporting goods to its maintenance facility in Oscoda (about 200 miles northeast of Dearborn).

"Less than an hour later, Bill Ashton of Kalitta Air called me back to say they had hangar space available for us," Tanner said. "If we could get everything to Willow Run Airport in Ypsilanti, they'd haul it to Oscoda in their corporate truck," and volunteers could start sorting and packing the donations.

ACO Hardware brought the goods from Dearborn to Ypsilanti, and Kalitta took care of the rest. A 747 aircraft arrived at Oscoda for scheduled maintenance, and on Sept. 4 all those golf clubs, golf bags, golf balls and other sports gear departed Michigan for Newark, N.J. The next day, the 747 left for Bahrain.

From Bahrain, Operation Recreation made its way to Iraq - the Air Force base in Balad, the Marine base at Al Asad, and the Army command in Mosul. "This amazing journey sure took some unexpected twists and turns, but in the end went from crisis to miracle in one week flat," Tanner said.

Thanks to ACO Hardware, The American Legion's Department of Michigan and several volunteer organizations, U.S. troops are now enjoying golf games in the world's largest sand trap.

Reprinted from The American Legion Online Update. To subscribe to The American Legion Online Update, click here.