When former Batavia Bulldog defensive lineman Pfc. Jason Ledbetter e-mailed me a few weeks ago that he and the rest of his 3rd Infantry Division soldiers were moving up from Kuwait into Iraq, I asked him what he needed from home and to get me his address as soon as he had one. Given where Jason is and what things are missing in his life, I consider “Leds” to be the perfect poster boy for the Batavia Cares Program, which supplies care packages to local soldiers serving in Iraq and Afghanistan. The group recently incorporated and changed its name to the Homefront Support Brigade.
In his playing days, at 6’3” and over 260, Jason would eat around the clock. When Leds was here for a party during the holidays, he hung around the food table and made certain we didn’t have to worry about leftovers. With army chow what it is, or isn’t, and the fact that in Iraq there are no pizza joints or fast food places to visit, Jason might waste away to, say, 200. Well, if the Homefront Support Brigade is able to continue doing their fine work, Jason will come home a whole man — physically and psychologically.

Ralph Gebes has been leading the group tirelessly for the past few years. They supply much needed boxes of goodies to Kane County men and women serving overseas. It’s not just Batavia residents they mail packages to, but they support men and women from the surrounding towns as well.

Ralph is ably assisted by volunteers like Sarah Giachino from St. Charles. Sarah not only often stands in line for hours in the post office mailing 75 to 100 boxes at a time, but she writes personal hand-written letters to our soldiers and sends personal e-mails to soldiers she has come to know and now considers friends. Having passed along Jason’s address to Sarah yesterday, I feel good knowing that it’s likely that by the end of next week Jason will be enjoying some beef jerky, Cracker Jack, a few cookies, some candy corn, and a few books. These treats will be gone by morning, since a treasure like this will always be shared with the rest of his artillery battery. Sarah will also be packing some toiletry items and maybe a disposable camera. A few more volunteers like Sarah and Fox Valley youths would be enlisting by the hundreds just to be on the receiving end of one of her special care packages.

All over the country programs identical to Batavia Cares have been closing down. Few schools now have troop support programs and many American Legion and Veteran of Foreign Wars posts have ceased operating their efforts of support. Making sure that Ralph can continue operating at an optimal level is more important than ever. He needs help with the cost of postage, people who can give a few hours of their time, or donate items that our troops have need of. Ralph can be reached at (630) 879-3588, or e-mail at rgebes@sbcglobal.net.        

The night of our party in December Jason sadly fell into the number of guests that were under 21. During the evening Jason frequently approached me and would say someone was driving him that night and respectfully asked if he could have one beer. It was very difficult having to say no each time he asked. I e-mailed him yesterday and said I have a case of MGD in my garage fridge with his name on it, awaiting his safe return. Since Jason enlisted in the Army, I have been telling him what a fine example of the American soldier he has become and how proud I am of him for the job he is doing.

Now it’s Batavia’s turn to make a gesture of appreciation by way of the United States Postal Service.

His e-mail is: skynyrd8676@yahoo.com

Jason’s mail address is:
PFC Jason Ledbetter
Bravo Battery, 1/41 FA
AR Ramadi
APO AE 09396

An e-mail on Feb. 5 from former Batavia Bulldog, Marine Lance Cpl. Nick Horner in part says, “Our area of operation went to one of the worst. We found at least 15 improvised explosive devices in the last two weeks… we’re spread so thin and the insurgents are flooding our area of operation now.” Nick and the rest of the Marines have had their tours in Iraq extended for two additional months.

I recently got a call from my son’s best friend, Jon Todd, whose Marine reserve unit is being activated and will deploy this summer. It seems nearly the whole 2004 Bulldog football team may be in Iraq by the end of the year.

Steve Shewalter Sr. is a Batavia resident who served with the 101st Airborne in Vietnam. His son, Steve, is with a reconnaissance unit in Germany awaiting deployment to either Iraq or Afghanistan.