To the editor:
Merry Christmas to the military and families of the United States of America, our true heroes.
I am requesting all those who read the heartwarming story of Irma Anderson receiving a letter from her dad who was drafted into the military in 1943 when she was five days old, to join us in releasing a balloon on Dec. 12 at 11 a.m. at the Veterans Memorial Cemetery in Caribou. You can release your balloon in your own local Veterans Memorial Cemetery also in your area at the same time. Let’s pay it forward to our soldiers and families who have blessed our country with freedom and honor for so many years..
When Irma was six months old her dad as a soldier sent her a sweet, beautiful love letter explaining how much he loved her but couldn’t send her a Christmas gift because of where he was.
We invite all of you to join us. Send a letter to someone you may know, or family who are serving now or have passed on. Let’s wish them all Merry Christmas by “air balloon mail.” Put your address or phone in the letter asking anyone who finds it to let you know where it was found and pay it forward to someone they know in the military. Please put Irma’s address in your letter: Irma Anderson, P.O. Box 83, New Sweden, Maine 04762, so everyone can send her a small note of where it was found. Let’s send Christmas wishes to our military and families across the world. They are the true heroes in America.
Put your letter in a small zip-lock bag inside of another small zip-lock that you can put a small hole in without hurting the inside bag. Tie it to a balloon and send it up. We are hoping many can come to the Caribou Veterans Memorial Cemetery for lift off. You should come earlier to tie up your balloon. If you can’t come then send it up right at your own home. We would love to receive a photo of you doing this to keep this going.
Irma has had her dad’s letter, carrying it in her heart, since 1943. Irma has written a letter back to her dad for this Christmas season thanking him for the real gift of his letter when she was a baby. She will tie the letter to a balloon on the 12th and release it into the sky from the cemetery in Caribou.
We ask all to join her with their letters, releasing them with hers, and hopefully we will keep this going across the country. Hopefully some letters will land in war torn countries, sending a message that we honor all our soldiers who fought for our freedom over the years and we will not allow any force to put our country into fear and try to take our freedom away. We are the United States of America, the land of the free and home of the brave.
Come and join us, or do it in your own local memorials where you live, at 11 a.m. Dec. 12. Thank you very much!
