Project Dekorte
I
just wanted to present the idea to anyone who might visit the
Caring For Troops web page. As you know, I have been a law
enforcement officer for 25 years and am a veteran of the
U.S. Navy.
My son Wayne is a Sgt. in the Marine Corps and currently serving
in
Iraq
.
I talk quite often with other police officers, paramedics,
and firefighters. We all would like to do something special for
our troops overseas. Since we as public servants work for
government agencies, we need to go out to the public to ask for
monetary support to help our troops. So here is the idea that I
presented to our Police Chief, Fire Chief, and City Manager.
Wouldn’t it be very cool if we could send something to the
troops that would be from home, be personal in nature, and also
provide comfort? Wouldn’t it be nice to represent our profession,
our citizens, our community, our state, and beloved nation? After
giving this considerable thought over many months, I came up with
the idea for a T-shirt and I hope a fitting design.
The T-shirt can be worn under the uniform shirt, or worn off
duty. I selected the military green or olive drab color so that
it can be worn under the uniform shirt. The design indicates our
city
REDMOND, OREGON. A copy of the
shoulder patch from police, paramedic, and fire are included on
the background of an American flag. The back of the shirt has the
inscription WHILE YOU ARE GONE …WE HAVE YOUR BACK …PROTECTING YOUR
FAMILIES. Please see the attachments of the art work.
The idea is to provide comfort in the form of clothing worn
next to the body, and the mental comfort of knowing that as they
protect us, that others will protect their families. Being away
from home is very difficult, worrying about the safety of your
family makes an already trying situation unbearable.
After I have shirts printed, I want to contact businesses and
service organizations to get donations for the cost of the
project. I want to be able to send these to Central Oregon
military serving in Iraq and Afghanistan, for everyone serving if
possible, at no cost to our troops. I would also like to gain the
support of every police and fire agency in our state, to get on
board and design their own T-shirt. I want
Oregon to show our support, the entire
state. I have shirts being printed even as we communicate, and
hope to have a sample this Friday.
Yours truly,
Gary DeKorte
