AIDING TROOPS IN IRAQ: Help from home

A family seeks to upgrade equipment of a Marine squad

Families nationwide have filled cardboard boxes with comfort foods, magazines and toiletries to make the Middle Eastern desert a little more accommodating for U.S. troops there.

But one Las Vegas family took the idea of a care package one step further.

Sgt. Ken DeLozier, 25, is currently serving in Iraq with the 2nd Platoon, Alpha Company of the 1st Battalion 7th Marines. His family -- older brother James; mother, Denise Howard; and stepfather, Jim Howard -- got together to give the 39 soldiers in the squad an equipment upgrade.

As James DeLozier drove his brother to Southern California for deployment, the Marine made a wish list of five items that would make operating in Iraq a little easier. The list consisted of flotation vests, needed to help carry more ammunition; drop magazine holders; high-quality gloves; magazine pouches; and rifle-mounted lights with a laser sights and remotes.

On the low end of the spectrum, the gloves cost about $24, while a rifle-mounted light with laser sight topped $400. To make the wish list come true, the family needs to raise $20,000.

After much research, James DeLozier found out that two of the items, the drop magazine holder and the magazine pouch, were going to be impossible to secure in time to send out with the rest of the items. The family plans to have most of the items in Iraq by Thanksgiving.

"They didn't expect to get any of them because of the price," James DeLozier said. "The vests alone are going to cost $9,000. The light is also going to cost $9,000. I had high hopes. I decided, if I'm going to do this, I'm going to do this all the way."

Owners of Dowco Inc. in Wisconsin, friends of the family, donated $8,000 to the care package. James DeLozier sold yellow ribbons for $10 apiece that were accompanied by raffle tickets. On Oct. 26, he hosted a slot tournament and raffle at the Outside Inn, West Charleston Boulevard at Hualapai Way, the bar and grill where he works as a bartender.

"If this stuff can anyway help them do their jobs better and get them home safely, I'm going to do it," DeLozier said. "It's not weaponry, so they can use it."

Sgt. Ken DeLozier's company patrols the Sunni Triangle, an area west of Baghdad, around the city of Fallujah. He also has been through Tikrit, Saddam Hussein's hometown; and Al Quim on the Syrian border. Two soldiers in his platoon suffered severe injuries, one lost his legs when a land mine tore through the Humvee he was riding in. None has died.

"I guess their morale is super low. He wanted something to tell the guys," DeLozier said of a recent conversation between his brother and his mother. "When my mom told him how much we raised, he almost started crying on the phone. These guys are so grateful that anybody wants to do anything for them. It made it all worth it."

Denise Howard said she is grateful for what the military has provided her son, but is happy she can do something other than watch CNN and listen for the phone to ring.

Howard has taken it upon herself to write letters to Sens. Harry Reid, D-Nev., and John Ensign, R-Nev.; Reps. Jon Porter, R-Nev., and Shelley Berkley, D-Nev.; presidential candidate Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass.; and President Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney, to ask for higher quality equipment for the soldiers in Iraq. She has gotten no response, she said.

"This is an act of love on his part," she said. "James would probably be over there himself, but he has a steel rod in his leg. This is his act of service, and it's his love gift."

A few months into her son's deployment, she doesn't panic anymore, like she did in the beginning, whenever the news reports a Marine was injured or killed. She anticipates her son's calls every seven days or so, letting her know he lived another week.

"Until someone knocks on your door, or someone calls, you don't know," she said. Her son graduated from Chaparral High School and enlisted in the Marines at age 17. "This is a decision he made nine years ago, and this is where he has to be because of his decision."

Once the $20,000 is raised, and the equipment is sent, James DeLozier and the Howards said they want to extend the idea to serve the whole company. In the meantime, they're padding the boxes with candy, jerky and patriotic T-shirts.

"The first letter I got from Ken, it stated we belong there," Howard said. "He didn't want to go. He's like anybody else. It's a little scary when people are shooting at you.

"They had a beautiful country 40 years ago. When little kids go to take candy from soldiers and are murdered, that's wrong. The innocents need protecting. He's there getting shot at. If he thinks we belong there, he knows more than we do."

To help the Marine Equipment Fund, contact James DeLozier by e-mail at jamesdelozier@yahoo.com or by calling the Outside Inn at 933-1101.


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