Hats -- and shirts -- off to U.S. troops

So are Stacy Waterworth, Bruce Bouyer and scores of fellow firefighters, police and other public-safety officers around the region at the one-year anniversary of the start of war in Iraq.


		Gilbert W. Arias / P-I
	Shannon Spencer, left, and Liz Jackson sort through some of the hats and shirts donated by public-safety officers for U.S. troops in Iraq.

"Some shirts are a little frayed, gently worn because they're literally from off their backs," says Liz Jackson of Lakewood, who is collecting the assortment.

Her dining-room table is smothered with the response to the "Hero to Hero" idea she dreamed up a few months ago. Known to public-safety participants simply as "H2H," the idea is for hometown civilian "heroes" to send signed T-, polo or other shirts with logos from their fire or police departments to overseas military "heroes."

Solely by word of mouth, e-mail and shoe leather, Jackson has sparked a huge response. More than 200 shirts have been collected from around Western Washington. She hopes for more from around the state and beyond before Tuesday's deadline. The shirts will be packaged and sent to Fort Lewis' Stryker Brigade in Iraq by volunteers Feb. 28 at Camp Murray, the state's National Guard headquarters.

"This is my baby, starting small and getting bigger," Jackson, 46, said of the project. "Next year we're going national. We want to get the New York people involved."

Tacoma firefighters, who delivered around 120 shirts Wednesday, were impressed by Jackson's pavement-pounding, infectious energy when she approached them with her vision.

"I thought it was a very supportive, positive idea," said Lt. Stacy Waterworth of Tacoma's Engine Co. 7, recalling the day Jackson walked in the building.

"As a group we are in a job that is similar to the military in that it puts us in situations that could be dangerous, and we are there to serve the public," Waterworth said.

Waterworth, Leming and Bouyer spearheaded clearing the effort with higher-ups. Leming's crew of three from Tacoma's Engine No. 10 signed a shirt and included photos of the crew in front of a fire engine and a personal letter.

"We want to let them know they are in our prayers and thoughts and that they come home to their families and to us," she said.

"There's nothing political for or against the war in this," Leming said. "We are just supporting our troops, who are called upon to do their duty regardless of the political conditions."

Leming's motivations are personal. She has a son in Army basic training. But as a member of the Fire Department honor guard, Leming was affected by a pilgrimage to ground zero in New York City.

"I went to the FDNY memorial. My heart is there," Leming said "And now we have our sons and daughters overseas everyday in trenches risking their lives for what that started. My heart goes out to them. I can only imagine what it is like."

At Jackson's home yesterday, hats, jackets and patches were mixed among the assorted shirts, as well as personal letters, photos and other memorabilia.

"Hopefully some hometown boy or girl a little homesick will see something from home in these and wear them when they can and lift their spirits," Jackson said.

"Never forget 9/11 ," "Keep your head down," "We're behind you," "We have your back covered," and mostly "Thank you" were penned across lapels, pockets, collars and shirtsleeves.

Fire and police insignia from Chehalis, Auburn, Whidbey Island, San Juan, the Washington State Patrol peeked from the pile. Boeing's Haz Mat crew tossed in classy blue-denim shirts. Puyallup police donated the shirts for graduates of the anti-drug DARE program, including a bunch of small ones Iraqi kids can wear, Jackson said.

Perhaps DARE can stand for Dictator Abuse Resistance Education, Jackson joked.

Jackson said her motivations are simple. She comes from a military family, is an Air Force veteran, former flight attendant and mother of three of four children in or married into the military. She's also grandmother to a new generation of military "brats."

H2H is Jackson's latest personal, non-profit brainstorm to boost the spirits of men and women in the service and their families. Jackson's other labor of love is Operation Heartstone to comfort those separated by war. Jackson often attends departure ceremonies for soldiers heading overseas, giving away buckets of the 1-inch, polymer clay hearts she created, some in desert camouflage colors.