Boosting soldiers

A letter from a soldier in Iraq helped put the situation there into perspective for Johnie Lee Qualls.

While Capt. Milan D. George described the weapons his company is using as “some of the best,” he said there were areas in which the equipment could be better.

The glasses the soldiers were issued were “not the best” and the U.S. Army didn’t provide replacement parts, he said. Also, since they didn’t have proper seats for the gun turrets on their Humvees, they had to use cargo straps with a sleeping mat attached.

“We welcome any assistance we can get,” George wrote.

A Vietnam veteran himself, Qualls brought his organization, Soldiers of Today and Yesterday, into action.

“In Vietnam, I never received a package of my own. I got one letter from my sister,” he said. “I think it’s wonderful that people are sending packages over now.”

But Qualls isn’t sending cookies and DVDs. He’s providing supplies soldiers can use in battle. Along with ballistic glasses to protect against improvised explosive devices, his organization sends out seats for the Humvee turrets.

Other equipment includes masks soldiers can use for anything from keeping dust out of their face to coffee filters.

Socks that are better cushioned then military issued versions and straight-blade knives are also sent.

Qualls is sending all the equipment to George’s 150-member company from an office behind his Midland home.

His work is being funded partly by a $100,000 grant from the Texas Resources for Iraq-Afghanistan Deployment — or TRIAD — Fund. It’s one of 14 West Texas organizations funded in TRIAD’s recent round of grants.

Guy McCrary, who oversees TRIAD grants in West Texas as president and chief executive officer of the Permian Basin Area Foundation, said even though Qualls’ group is relatively new, it had proven itself as one of 31 groups to get TRIAD funding so far.

Soldiers of Today and Yesterday is also valuable because it’s made up of veterans, McCrary said.

“We were impressed by their passion for their work and their understanding of the issues that our troops are going through,” he said.

Soldiers of Today and Yesterday provides other services to current and former soldiers and their families, some of whom experience steep drops in pay going from the private sector to the military.

After he came back from Iraq more than a year ago, U.S. Marine Cpl. Kevin Rhoades of Andrews needed gall bladder surgery, which his wife said put a strain on the family’s finances. But Qualls came through, helping the family pay the electricity, gas and other bills.

“It was just a big relief,” Marcy Rhoades said. “We’ve been struggling since he got back from Iraq.”

Rhoades said she has told other military families about Qualls’s group.

“I think it’s a wonderful organization,” she said. “It’s a blessing to have an organization like this here.”

And soldiers want to reward Qualls for his work, which also includes an Internet radio station. He said they even sent him the hat former Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein was wearing when he was captured by U.S. forces in 2003.

“My wife says, ‘Put it on eBay,’ ” Qualls said. “I said, “No, it’s gonna be here forever.’ ”

For information on donating to Soldiers of Today and Yesterday, call 631-3429.

Other West Texas organizations to receive part of the TRIAD Fund’s recent $1.1 million in grants.

>> American Red Cross El Paso chapter.

>> American Red Cross Texas Panhandle chapter.

>> Big Bend Natural History’s Activets Program.

>> Centers for Children and Families.

>> Child Crisis Center of El Paso.

>> Community Action Program of Taylor County.

>> Family Promise of Lubbock.

>> Goodwill of El Paso Inc.

>> Jewish Family and Children’s Service, El Paso.

>> Operation Render Comfort.

>> Salvation Army, El Paso.

>> Salvation Army, San Angelo.

>> YWCA El Paso Del Norte Region.