That was the situation until I was at a party about a week ago. My wife and I wound up talking to an attractive young woman named Melanie Kreckovsky. In the course of our conversation, we discovered that Ms. Kreckovsky, who was in mufti that evening, was the commander of a U.S. Navy base.
The next day, when it occurred to me that she might know how I could go about getting my book into the hands of our young warriors, I got her e-mail address from the party’s host.
Within minutes, she had gotten back to me with the suggestion that I contact Carolyn Blashek, and even provided me with an e-mail address.
Ms. Blashek, who is affiliated with Operation Gratitude, a non-profit, all-volunteer, organization that sends thousands upon thousands of care packages to America’s deployed troops, promptly took me up on my offer.
This morning, the books were collected, and will soon be on their way to Iraq and Afghanistan and God knows where else.
For the record, from the time I wrote to Commander Kreckovsky to the time that Ms. Blashek got back to me, no more than 15 minutes had elapsed!
After three months, I have yet to hear from congressmen Royce, Bilbray, Doolittle, Dreier or McKeon.
In a nutshell, I think this little tale sums up the very real difference between politicians and the military.