Chris Chocola: “the memories are obviously wonderful and rewarding. And as the gentleman recalls, we got to Camp Phoenix about midday…”

“the memories are obviously wonderful and rewarding. And as the gentleman recalls, we got to Camp Phoenix about midday and went to the mess hall where there were several soldiers in there enjoying lunch. It was a delicious lunch, as I recall. And having the opportunity during the holiday season to walk in there and hand a little piece of home to a Hoosier soldier unexpectedly is something that certainly I think we got more out of it than anyone else. And I have to thank our constituents for responding in such a generous way. It is an amazing response in a very short period of time for people to go to the effort to thank our men and women in uniform for their service, for being away from home at a very difficult time of year to be away from home. And the gentleman is right. We would hand them a pile of cards, and they would kind of forget we were there. They would start looking through those cards and reading the messages. There were a lot of unique approaches in the messages, and so it was a great thrill that certainly I will always remember. And I remember one soldier in particular whose name was Oliver Jackson, and I walked up to him, and he said, Hey, I know you. He said, I am from South Bend, Indiana. And I said, I know where that is and thank you for your service. So we sat down and talked for a while, and he said he was going to be home on leave in a couple weeks. And I said, When you come home, call me. And I gave him my contact information. And he did.…”