GPS for Troops seeking donations
Pvt. Daniel Owen (left) and Cpl. Justin Hebert of Company B, 2nd Battalion, 5th Cavalry Regiment, input coordinates onto a digital advanced GPS receiver in Sadr City. U.S. Army Photo

GPS for Troops seeking donations

Minnesota Legion family members are requesting help in rounding up global positioning system units to donate to U.S. servicemembers deployed to the Middle East.

The American Legion, Auxiliary and other organizations have been buying and donating Lowrance iFINDER GPS units to U.S. servicemembers; through Operation Waypoint, the St. Augusta American Legion Post and Auxiliary Unit 621 have given away over 200 of these units to date. But with new technology, Lowrance has improved its handheld GPS units, so the sale and distribution of iFINDERs has been discontinued. The company's new handheld Endura does not have the chip developed for navigation in the Middle East at this time.

With the deployment of 30,000 U.S. troops in the next few months, Operation Waypoint is asking that anyone with a Lowrance iFINDER, H2O, Hunt, Expedition or Pro GPS unit in working condition consider donating them to the troops. The GPS units can be dropped off at any American Legion post or Gander Mountain store. The donor will receive a note of appreciation from the American Legion Auxiliary, with a statement of donation value for tax purposes.

Those donating GPS units (Lowrance only) need to provide their name, address and phone number. The GPS units, along with the personal information, should be shipped to the St. Cloud Gander Mountain store. Store employees will inspect the units and then load the Middle East details on a chip before shipping the units and chips to the deploying troops.