New Mexico post gives $5,200 in OCW gifts

The holidays may be over, but American Legion Post 18 in Silver City, N.M., is still in the gift-giving spirit.

The post donated $5,200 in Operation Comfort Warriors (OCW) gifts to 35 residents at Ft. Bayard Medical Center, including televisions, iPads, electronics, sweats, board games and other items that aim to make the residents' stay in the VA hospital more comfortable and home-like. The American Legion's national OCW program allocated $20,000 to the three area VA medical facilities as part of the trip, and the local Wal-Mart store, where the Legionnaires purchased the gifts, donated a 40-inch flat-screen TV.

Two months ago, residents at the facility provided Post 18 with a "wish-list" of items they wanted. Armed with the list, Legionnaires from Post 18 went on a shopping spree at Wal-Mart last Friday, filling numerous carts full of items and loading the gifts onto two truckbeds to be transported to Ft. Bayard.

John Sterle, post 18 vice commander, and Paul Espinosa, from the Department of New Mexico, helped coordinate the event and load up the items for delivery. Sterle said the waiting area where the gifts were delivered was so packed with items, hardly anyone could fit in the room.

OCW is the Legion's flagship wounded-warrior assistance program. It aims to provide "comfort items" such as televisions and iPads to veterans at VA medical facilities to help make their stays there feel more like home.