Southbury Charity Thanks Soldiers with Cash

For a soldier, coming home for leave isn't necessarily as restful as it sounds.   He can have a very short time to organize an expensive flight that he must pay for himself, and can't travel in uniform for fear of being targeted.

Southbury resident Kathryn SanAngelo, who has a son in the service, thought that was disgraceful.  She is the co-founder of the Thank-A-Soldier charity, which donates money to soldiers to defray their travel costs.

Monday night, the group gave $250 to their latest soldier, Middlebury's Thomas Canfield, a private finishing airborne training in Georgia.  Last week, they donated to Southbury resident Joshua Buccino.

"Every time some one sees a soldier they should thank them," said SanAngelo.  "That's where I got the name…Other charities donate things like gift baskets to [the troops] but we give them what they really need: money."

The charity, which works closely with the local VFW Post 1607, has supported 34 local soldiers so far.

It started in 2006, when SanAngelo's son Chad was stationed in Iraq.  She came to Mary Korsu, former president of the now defunct Women's Auxillary of the VFW looking for some way to acknowledge the troops.

First, Korsu contacted town governments, but said they were not doing anything either.  Finally, the two started up their charity.

"It takes women," said Korsu, playfully.

Korsu's husband, Ken, is the charity's treasurer and member of VFW Post 1607.  He served in Vietnam as part of the 101st Airborne.  According to Ken, the military provided travel for soldiers as recently as 2001, but stopped after the Sept. 11 attacks.

"It's disappointing the country doesn't support [the soldiers] in that way anymore," he said.

He did acknowledge that there was a kind of tradeoff, since communication with soldiers is easier than it was decades ago.

Canfield had only just gotten back from Fort Carson in Georgia when he was presented with a check.  He said that the donation was extremely generous, and that he appreciated the support that he received from people all over.

For example, while traveling in uniform after the airline lost his baggage, a traveller had traded seats with Canfield, so that the soldier could sit in first class.

Canfield — who graduated from Pomperaug High School in 2009 — said the 10-day-leave the charity was able to help fund was greatly appreciated, especially with Connecticut's currently relatively cold weather.

"[the weather] is a big relief," he said.  "Wearing 100 pounds of gear in 100 degree weather [in Georgia] is never good."

Canfield's mother, Yvette Merrifield was the one to reach out to SanAngelo and Korsu after reading about the charity in the Middlebury Bee Intelligencer.

Merrifield said that in addition to providing financial relief, she found it very helpful to talk to SanAngelo, since she did not know many other people with children in the military and she had been worrying about when Canfield was finally deployed.

"[Canfield] says 'it's my job, I'll be okay,'" said Merrifield.  "I tell him 'and it's my job to worry, I'm a mother."

 Donations to the program can be sent to VFW Post 1607, at P.O. Box 281, Southbury 06488.  Families seeking aid can contact Mary Korsu at 203-264-0211, Kathryn SanAngelo at 203-264-2819 or VFW commander Jim Fernandes at 203–267–4738.