Deb Boucher This is Me

 Web References

1. 1. Lowell Sun Online - 'We remember they're still there'

   www.lowellsun.com/local/ci_449 - [Cached]

   Published on: 10/15/2006   Last Visited: 10/15/2006

   PELHAM -- Deb Boucher places a violet and turquoise slip of money on the table. A picture of Saddam Hussein graces one side.
   
   "Isn't that cool?"
   
   It's 250 dinar, the official currency of Iraq, worth about 25 cents. A U.S. soldier mailed it to her in thanks for a care package Boucher sent him.
   
   The solider is just one of many troops Boucher has reached out to, and helped others reach out to, during the past four years.
   
   Boucher describes herself as an unofficial "go-between" for local residents and local soldiers stationed abroad.
   
   A clerk at the Pelham Post Office, she keeps a list of the names and addresses of local soldiers who are overseas. When someone wants to send an item to a soldier, be it supplies or a letter, Boucher provides their contact information.
   
   "I hand them a name and an address, and they go to town with it," she said.
   
   She was recently was named the named "Citizen of the Year" by the John H. Hargreaves Memorial Veteran of Foreign Wars Post 10722. It was the second year in a row
   
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   Boucher won the award.
   
   Boucher does not know anyone stationed overseas, and the military history in her family is limited to her father's service during the Korean War. The Pelham native's reason for doing what she does is simple. She saw a need and decided to fill it.
   
   "I felt somebody should do something, and I felt I was in a really good position at the time to do it," said Boucher. "I took it up and haven't stopped yet. I probably won't stop until they come home."
   
   For Boucher, supporting the troops is much more than a bumper-sticker slogan.
   ...
   "Everybody looks for the mail, regardless of who they are," said Boucher. "It's just human nature. When a soldier gets a letter from an 8-year-old, it's pretty cool."
   
   Boucher estimates she has helped people send mail to at least 100 local soldiers since troops were deployed after Sept. 11, 2001. Typically, she keeps a roster of about 25 soldiers who are currently overseas. Working at the post office, Boucher gets to meet almost everyone in town. When she finds out a new soldier has been deployed, she adds his name and address to her list after getting permission from his family.
   
   In the past six weeks, Boucher has set up six families with soldiers. She is in the process of arranging for Boy Scouts to send items overseas, and she has helped second- and third-grade classes in Pelham start a letter-writing project.
   
   "I can't even imagine being away from your family for a year, never mind in a desert," said Boucher. "I think it's important we let them know we remember they're still there."
   
   To give Boucher the name and address of a deployed soldier, or to get a soldier's contact information, e-mail her at dboucher4@verizon.net.