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46 | LIFE IN SOLERA | JUNE 2023 | During our early years of sending care packages and supporting our service members, most of our support went to Afghanistan and Iraq. It was not until later that we began supporting our military in Africa. Here are four of our African locations. We are still sending care packages to three of these countries. Let me digress a bit about the African country that we have not sent to for a very long time. We had been supporting an Army Master Sergeant in Afghanistan. He was mentoring a large group of Latvian troops, that was part of a NATO group. Because he spoke their language, he was to be with them on their duties. Also, because of their limited military experience, he was tasked to keep them out of trouble. He sent me several of their stories. When he and the Latvian troops rotated back home, I thought that would be the last of our communications. But, 18 months later, he contacted me to let me know that he was going to Liberia, Africa, as part of a mixed U.S. military group training the Liberian military. We supported the group during his tour. He had not been back stateside more than six months when a very large and serious outbreak of Ebola broke out in Liberia and neighboring countries. We have been supporting various military personnel and their units in Djibouti, Africa, since 2012. Djibouti is known as the "Horn of Africa" because of its shape and location in the extreme northeastern part of the country. We have supported consecutive units in Mali, Africa, since 2020. They are advisers to the NATO Peacekeepers. Niger is the African country where we have sent the most help. In 2016, we started supporting construction groups in Niger. First the Navy Seabees, then Army Reservists, and now the North Carolina National Guard. We also supported three Army Special Forces units. In the past, we supported an Air Force group in the southern part of the country. Recently, we have been sending parcels to a different Air Force group at that same airbase. The three photos were sent to us by our Senior Airman contact. He is standing with the female Airman under a transport aircraft wing. The other photos were taken at package opening time. Solera neighbors make this all happen. Thank you for caring. ~ Jesse Donardt SUPPORT OUR TROOPS VETERAN ASSISTANCE Billy (Mitch) Mitchell is a resident and Veteran who has voluntarily worked with individuals and the Veterans Administration to assist Veterans in obtaining benefits. If you are a Veteran and want to know which benefits you may be eligible for, contact Mitch at (951) 797-0800. The Flags were raised in May for Armed Forces Day (5/20/23) and Memorial Day (5/29/23). They will also be raised in June for D Day (6/6/23) and Flag Day (6/14/23). Thank you to those few dedicated resident volunteers who are up at the crack of dawn on these special days to put up and take down our flags. Contact for the Flag Brigade is Nick Gercis at nick.gercis@gmail.com. Jesse Donardt is a resident of Solera and someone who cares for our troops overseas. Jesse collects things that our troops need and enhances the morale and well-being of these troops worldwide by shipping care boxes containing items specifically requested by them. Please support Jesse and the SUPPORT OUR TROOPS program. Jesse can be reached at (951) 845-9028. To all veterans, THANK YOU FOR YOUR SERVICE! Billy (Mitch) Mitchell is a resident and veteran who has voluntarily worked with individuals and the Veterans Administration (VA) in order to assist veterans in obtaining veteran benefits. If you are a veteran and interested in finding out which benefits you may be eligible to obtain, contact Mitch at (951) 797-0800. FLAG BRIGADE