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38 | LIFE IN SOLERA | JULY 2023 | 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 country of Djibouti, Africa is strategically located in the north eastern part of the continent. The French Foreign Legion was one of the first to have a base in the country. Since that time, a number of countries have made financial agreements with Djibouti to have some sort of base there. The small country faces the Persian Gulf. The United States began leasing space for a base, use of their airport, and port facilities back in 2002. We fly lots of drones from there. Other countries that have agreements with the Djibouti are France with an air base, Italy with a support base, Japan with an air base established in 2011, and even China with a naval base established in 2017. Solera first became involved with Djibouti back in 2012. We began supporting Army Master Sergeant Rogers, who was first attached to a U.S. Marine unit, before spending most of his tour with his own Army unit. MSG Rogers was an avid scuba diver, and taught diving in his free time. Each season, the giant, but docile, Whale Sharks would vise the waters of Djibouti. MSG Rogers sent me lots of underwater photos of the school bus size fish. During that time, we had connections with a large thrift store in Redlands. They provided us with pants and shirts for the local men of Djibouti and bright colored, full skirts and dresses for women. Scott Rogers sent me a twenty one inch long Djibouti war/throwing club, called a Rungu. It sits on my den bookcase (see photos at right). Often, military reservists or Army National Guard serve overseas. Recently 1LT Permann was in one of these groups, serving in Djibouti. His unit was from Wisconsin. Often, after subtracting preparation time and travel time to and from the country they are to serve in, they spend around seven months, in that country. During the seven months Solera supported them, we mailed them 10 packages, six photo cards, numerous letters, many more emails, and 16 photo stories or photos. Being that the outfit was from Wisconsin, my last photos to them were of the USS Wisconsin Battleship (photo bottom, right). On one of my wife's and my East Coast cruises, we had stopped in Norfolk, Virginia. The battleship, named for their state is birthed there. ~ Jesse Donardt SUPPORT OUR TROOPS VETERAN ASSISTANCE The Flags were raised in June for D Day (6/6/23) and Flag Day (6/14/23). They will be raised in July for Independence Day (7/4/23). 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 – Nick Gercis, 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

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