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| LIFE IN SOLERA | MAY 2025 | 35 Djibouti, Africa has become a very important country for the United States. Especially after we were "un-invited" by the Strong Men ruling Mali and Niger. Djibouti is in the eastern part of Africa. It is a very small country in what they call the Horn of Africa, because that part of the country looks like an animal horn protruding out. Because of its location, it is close to the Gulf of Aden, the Red Sea, and the Indian Ocean. It is also close to the African countries of Somalia, Sudan and Egypt and the Middle Eastern countries of Yemen and Saudi Arabia. The United States was an early country to lease property for a base and have quite a few military units posted there. Djibouti now leases property to quite a few countries. No doubt, it is quite a money-making proposition for them. The Support Our Troops project first became acquainted with the country back in 2012, through Army Master Sergeant Paul Rogers. We got to know MSG Rogers quite well. At one point, he was on loan to Marines. When with the Marines, we were supporting that group and still supporting his Army group, with our contact being the Army Lieutenant Colonel. MSG Roger's stay with the Marines only lasted a couple of months. He was an avid scuba diver, and in his off time, taught many of our service personnel the sport. Now at a certain time of the year, the Whale Sharks migrate to the waters off Djibouti. He sent me quite a few underwater photos of him swimming along side these dorsal creatures, the size of a school bus. It just happened that at this time, we were acquainted with a large thrift store in Redlands. They would save their brightly colored, full f lowing skirts and dresses for us. The Djibouti ladies loved them. We are often supporting ten to fifteen groups at any given time. Today, it is not uncommon to have two or three of them being in Djibouti. Thank you for caring. ~ Jesse Donardt SUPPORT OUR TROOPS VETERAN ASSISTANCE FLAG BRIGADE 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 on Feb. 17 for Presidents Day and on March 29 for Viet Nam Veterans Day. They will be raised on May 17 for Armed Forces Day, and May 26 for Memorial Day. 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. The Contact for the Flag Brigade is Nick Gercis at nick.gercis@ gmail.com. To all veterans, THANK YOU FOR YOUR SERVICE! Flag schedule for 2025 Armed Forces Day: Sat., May 17 - up 5/16, down 5/19 Memorial Day: Mon, May 26 - up 5/23, down 5/27 D-Day: Fri., June 6 - up 6/5, down 6/9 Flag Day: Sat., June 14 - up 6/13, down 6/16 Independence Day: Fri., July 4 - up 7/3, down 7/7 Labor Day: Mon., Sept. 1 - up 8/29, down 9/2 Patriots Day: Thurs., Sept. 11 - up 9/10, down 9/15 National POW/MIA Day: Fri., Sept. 19 - up 8/18, down 9/22 Veterans Day: Tues., Nov. 11 - up 11/10, down 11/12 Pearl Harbor Day: Sun., Dec. 7 - up 12/5, down 12/8 The April talk by Mike Ryan on the mideast situation emphasizing Lawrence of Arabia was exciting. Thank you, Mike! For the May 5 talk, Richard Crowe will reprise the March talk on Etymology, the study and origin of words – with a different set of words this time - so come to the History lecture, Oakmont Rooms 1 and 2, from 4:30 to 5:30 pm. Etymology … not to be confused with Entomology, the study of insects — there will be no show and tell with bugs. HISTORY GROUP

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