Pertinent Perils

Recognizing Those Who Serve

I had occasion to read a letter to the editor captioned “Best Free Subscription Plea of the Month” in the now defunct Business 2.0 magazine. The author of the letter, Specialist Mickey Doto, described how he and his colleagues in the 252nd Infantry on duty in Iraq have to burn all trash before moving on to their next site. He happened upon a copy of the magazine and pulled it out of the fire so that he and his colleagues would have something to read. I immediately packaged and shipped a box of magazines to him in Iraq. Postal rates to U.S. military installations overseas are subsidized, such that I was able to ship 14 pounds of magazines for $2.90. I wrote to Specialist Doto that my choice of magazines reflected my own interests. As a small business owner, I subscribe to magazines such as Entrepreneur, Inc., Fortune Small Business and other publications relevant to my work. I offered to purchase at the newsstand any titles that he and his colleagues would prefer. Specialist Doto wrote back to me to say that I could not have made a better selection. As it turns out, the 252nd are reservists from the New York/New Jersey area called to active duty. Most of them are small business owners. Specialist Doto owns Dragons Way Karate Academy in New Jersey where he teaches martial arts to children. His bunk mate owns a car service in New Jersey that provides transportation to area airports. They were delighted to have something to read and connect them with home. Every week I ship a box of 14 pounds of magazines and am embarrassed that it is so little, but it appears to mean a lot to the men and women over there. We in the small business community have many unique ways to contribute and today we should reflect on how we may do so.