More than 450 Georgia Tech alumni, faculty, parents, students and staff sent holiday messages to Tech military personnel serving overseas. E-mails from as far as Australia and Mexico were collected, according to Amy Lancaster, Parents Program manager at the Alumni Association, who organized the effort.

"Our Web department built the site so the Tech community could submit online holiday greetings to our alumni deployed overseas," she said. "The response was great. We made a 34-page book of greetings and sent copies to our Yellow Jackets serving around the world."

The project was advertised in the campus newspaper and the electronic newsletters BUZZwords and ParentNews. "We even found it promoted on a Georgia Tech sports blog," Lancaster said.

Each alumnus was sent a package containing a bound book of online greetings, handmade cards from both the Alpha Chi Omega sorority and a third-grade class at Friendship Elementary School and editions of the Technique and TECH TOPICS.

Among the letters in the packet was one from Susan Sappington of Marietta, Ga., who wrote, "The Christmas my late husband, Michael Lake Sappington, IE 70, was flying F-14s over North Vietnam was quite a memorable one. You will also have such a holiday this year. Be assured there are many Georgia Tech friends cheering for your safety and well-being. You make all of us so deeply proud of your continued brave work."

The letters elicited favorable responses from alumni serving overseas, among them:

"I received a care package from the Georgia Tech Alumni Association here in Camp Striker, Baghdad, Iraq. Great stuff. It is really appreciated. I especially enjoyed the cards and the copy of the Technique."

Lt. Col. Andrew S. Ring, ME 89
Baghdad, Iraq

"I just wanted to let you know I received my holiday package from the Alumni Association and it was awesome. The cards from the families and children were heartfelt, the Techniques and TECH TOPICS were great, and I really like the U.S. flag and Georgia Tech pin. It looks like I will be retiring from the Air Force and returning to the States next summer. I hope Georgia Tech continues this program to make our overseas family members feel a little closer to home during the holidays."

Lt. Col. Mike McCarthy, IE 83
Seoul, Korea

"I wish to thank Amy Lancaster and the Alumni Association staff for organizing the campaign to deliver holiday cards and letters from Georgia Tech alumni and friends to deployed service members overseas. The dozens of heartfelt wishes and copies of the Technique, Alumni Magazine and TECH TOPICS brought a great deal of warmth to an otherwise cold, lonely holiday here in Korea. Thank you. I hope this is a Tech holiday tradition that continues as long as we have men and women serving on the fringes of freedom's frontier."

Lt. Col. Tom Foltz, EE 84
Seoul, Korea

Army 1st Lt. Mac Bryan, IE 03, thought some of his fellow 82nd Airborne Division soldiers stationed with him in Iraq were playing a practical joke when they reported a vehicle with Georgia Tech and Alpha Delta Pi decals was stopped at a checkpoint. A stunned Bryan had his photograph taken after recognizing that the 1994 Jeep Cherokee had belonged to a friend, doctoral student Tracey King, Mgt 02. King also was surprised when she saw the photo of Bryan and her old Jeep posted on an Internet message board. She last saw the Jeep when it was being towed away after an accident that badly damaged the SUV in 2001.



©2006 Georgia Tech Alumni Association