To all of you (tens of thousands) who sent cards for Operation Holiday Thanks,
I can't tell you how special and unexpected it was to receive upwards of 70,000 cards in just over a week. We made arrangements with several military hospitals here in America and overseas — including Iraq and Kuwait — to get the cards to the troops.
My intern, Leigh Scheps, and I opened all your boxes, hand checked each card, sorted those for troops in general, those for injured troops and those for VA hospitals, and have been sending big boxes out.
I wish each of you could be in the studio (we quickly outgrew every other room available) to see the kind, loving, heartfelt messages. I was stunned by the number of high schools that organized kids to create handmade cards. My worries about the next generation were quelled by their obvious understanding of what is at stake and there respect and gratitude for our Armed Forces.
Numerous Sunday school classes and elementary schools sent in boxes of homemade cards. We received Christmas cards, Hanukkah cards, Kwanzaa cards and Happy New Year's cards. Veterans of previous conflicts wrote cards knowing first hand what it was like to be away from family at the holidays. Grandmothers and grandkids made cards together as a family project. One great group of kids even went to the local diner and sang carols. In return, they asked each person who came in to make a card to send to the troops.
As I mentioned on air, I've adopted my own "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy. This one is a little different from the military one though. I don't know what the policy is about sending money, lottery tickets, Starbucks cards, phone cards, etc., to the troops. I'm not asking what it is. I simply resealed the envelopes and sent them on. Nothing any of these men and women receive will come close to compensating them for their service to our nation and the world.
Thursday, my kids will come to the office to help get the final boxes out. (I knew there was a really great reason to have a large family!)
There are some very special and dedicated Americans who you deserve to know about. Texas State Representative Patrick Rose really cut through a lot of red tape for us at several hospitals. My first phone call to him was at 6:30 a.m. By 9 a.m. he had answers. U.S. Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison smoothed the way in Washington. Anita from the Office of first lady Laura Bush worked behind the scenes. Victor Rivera and Cliff in the FOX News Channel mailroom handled the Herculean task of moving all the mail to the studio, back to the mail room and arranging the shipments all over the world. My intern, Leigh Scheps, whose internship ended but she stayed on to spend hours and hours helping open, sort and fill mail boxes. I highly recommend her for any news position because, despite her mail-sorting abilities, her true talent is writing and reporting. The "America's Pulse" staff — Maria, Catherine, Don, Fran, Damon, Fawn, Michael and Stephanie — took on even more work so I could focus on Operation Holiday Thanks.
Finally, huge thanks go to the Chairman of FNC, Roger Ailes. None of this would have been possible if he hadn't been 100 percent behind the effort and agreed to pay the enormous cost of mailing all the cards. There are some people who think it is unnecessary and even naïve to care so much about our military. Here at FOX, from the top on down, we believe the exact opposite. Numerous employees have members of their own family serving right now. We are free and safe because of the sacrifice of others.
This holiday every single one of us should say a special thanks and prayer for the brave and patriotic men and women of the U.S. Armed Forces.
My thanks to all of you for the outpouring of love and support. Have a safe, blessed and happy holiday!
E.D.
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