Friday, April 18, 2003

By Jasmine Lee, DAILY BREEZE PUBLISH

When Torrance resident Loren Chang tried to put herself in the shoes of U.S. troops, she realized they might need a fresh pair of socks.

So, the president of a sock manufacturing company decided to donate 1,200 pairs of her new Pi-Ray brand of foot coverings to Marines stationed in Iraq. The socks are specially constructed to resist odor and fight fungus, Chang said, qualities that will come in handy in the desert terrain.

It was the least she could do, Chang said, for the servicemen and women.

“Everybody’s concerned about the troops,” she said.

The shipment of socks which must be black, according to military regulation ? is expected to reach troops in about three weeks, said Debbie Fesperman, a volunteer coordinator who picked up the donation Thursday morning.

Fesperman, the wife of a sergeant major in the Marine Reserves stationed in San
Diego, has been rounding up socks, phone cards, disposable cameras, beef jerky
and other personal supplies to send to soldiers. It is not a Marine-sponsored
program, but because packages sent by the general public can be delayed,
Fesperman and a group of Marine wives have been expediting the process.

“This way, it will actually get to the troops,” she said.

Although security issues prevent Fesperman from disclosing the exact destination of the donated socks, she said the recipients will include those in an airstrike unit, a refueling unit and a communications unit.

Marine reservist Cpl. James Lee, who also is a part-time sales representative for Pi-Ray, put the company in touch with Fesperman. With his own military training and friends on the front lines, he knew just how much the soldiers would appreciate the socks.

They must carry all their gear, so the troops don’t have several changes of socks with them, Lee said. And if the socks get wet, they cause painful blisters.

“There’s not much you can do about it,” Lee said.

Many of the troops in the combat zone go for two or three weeks without a chance to wash their clothing. And under the conditions, the soldiers’ socks see a lot of wear, Fesperman said.

“It’s currently very warm back there, it’s very dirty, it’s very dusty and it’s very sandy,” Fesperman said. “They’re sleeping in their boots, they’re sleeping in their socks.” Not only will the donated socks comfort their soles, Fesperman said, but support from those back home will boost the troops’ morale.

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