Ryan’s starts program to give troops free meal
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That is why he has decided to undertake an effort to show local members of the National Guard unit the community supports them as they prepare for deployment in the near future.
“When I found out that the national guard unit here in town was being deployed, I got in touch with them,” he said of his interest, noting as a former U.S. Army captain who has 10 years active duty service, he was deployed to Saudi Arabia and Iraq as part of the 101st Airborne for more than seven months in the early 1990s.
DelGiorno, who is the manager of Ryan’s restaurant, plans to sell red, white and blue markers that will be pledged toward buying lunch for local soldiers of the 3/278th Armored Cavalry Regiment at Ryan’s Wednesday. He said support for soldiers is necessary.
“When I was in Iraq, I felt that through a church, so it is very important,” he said. “So I am shamelessly contacting everybody I know for their support.”
Locals will have the opportunity to buy one or more lunches for more than 100 members of the unit. The can help boost morale, he added.
“The soldiers’ point of view is they have someone back in the States who knows they’re there. But a lot of these National Guard units are just pulling up stakes and leaving home, and a lot of people in that hometown don’t even know they’re going, so that’s one reason I’d like to get the word out.”
DelGiorno said the Army is providing lunch for the soldiers on Tuesday but he wanted to do something to help out on Wednesday while the soldiers train.
“People have said, ‘I’ll do it. Sign me up,'” he said. “We will have 110 people that are going to be removed from the community and I just want to make sure we don’t forget about them.”
The city of McMinnville is also planning an event. Those details are still in the planning stages.