By Anne Thom
The Stacy City Council passed a resolution officially adopting members of the 1st Battalion, 506th Infantry, 4th Brigade Combat Team, 101st Airborne Division of the U.S. Army, known as Baker Company. Baker Company out of Fort Campbell, Kentucky was deployed to Afghanistan two weeks ago. Stacy is the first city in Minnesota to adopt a unit. City Account Clerk Lynda Schmidt will be the city’s official contact.
Stacy Mayor John Daher brought the suggestion of adopting a unit and the proposed resolution to his colleagues a few weeks ago asking for their consideration. Daher became connected to America Supporting Americans (ASA), the organization that promotes adopting a unit, through his connection with the Patriot Guard Riders.
Daher has long participated in the operations of the Patriot Guard Riders, a national group that was organized to buffer against the supporters of the Westboro Baptist Church of Topeka, KS. Church members and their supporters have shown up at military funerals nationwide, including here in Minnesota, disrupting the services and disrespecting the families. Daher had contacted ASA, Web site asa-usa.org, to expand efforts to support the troops out into the community. According to ASA’s Web site and information sent to the council, ASA was started in 1967 in San Mateo, Calif., by Linda Patterson whose brother was serving in Vietnam. The organization’s mission is to support the troops by forging a connection between deployed military personnel and a community back home.
Daher said, “It doesn’t have to cost the city anything.” The city simply serves as coordinator for activities that will forge that connection and as a liaison back home for the unit.
The resolution passed unanimously, without argument.
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