Going An Extra Mile For U.S. Troops

The United Service Organizations, aka USO, just revealed the winners of its first annual Above and Beyond awards for Americans who have helped the troops in extraordinary ways. Patti Patton-Bader, the great-grandniece of Gen. George Patton, organized a network of volunteers who now send 100 care packages a day to soldiers.

Walter Fricke, who lost part of his leg in Vietnam, flies families free in his helicopter, so they can reunite with wounded relatives. And when students Brittany and Robbie Bergquist heard about a soldier who'd run up an $8,000 phone bill, they tapped their piggybank--$21--then turned to friends. So far, they have raised nearly $1 million and collected more than 450,000 donated phone cards for soldiers. In case you're wondering, that's 2.5 million minutes of talk time.


By Paul Bedard