Hawai`i Soldiers' Holidays Brightened by Operation Gift Lift

The gifts were personally delivered by Hawai`i National Guard Adjutant General, Maj. Gen. Robert Lee, and Senior Enlisted Leader, Command Chief Master Sgt. Denise Jelinski-Hall, who spent two days traveling throughout bases in Kuwait in late December.

In the weeks leading up to the holidays, Operation Gift Lift received hundreds of donations from state employees and Hawai`i residents at large, including $2,000 in AT&T phone cards, 2,000 cards made by hand by kindergarten through intermediate school students statewide, and generous donations of food, CDs, DVDs and other items.

During their visit to Camp Arifjan, Maj. Gen. Lee and Command Chief Master Sgt. Jelinski-Hall also participated in the Uncasing of the 29th IBCT Colors Ceremony, which was attended by soldiers representing all the battalions of the 29th IBCT, as well as members of many other units at the camp.

Approximately 1,200 Hawai`i Army National Guard soldiers with the 29th Brigade Combat Team and 500 soldiers with the Army Reserve’s 100th Battalion, 442nd Infantry have been serving in Kuwait since late October as Task Force Lava Thunder.