Dec 24, 2004 By Patty Yauger 4 min read

CONNELLSVILLE – Connellsville Area High School students and staff and the active duty soldiers to whom they recently sent holiday gifts, will be highlighted in a documentary to be aired Christmas Day. The broadcast will take place at 8 p.m. on the Fox News network.

The CAHS Patriots organization, composed of student and staff members from the school, has regularly sent packages to soldiers fighting overseas, said sponsor Linda Shearer. The group’s efforts caught the attention of the national news network.

Fox News reporters Monica Hill and Rick Leventhal visited the high school in November to meet with members and Shearer to discuss the initiative with a film crew then making the trip to Iraq to meet with the Christmas package recipients.

Shearer said that 313 packages filled with disposable cameras, toiletries and other items, along with a specially designed T-shirt noting “Connellsville Falcons Remember Our Soldiers,” arrived in early December for the designated units.

The U.S. Army 301st Signal Company, the Connellsville-based Company B, 1st Battalion, 103rd Armor National Guard unit and 30 family members or friends of the Patriots organization – all stationed in Iraq or preparing to be transferred to the war zone – received the packages.

Maj. Shane Ousey, officer with the 301st Signal Company, sent photographs and e-mails to Shearer after the packages arrived at the company’s Iraqi military base location.

“I gave out a box today to a soldier I saw with a frown on her face when I was picking up the boxes from the mailroom,” he said.

“Her frown turned into a smile right away.

“Thanks again for all that you have done for the troops over here. I am truly in awe.”

Shearer said she met Ousey when he e-mailed her after finding her address in the remnants of a package sent earlier in the year.

The two corresponded, and the organization then adopted the unit.

In a Dec. 3 commentary posted on the Fox News Web site, Leventhal lauded Shearer’s efforts, noting her dedication to the project, despite her own battle with cancer.

“If you’re looking for someone who represents the patriotic spirit of America, someone who puts others before herself, someone who practices what she preaches, someone who is doing great work and truly inspires others to do the same, then you can travel to Connellsville, Pennsylvania – or you can watch our story on Dec. 25,” he wrote.

Hill said that while completing research for the documentary, the news staff came upon local articles about the school group and their mission and thought it would complement the story the network was preparing.

“(The soldiers) were very happy about getting the packages,” said Hill.

“It’s really fun footage to see how excited they get to receive these things.”

In addition to the Connellsville Patriots portion of the documentary, the hour-long program also will include stories about a military mother and a group of her friends that go to the Dallas/Fort Worth Airport and welcome home each group of returning soldiers and a Marine unit stationed in Afghanistan that does volunteer work in remote villages of the country during their time off.

“They do whatever is necessary,” said Hill. They rebuild schools, deliver medicine – whatever needs done.”

The documentary also features a group of bicyclists who participated in a cross-country ride to benefit the Wounded Warrior Project – an organization that seeks to assist U.S. soldiers severely injured in Iraq, Afghanistan and other hot spots – as well as a Navy physician who organized a team of doctors to perform life-saving surgery for an Iraqi child.

“After he learned that the Iraqi doctors couldn’t do anything for the child, he took it upon himself to get her help,” said Hill.

“He got some (U.S.) doctors to volunteer to do the surgery, and his parents to come to Iraq to get her. (His actions) saved her life, and now she’s all better.”

The final story, said Hill, is about a mother who wanted to send U.S. flags to one of her three sons serving in Iraq to distribute to members of his unit when they returned from a mission.

The mother, said Hill, sought help from various people to donate the flags and instead of a few, she received several hundred. “We found extraordinary people doing extraordinary things. There’s so many stories out there,” she said.

Anyone wishing to make monetary contributions to be used to purchase needed items for the soldiers can do so by sending a check payable to the CAHS Patriots in care of Connellsville Area Senior High School, Falcon Drive, Connellsville, Pa. 15425.