Supporting the troops with a twist
By ROBERT HANKINS EDITOR

Irma Dimas of Deweyville felt the frustration through the wires.

A young man out there somewhere, but not in America and missing it terribly.

"We'd like to let our troops know we support them and their sacrifices," says Dimas, a nurse a Memorial Hermann Baptist Orange Hospital. "Just being so far away from family and friends is bad enough. One guy stated via e-mail that he felt like life was passing him by. All his friends were getting married and having kids and he was not able to be there for any of that."

So her group, Marine Parents of Southeast Texas, will host a car wash fundraiser from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. May 17 at Fuddruckers near Beaumont's Parkdale Mall to spice up those hometown leaves.

"We'd like to see about giving them something to do while they're on leave," she says. "Things like a fishing trip, a free weekend at a cabin, tickets for an Astros game, tickets for a concert, a 'pamper me day' for our gals, a couple of tanks of gas or a duck hunting trip.

Dimas' son Daniel, 21, a Marine lance corporal, returned from Iraq in 2007 and is now stationed in Japan. A graduate of Little Cypress-Mauriceville High, he is engaged to Amber Denmon for an August wedding. Marines of Southeast Texas is not a political group, Irma Dimas says.

"We'd like to do something, anything, to show our guys and gals we support them … Whether we feel like our troops should be fighting overseas or not, we still support our troops 100 percent."

For information, call Dimas at (409) 746-3157.

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Email Marine Parents of Southeast Texas: mariesofsetxas@yahoo.com