There is a lady going around the Bakersfield College Campus with a book, and inside this book she’s asking people to write down a message for the troops. She has a humble, gentle manner about her when she approaches people, asking sincerely if they would like to write down something for active American Military troops in the Middle East.
She’s not concerned with political affiliation or opinions, just a desire to let the soldiers know that people are thinking about them. That woman’s name is Shirley Reeder, and she is the wife of a Vietnam Veteran, an active volunteer for The Boy Scouts of America and a patriot.
For the past three years, Reeder has been filling blank books with hand-written messages from people and sending it to active-duty military troops in Middle East.
“The first book went to a friend of mine’s son and he was shocked to see that someone from BC would be writing notes and took the effort to get all these people, not only from BC, but from the Boy Scouts,” said Reeder. “It was uplifting for him to know that he got something from America.”
Inside the newest binding of what Reeder calls “Messages from America” is a multicolored collage made up of cautions, concerns, well wishes, and drawings inscribed by people from in and out of BC.
Reeder, ever passionate about her cause, said, “We need to give messages to the troops to let them know that we care for them, [and] that whether we go for the war, or whether we don’t, we need to let them know that we support them, no matter what.”
Speaking about the outcome of one of the books she has compiled, Reeder said, “One of these books will go to a former student here at Bakersfield College,” said Reeder. “His first name is Will … and it will go to his platoon. He was an Eagle Scout for the Boy Scouts.”
As an active volunteer in the Boy Scouts of America, Reeder retires flags on occasion. It was on one such occasion that Reeder was inspired, and further motivated, to collect messages.
“The Boy Scouts are the other ones, other than the military, to retire United States flags. We do that when they are faded and torn, and we retire them by burning them,” said Reeder.
In 2008, Reeder was retiring flags with the Boy Scouts when she would come across someone who would change her life.
“The very last person that I had was an 8 year-old boy who came up to me, and he held a flag and asked me if I would respect the flag and burn it with him, and I said ‘yes.'”
As they retired the flag, the boy asked Reeder if his father was proud of him and “looking down on him,” said Reeder. “I’m sure he is,” she said. It occurred to Reeder in that moment that the flag was a flag from Iraq and that the boy’s father had died there.
“He said his father was military from Iraq. So we burned the flag, we saluted the flag, and as we held hands really tight, tears coming from our eyes, we walked back. He saluted and he called his father’s name out.”
Upon arriving home from the ceremony, Reeder discovered that she had taken something home unintentionally.
“I got home and took my shoe off, and when I took my shoe there was this imprint, something burning on my foot. So I took my sock off and on my skin was, underneath my sock, was a star from one of the flags. Which flag it came from, I do not know.”
As Reeder tells this part of this story she begins to tear, saying, “That inspired me more and more to do something for the troops.”
Reeder holds a deep passion for what she does and who it supports. Involved as a member of the BC Veterans Club, Reeder also extends her passion to students on and off campus.
“There is a lot of veterans here at the college, a lot of people don’t know that, and this is our way of helping them cope with coming back and the emotional ordeal that goes with that,” said Reeder.
Reeder can be found at BC, usually with her book in hand. Anyone is welcomed to sign the book, and will be sent to soldiers once filled.
” I don’t care what it is. Any message. Even happy faces,” said Reeder.