Special Birthday Making Big Difference

A special first birthday for a Green Country toddler is making a world of difference for our troops. The News On 6's Jeffrey Smith reports a 1-year-old boy in Krebs is bringing a little piece of the homefront to a country half a world away.

Most 1-year-olds don't get 20 personalized birthday boxes, but most 1-year-olds don't have a dad fighting in Iraq.

One or two toys, dozens of DVD's and hundreds of snack packs.

Dawn Short threw a heck of a party.

"I decided instead of throwing him a birthday party, where people bring him presents, to have a party where people bring donations for the troops, cause his father is in Iraq," said Dawn Short.

First Sergeant Steven Short has been fighting there for the last 10 months. Dawn says it's important to keep all 43 soldiers in his unit close to heart.

"They don't forget about home, so home shouldn't forget about them," said Dawn.

But Chris Short's party took on a life of its own.

"It went from just my family, to my family's friends, to friends of theirs, and people we didn't even know that they worked with," said Dawn. "Once everybody heard about it and it got going, it became downtown city hall."

A support group called Blue Star Mothers is shipping the boxes on their dime.

"We were just ecstatic for a 1-year-old birthday party they're doing this for the troops, so Blue Star Mothers wanted to help," said Vonnie Hudson of Blue Star Mothers.

Dawn herself fought in Iraq with the National Guard. So she knows every little thing makes a big difference, even cans of kool-aid mix.

"The water that you get over there, it sits in the sun, and it gets that plastic, not-so-good taste," said Dawn.

Dawn says Chris is wise beyond his years or year and he's helping to spread an important message.

"Just send a card that says thank you. Somebody will get and it and appreciate it," said Dawn.

For his part, Chris is just happy he got one balloon, but just maybe he knows he's bringing the troops a little closer to home.

The Blue Star Mothers is still taking donations. If you want to send a soldier a care package, call Blue Star Mothers of Pittsburg County at 918-420-5041.