Greetings from a grateful people

RINGWOOD — A greeting; a thank you; an appreciation and a wish for a happy holiday: that’s what hundreds of people write on a giant scroll of paper three feet wide by 1,000 feet long. It’s called the National Christmas Card for the Troops. People from all over the United States and foreign countries add their wishes, and sometimes drawings, to the annual card for the troops serving overseas.

The idea was the brainchild of Mike Trochan, who served with the 101st Airborne in Vietnam. He recalls walking on the mall in Washington, D.C. in 2007 and hearing people thank him for his service — something that didn’t happen when he came home from Vietnam 37 years earlier.

“I wanted to do something; to serve my God, my country, the troops and the people all at the same time,” said Mike Trochan of Ringwood. He came up with the idea of the National Christmas Card for the Troops — something to cheer them up when they were so far from home.

Every year, for six years now, on Saturday and Monday of Memorial Day weekend and on the Fourth of July, Trochan and his two brothers, Tom, of West Milford, and Joe, of Ringwood, set up a tent and table on the mall in Washington, D.C., where everyone is invited to write their greetings to the troops. The brothers provide crayons to write or draw with.

When filled, the scroll is divided into equal-length sections for each branch of the service: Army, Air Force, Navy, Marines, Coast Guard and Merchant Marine. Mike mails them to the Pentagon in October each year. There, the different service branches decide where the scrolls will be sent that year. They have been sent to Iraq and Afghanistan several times.

Grateful feedback
The brothers have heard back from the troops who received the card. One Coast Guardsman sent a thank you letter and a photo. Trochan said they’ve heard from different branches over the years, and they’ve even gotten letters from the secretary of the Army.

In addition to Mike serving in Vietnam, Tom was in the Air Force. Younger brother Joe was too young and did not go into service.

Mike Trochan tells a funny story about how his parents met. His dad, Joseph, and a friend were on leave in Asheboro, North Carolina. One day, Frances Hughes and her sister went to mail a letter and met Joe Trochan, who was nearby. Joe started a conversation with Frances and they hit it off. She invited him home for supper, mindful that her sister Evelyn’s husband was in the army and Evelyn always told her sisters, “If you meet a serviceman, bring him home for supper.” According to Mike, Joe liked the food and the company so much they couldn’t get rid of him.

Frances and Joe married in 1945 and moved to Jersey City where they spent the rest of their lives and raised their three sons.

Mike's book
In addition to his work getting greetings to the troops overseas, Mike Trochan wrote a book about his efforts to get to a Bob Hope Christmas Show while he served. He loved the Bob Hope show. In "You Just Had to Be There," he talks about missing the show at his own base because he was put on back-to-back guard duty, and then hitching a ride to another show at a different base.

The People's Card
If you are in Washington, D.C. this year during the Memorial Day weekend on either the Saturday before (May 24) or Monday, Memorial Day (May 27) or two months later on the Fourth of July, you can be a part of the Trochans’ National Christmas Card for the Troops. Their tent is located on the mall at 17th St., near the Washington Monument, during the Memorial Day Weekend and at 15th St., south of Jefferson Drive, on the Fourth of July. They would be thrilled to have local folks add their message for the troops.

As Mike said, “It’s the people’s card.”