Hundreds of soldiers at Fort Leonard Wood and airmen at Scott Air Force Base are enjoying the holidays with a free Christmas tree.
It’s part of a national program to help service members and their families who are far from home. Trees for Troops is run by the Christmas Spirit Foundation and connects private donations to tree farms around the country. FedEx ships the trees to dozens of military installations.
“It’s great getting a free tree. It helps with the holiday spirit,” said Cpl. Noah Rodriquez, stationed at Fort Leonard Wood. He; his wife, Cheyenne; toddler Braxton and infant Paisley got one of the free trees.
“I grew up in Texas, and we didn’t have real trees, but Cheyenne always had a real tree growing up, so to share that experience is kind of cool,” he said.
Being a member of the military is a transient life, often far from home and rarely in one place for more than a couple of years.
“We've always gone to other places for the holidays, so this is the first year that we're actually going to be fully decorating for Christmas and having that Christmas magic at home for (Braxton) because he's finally old enough to kind of get it,” Cheyenne Rodriguez said.
While many of the trees end up in the homes of military members and their families, some are in more communal places, like barracks.
Cole Simpson is a drill sergeant at Fort Leonard Wood. He is leading a group of brand-new recruits who arrived before Thanksgiving and will leave after the new year.
“For a lot of them it's their first time away from home,” Simpson said. “Around the holidays they kind of seem Scroogey and down, and you can boost the morale and create a friendly environment with a Christmas tree.”
Many of the trees include notes from people who paid to donate them.
“That’s a nice touch,” Simpson said.
This year, Fort Leonard Wood gave away about 400 trees, and Scott Air Force base had about 300 trees for airmen and their families.
