SUPPORT OUR MILITARY. CHAPTER 4 (SOUTH SAINT PAUL, MINN.):

Support Our Country's Military (S.O.C.M.) was formed in August 1990. It soon became a national organization with more than forty chapters. Membership was open to any individual who was a family member or a friend of a current member of the United States Army, Air Force, Navy, Marine Corps, Coast Guard, or their reserve components; the National Guard; or an American hostage or prisoner of war. S.O.C.M. was funded through donations from interested organizations and individuals. The organization's activities included developing pen pal relationships with military personnel, and sending them holiday gifts and boxes of toiletries and treats.

Chapter 4 was organized on September 8, 1990, and its meetings were held at V.F.W. Post 295 in South St. Paul. The chapter represented the West St. Paul, South St. Paul, Inver Grove Heights, Mendota, Cottage Grove, Woodbury, Hastings, and Rosemount areas. In January 1991 the chapter included 52 members. While many S.O.C.M. chapters disbanded after the conclusion of Operation Desert Storm, Chapter 4 remained active until at least 1997, writing letters and shipping packages to military personnel serving in such places as Korea, Germany, and Bosnia.

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The collection appears to be primarily the materials of Chapter 4 officer Sandie (Sandra) Gaisbauer, and includes board and chapter meeting minutes and agendas, mailing lists, membership rosters, newspaper clippings, financial information, newsletters, scrapbooks, and correspondence. There is information about the history and activities of both Chapter 4 and the national S.O.C.M. organization; military life and American military operations and involvement in the Mideast, Africa, and elsewhere; prisoner-of-war and missing-in-action issues; and the Minnesota Vietnam Veterans Memorial. Most of the material is related to the group's activities during operations Desert Shield and Desert Storm.

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Availability:

The collection is open for research use.

Preferred Citation:

[Indicate the cited item and/or series here]. Support Our Country's Military. Chapter 4 Records. Minnesota Historical Society.

See the Chicago Manual of Style for additional examples.

Accession Information:

Accession number: 15,524; 17,323

Processing Information:

Processed by: David B. Peterson, October 1999; additions by Leif Kopietz, September 2019.

Catalog ID number: 990017358380104294

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This collection is indexed under the following headings in the catalog of the Minnesota Historical Society. Researchers desiring materials about related topics, persons or places should search the catalog using these headings.

Topics:

Families of military personnel -- Minnesota.

Iraq-Kuwait Crisis, 1990-1991.

Missing in action.

Operation Desert Shield, 1990-1991.

Operation Desert Storm, 1991.

Operation Joint Endeavor.

Pen pals -- Minnesota.

Persian Gulf War, 1991.

Prisoners of war.

Soldiers.

Places:

Bosnia and Hercegovina.

Iraq.

Saudi Arabia.

Persons:

Gaisbauer, Sandra.

Organizations:

Minnesota Won't Forget POW/MIA (Organization).

Minnesota Vietnam Veterans Memorial (Saint Paul, Minn.).

Support Our Country's Military (Osseo, Minn.).

United States. Army -- Military life.

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