Winning Hearts and Minds
With the Spirit of America ;
fied as most needed and beneficial—
everything from tools and textbooks, to
sewing machines and irrigation equipment. These grassroots initiatives are an
essential part of the counterinsurgency
doctrine developed by Generals David H.
Petraeus, U.S. Army and James N. Mattis, USMC.
Spirit of America (SoA) helps the Marines build better relations with locals.
Better relations that support the success
of their mission and make them safer. Or
as Marine Staff Sergeant Shawn Delgado
puts it: “It is easy to forget that the vast
majority of the people are not hostile to
us. Spirit of America allows us the tools
to be able to approach them on a personal
level and to connect with them outside of
a hostile encounter.” And, reducing hostility helps save Marines’ lives.
Spirit of America was founded by Internet entrepreneur and businessman Jim
Hake. “I’ve benefited greatly from America’s freedoms and opportunities,” Hake
explained. “After 9/11, I wanted to do
something to help.”
Idealists lead many nonprofits. Spirit
of America is unusual because, although
idealistic, it doesn’t dictate how it’s going
to help. “Jim came along and asked, ‘What
do you need?’” said Lieutenant Colonel
Alan Burghard, deputy director of I Marine Expeditionary Force’s humanitarian
assistance coordination center in Hillah
(Babylon), Iraq, in 2003. “Nobody asked
that question before.”
USMC
Today, the men and women in our armed
forces tell Spirit of America what they
need by simply sending an e-mail. With
donor support SoA then procures and
ships the requested items. The Spirit of
America motto—“You Ask, We Get”—
says it all. The organization is highly efficient, supporting troops in Afghanistan,
Iraq and Africa with a three-person staff.
Spirit of America’s first request came
in 2003 from LtCol David Couvillon, then
commanding 3d Battalion, 23d Marine
Regiment and acting military governor of
Wasit province in Iraq. Soccer is the game
in Iraq. Couvillon decided to “spread the
message of American concern, caring and
freedom” by giving soccer jerseys to local
kids, who often have only a couple of
changes of clothes. Spirit of America delivered 500 jerseys, each with a card and
USMC
Above: LtCol John Lutkenhouse and his Marines passed out Spirit of America-provided school supplies in
Ramadi, Iraq, in 2004.
Below: Spirit of America founder Jim Hake visits Afghanistan and Iraq to obtain firsthand knowledge of the
communities’ needs. In this photo, he is accompanying 1stMarDiv Marines on a visit to Fallujah, Iraq, in
June 2004.
By Karen Karl
We see many images from Iraq and Afghanistan on the even- ing news, but some of the best
are images of Marines helping local people and their children improve their lives.
What we don’t see—not directly anyway—
is the “Spirit of America” that helps the
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Marines, behind the scenes, as they win
the hearts and minds.
This Spirit of America is more than a
great feeling; it is one of our country’s
most innovative nonprofit organizations.
For six years Spirit of America has supported the Marines’ outreach efforts by
providing supplies for them to give to local
residents—items the Marines have identi-
LEATHERNECK NOVEMBER 2009
www.mca-marines.org/leatherneck
