Montana cigars off to troops

By MIKE RICHESON

Bigfork Eagle

Thanks to the generosity of a Montana cigar company, Bigfork resident Gen. Paul Vallely will be sending 25 boxes of handmade cigars to soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Robert White, known as Montana Bob, is the owner of Montana Sport Cigars near Bozeman, and donated the cigars to Soldiers Memorial Fund, an organization Gen. Vallely and his wife established after their son died in military training.

“They’ll be going to four units in Iraq and one unit in Afghanistan,” Gen. Vallely said. “They will be part of the gift boxes we send over from Montana. Bob was gracious enough to donate the cigars.”

The cigars — including eight boxes of hand-rolled Double Corona, two Torpedo, 10 Churchill and five Toro — will go to Special Operations units, to Civil Affairs units, to Marines and soldiers.

“It’s a mixture,” Gen. Vallely said. “We send them to the units, and they share with everybody.”

White said the best part of sending cigars over to the troops are the responses he gets back. Soldiers send him photos of everyone smoking his cigars. A Montana soldier sent him a photo of him and nine of his buddies holding up a Montana flag in Iraq. A soldier from Belgrade, Mont., even sent him 50 trout flies as a thank-you.

White said he got the idea of sending cigars when he read an article about a cigar-maker in Colorado who was shipping goods to the troops. He began taking out radio and print ads encouraging people to get in on the act.

When White met Gen. Vallely at a Republican dinner in Bozeman, the two spoke about sending cigars to the troops.

“It’s a great thing for the soldiers,” White said.

The memorial fund was established in April 2004 to honor and memorialize PFC Scott Paul Vallely. Scott died on April 20, 2004, while in his fourth week of Special Forces training. He was 29 and had just completed Infantry Basic and Advance Courses at Fort Benning, Georgia as well as Airborne School to qualify to attend the Special Forces School at Fort Bragg, N.C.

He entered the service in October 2003. His desire was to serve his country and make a contribution to the Global War on Terror to preserve the freedom of the American people and the free world. His goal was to be an elite member of a Special Forces A Team.

The Memorial Fund has been established to assist and provide monetary support to members of the Armed Forces and/or their families in the time of need. The fund will also serve to provide scholarship assistance. Visit www.soldiersmemorialfund.org for more information.