This story came out in my local paper, The Desert Sun, yesterday. I will be contacting the reporter so he can put me in touch with Mr. Saxon to see how I can help.




Vet strives to make life a bit easier for Marines

10:35 AM, Jun. 24, 2011 The Desert Sun

Zoom Rick Saxon picks up donations in Sun City Palm Desert that will be given to Marines stationed at the U.S. Marine Corps Air Ground Combat Center in Twentynine Palms. Saxon and his partner, Joanie Robertson, spend about 20 hours a week collecting and delivering items to the base. Vietnam veteran Rick Saxon says his greatest mission these days is ensuring members of the military are treated better than he was.

He forged a deep emotional connection with the armed services during his time as a combat Marine, when he worked as a helicopter gunner and emergency extractor of the wounded. But when he came home, he experienced the spitting and calls of “baby-killer” and other names from Americans against the war he'd been fighting.
“I said to myself at that point, ‘That's never going to happen again.'”
Saxon and his partner, Joanie Robertson, work full-throttle to provide donations to the Armed Services YMCA at the U.S. Marine Corps Air Ground Combat Center in Twentynine Palms.
Saxon conservatively estimates that in the past 13 months, they've collected more than $100,000 worth of donated items and delivered more than 45 truckloads of goods to the base.
“This thing is deep in my heart. I'm letting them know that we care,” he said. “I'm showing them that we think of their sacrifices.”
The 66-year-old's love for the troops shows through the intimidating figure he cuts, said Joy Porrello, a frequent donor.
“He's a huge man,” she said of the 6-foot-5 Saxon. “And I think his heart is bigger than he is.”
Saxon and Robertson each spend about 20 hours a week collecting and delivering donations to the base to support the military families. They accept gently used donations of just about anything — clothes, furniture, home appliances, tools.
Before the donations started rolling in, their efforts began by contributing to the YMCA's weekend getaway program.
Saxon and Robertson use the benefits and comps they acquire when they visit the Agua Caliente Casino Resort Spa to provide free weekends at the resort for married Marines and their spouses.
YMCA staff said they see the difference the weekends make for Marines who cherish time to relax and bond with their spouses, like one injured Marine who got a weekend away from the wounded warrior barracks.

Though he left for the weekend in low spirits, he returned feeling upbeat and positive, said YMCA Executive Director Anita Neu-Fultz.
One couple had been married for seven years, and “they actually had tears in their eyes because it's the first time they ever had a honeymoon,” Saxon said.
The work evolved from donating weekends into accepting items to donate, as well as developing a relationship with a food bank to provide on-base families with free bread, plus canned goods and produce for only 19 cents per pound.
The couple also worked to raise more than $10,000 to build a flag memorial at the base, which includes one flag for every fatality of a Marine from that base in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Last time the monument was updated, in December, there were 149 flags, Neu-Fultz said.
With so much back-and-forth to the base, Saxon said the couple pays for their gas out-of-pocket and bought a new truck that can carry larger loads.
Robertson said the cause is worth it.
“As long as I can fill this gas tank up, away we go,” the 75-year-old said.
The operation has continued to grow, and now has three other retired couples who volunteer.
“I call us the ‘gang of eight,'” Saxon said. “I'm hoping one day to call ourselves the ‘dirty dozen.'”
One of those couples is Art and Nicole Phillips, Saxon and Robertson's neighbors.
Art Phillips said he enjoys the work because he can meet the Marines and see for himself the difference he's making.
“Out of all the charities I've given to in the past without knowing where it really goes, this I can see,” he said.
The Phillipses played an important role by connecting Saxon and Roberston with Joy Porello, a resident of the Sun City community in Palm Desert, who began publicizing the operation as well as donating herself.
Porello said the cause struck a chord for her and spurred her to ask for donations throughout Sun City.
“They've gone to the military to fight for us. Some of them are being killed for us. And these families don't have enough money to live,” she said.

Ryan Buxton is a reporter for The Desert Sun. Contact him at (760) 778-4661 or ryan.buxton@thedesertsun.com