Army Spc. Gregory Manning and his family will be guests of the Packers and Festival Foods at Sunday's game vs. the Carolina Panthers for 'Operation Fan Mail.'
Manning, a resident of Green Bay., is a medic for Echo Troop 105th Cavalry, a National Guard unit deployed from Antigo, Wis. His unit conducts convoy security missions in Iraq and has been there since August. The Preble High School grad originally joined the Army in March 2002.
Manning will be accompanied Sunday by his girlfriend, Sally Swan; brother, Gerald Manning Jr., also a veteran of Operation Iraqi Freedom; and father, Gerald Manning.
New this season, 'Operation Fan Mail' is a program in which the Green Bay Packers and Festival Foods recognize a military family at each home game.
To choose families, the Packers and Festival Foods are asking interested families, or friends of eligible families, to submit an essay, 500 words or less, on why a particular family should be saluted. Essays can be sent to: Operation Fan Mail, P.O. Box 10628, Green Bay, WI, 54307-0628. Essays also can be submitted online.
Families intended for recognition are those that have a member serving on active duty away from home. The family member can be a mother, father, son, daughter or sibling.
In addition to being recognized on-field prior to the game, selected families will receive four tickets to the game, a $100 gift certificate to Festival Foods and a care package from the Packers and Festival Foods.
Another feature of the program invites the public to write letters of the support to the troops. The letters can be dropped off at any Festival Foods location and then will be sent to members of the military on active duty.
