Before we start....

This is going to be an odd couple of weeks. I will be delivering Blyskavka (your ambulance) to Ukraine and UFL_Robin will be out of service, as well.

Therefore, we will draw the winners from this week and next week's raffles when we return the week of August 10. Because of the significant travel, you will see a decrease in our presence and response until then.

And, lastly, next week's raffle will have a bigger package than usual and we will not have our weekly raffle the week of August 3.

As has become the norm, we begin with some updates:

To begin, you supplied the 95th with the 3D printer they needed.

The 214 Battalion (OPFOR) thanks you for the 20 field beds

And UFL's GUR unit received an inverter generator (for sensitive electronics) and solar panel. They report that using these to charge their power station works very well for them!

$2 TACO Tuesday

This week's TACO filling is another stamp sheet and a framed copy of the famous Ukrainian tractor stamp. (On an unrelated note, I love that image so much that I have it on my fridge as a magnet). UFL_Arcaist also found a very cool challenge coin and two AK casings that were collected from the Krynky operation, in which the Ukrainians kept the russians busy for months across the Dnipro from Kherson.

$5 pack

I swear that Arcaist finds these things just to make me jealous of the winners.

The 118th Brigade sent an awesome signed flag and unit patch to thank you for your support.

In closing:

I keep finding things that remind me of you, those good people who support Ukraine and defend what is right. One of my Ukrainian friends shared with me the poem that sparked her love of poetry in English, "The proof of worth" by Edgar Albert Guest:

Though victory's proof of the skill you possess,
Defeat is the proof of your grit;
A weakling can smile in his days of success, But at trouble's first sign he will quit.
So the test of the heart and the test of your pluck
Isn't skies that are sunny and fair,
But how do you stand to the blow that is struck And how do you battle despair?
A fool can seem wise when the pathway is clear
And it's easy to see the way out,
But the test of man's judgment is something to fear, And what does he do when in doubt?
And the proof of his faith is the courage he shows
When sorrows lie deep in his breast;
It's the way that he suffers the griefs that he knows
That brings out his worst or his best.
The test of a man is how much he will bear
For a cause which he knows to be right,
How long will he stand in the depths of despair, How much will he suffer and fight?
There are many to serve when the victory's near
And few are the hurts to be borne, But it calls for a leader of courage to cheer The men in a battle forlorn.
It's the way you hold out against odds that are great
That proves what your courage is worth,
It's the way that you stand to the bruises of fate
That shows up your stature and girth.
And victory's nothing but proof of your skill, Veneered with a glory that's thin, Unless it is proof of unfaltering will, And unless you have suffered to win.

I challenge you to read it without weeping; I couldn't.

Героям слава!

-Scott

Please note

Though the event description mentions a livestream, there will be none. And while we do deeply appreciate those of you who choose to donate as well as buying raffle tickets, we want to make it clear that donations are not required to enter the raffle.

22 July UFL raffle with the 118th

The deliveries continue!