This Belongs to Everyone Here at Cigar Asylum
 

Hey guys,
As some of you may remember over a year ago I asked all the Gorillas at CS if they could contribute some cigars for the Polish Troops serving in the U.S. Coalition forces. In true Gorilla fashion I was overwhelmed by the generous packages that came from the jungle.

Anyway, I had some legal back and forths with the Polish Embasy and several months later the cigars were shipped off to Afghanistan. Why not Iraq I don't know but maybe they know.

In any case, last September I was invited to the Polish Embassy as an honored guest. Shortly after I was visited by the Polish Army liaison for Washington D.C. and was presented with the following "Certificate"...

Now I made it clear that Club Stogie were the ones who deserved a majority of the credit but seeing as what's happened to CS I think it may be just as well that the site wasn't mentioned.

In any case, this certificate belongs as much to everyone of you who made this possible as it does to me.

Sorry for the delay in posting this but It's been a very rough half year for me and my family and I just hadn't been visiting any forums. I guess in a way that also worked out for the best as CS is dead and I'm glad to be able to post this for the first time here at Cigar Asylum.

http://members.cox.net/no1der/TEMP/C...lshGeneral.jpg

This is one post that will not become property of someone who had nothing to do with creating it.

Cheers to you my BOTL brothers, you made this possible and cheered up some Soldiers a very long way from home.

Cheers,
Rob


EDIT: Below is the translated text added at the request of No1der. ~pnoon


Now I want to warn everyone that my Polish to English translation skills aren't very good.

I speak the language quite well but reading and writing are my weakpoints.

I think I did the text justice but I'm sure it could have been done better.

Below is a translation of the text:
"Mr. Robert W. Korczak-Sielicki (Me)

In the name of myself and all the soldiers of the Polish Contingency of the Army in Afghanistan I thirst to give in your hands the most sincere thanks for this warm gift that gave us such great joy.

Putting together the gesture of great respect I would like to give (you) the most sincere soldiers salute (my translation) and best wishes, lots of health and good tidings in your personal and professional life.

Signed.
Commander of Polish Contingent of the Army in Afghanistan.

Brigadier General Grzegorz Buszka"

Re: This Belongs to Everyone Here at Cigar Asylum
 

Aw man, that's great!!

Re: This Belongs to Everyone Here at Cigar Asylum
 

Very nice.
Is there any way you or someone you know could translate the text?

Re: This Belongs to Everyone Here at Cigar Asylum
 

Wow, that is very cool. I too would like to know what it says!

The things the gorillas accomplish with their generosity has always astounded me...

Re: This Belongs to Everyone Here at Cigar Asylum
 

Thanks for sharing!! Wonderful to know our members made a few others smile and a difference in the world!

Re: This Belongs to Everyone Here at Cigar Asylum
 

Yup, got it typed up. Now I want to warn everyone that my Polish to English translation skills aren't very good.

I speak the language quite well but reading and writing are my weakpoints.

I think I did the text justice but I'm sure it could have been done better.

Below is a translation of the text:
"Mr. Robert W. Korczak-Sielicki (Me)

In the name of myself and all the soldiers of the Polish Contingency of the Army in Afghanistan I thirst to give in your hands the most sincere thanks for this warm gift that gave us such great joy.

Putting together the gesture of great respect I would like to give (you) the most sincere soldiers salute (my translation) and best wishes, lots of health and good tidings in your personal and professional life.

Signed.
Commander of Polish Contingent of the Army in Afghanistan.

Brigadier General Grzegorz Buszka"

Re: This Belongs to Everyone Here at Cigar Asylum
 

Thanks, Robert. :tu

Re: This Belongs to Everyone Here at Cigar Asylum
 

Thank you guys, like I said this is as much yours as it is mine.

Cheers,
Rob

Re: This Belongs to Everyone Here at Cigar Asylum
 

that is awesome! thanks so much for sharing that

Re: This Belongs to Everyone Here at Cigar Asylum
 

I'm glad that circumstances allowed me to post it here where it belongs.

Cheers,
Rob

Re: This Belongs to Everyone Here at Cigar Asylum
 

no doubt, I think it worked out well

Re: This Belongs to Everyone Here at Cigar Asylum
 

This is truly amazing, thanks for sharing with us and not puff! :tu

Re: This Belongs to Everyone Here at Cigar Asylum
 

Well, it's pretty much the members here that made this possible. There's no love like Jungle love and the fellas from the Jungle really gave a lot of love and over 1000 cigars.

Cheers,
Rob

Re: This Belongs to Everyone Here at Cigar Asylum
 

That is absolutely awesome.

Re: This Belongs to Everyone Here at Cigar Asylum
 

That is awesome! Thank you and all the other gorillas/inmates for being so generous. My Polish wife (nee Kolashinski) thought it was cool as well!

Re: This Belongs to Everyone Here at Cigar Asylum
 

Very cool, Rob! :tu

Re: This Belongs to Everyone Here at Cigar Asylum
 

Very cool. Thanks for sharing! :ss

Re: This Belongs to Everyone Here at Cigar Asylum
 

that is awesome, credits to those who deserve it

Re: This Belongs to Everyone Here at Cigar Asylum
 

That's great! Thanks for posting.

Re: This Belongs to Everyone Here at Cigar Asylum
 

That is beautiful! Gorillas (or inmates) are really good people.

Puffer fish are, well...:confused:

Re: This Belongs to Everyone Here at Cigar Asylum
 

Wow. Now that is cool! :tu

Re: This Belongs to Everyone Here at Cigar Asylum
 

Thanks for sharing Rob :usa

Re: This Belongs to Everyone Here at Cigar Asylum
 

thats awesome.. i'm polish, and it was great seeing some brothern over there. Thanks for sending them some smokes.. great job!

Re: This Belongs to Everyone Here at Cigar Asylum
 

That's amazing!! Kudos to everyone who participated.

Re: This Belongs to Everyone Here at Cigar Asylum
 

That is great. Thanks for sharing it with us here.;)

Re: This Belongs to Everyone Here at Cigar Asylum
 

Very cool, glad to see stogies and gifts getting to their rightful homes.

Re: This Belongs to Everyone Here at Cigar Asylum
 

Wow. That certificate is cool looking.

Re: This Belongs to Everyone Here at Cigar Asylum
 

I will see if my wife or her sister can still read enough Polish to translate if you like.

Re: This Belongs to Everyone Here at Cigar Asylum
 

:tpd:

Re: This Belongs to Everyone Here at Cigar Asylum
 

That's very cool that you BOTLs would do that for some of our brothers in arms. As a guy who deployed with the US Army many times over the years, i can tell you it feels great to know that folks back home--even strangers to us-- care about us enough to send care packages and well wishes. I'm sure what you did here for these Polish troops they will never forget, and not only did it lift thier spirits, but I think it also helps foster goodwill between our two countries at a grass roots level. Well done!:ss

Re: This Belongs to Everyone Here at Cigar Asylum
 

Uhm, guys, I kinda already posted a translation. If one of the mods would like to copy and paste it into the OP that would be great.

Thank you but I can't stress this enough that although I did play a part most of the credit goes to the Gorillas/Inmates that made this possible.

Certainly I included several bundles of cigars myself but the vast majority >800 were donated by the Jungle.

This is what makes this community absolutely amazing, the fact that we care about others and hold very closely to the unwritten BOTL code.

I salute all of you for the help and in retrospect (and this part will sound strange on the surface) I am happy that there was no mention of Club Stogie in the papers. It would really bother me if some guy with bundles of cash had purchased the credit for what all the BOTL's did/do.

Cheers,
Rob

Re: This Belongs to Everyone Here at Cigar Asylum
 

Consider it done.

Re: This Belongs to Everyone Here at Cigar Asylum
 

Glad to see that the smokes got there, very cool Rob.

Re: This Belongs to Everyone Here at Cigar Asylum
 

:salute:Nicely done! That's really cool! :salute:

Re: This Belongs to Everyone Here at Cigar Asylum
 

:tpd:

That is definitely a wonderful thing. :D

Re: This Belongs to Everyone Here at Cigar Asylum
 

Very cool Rob and thanks for sharing here.

Re: This Belongs to Everyone Here at Cigar Asylum
 

Thanks Pnoon, much appreciated.

Thanks guys it certainly felt great to be able to make that delivery. I did run into a couple of problems at the start of trying to arrange transport to the troops as the Polish Embassy was hesitant to get involved in arranging transport.

Once we communicated more clearly the two coolers flew out of the U.S. on the same plane as the Polish president. It was kind of a funny story because they didn't anticipate just how much room 1000 cigars along with humidification actually takes.

So in any case, the Polish President was visiting the States on some official business and the Polish government arranged with his staff to have the two coolers flown on his plane.

It's possible that the Colonel that I was dealing with was just telling me a tall tale but I doubt he would risk looking dumb over something like that so I'm inclined to believe him.

I'll tell ya, truth is stranger than fiction more often than not.

Cheers,
Rob

Re: This Belongs to Everyone Here at Cigar Asylum
 

Allow me to elaborate on some of the other things that were contributed aside from cigars.

50 V-Cutters.
Lots of water pillows & humidification devices.
U.S. Military patches and, if I remember correctly, U.S. Aviation scarves and the like.
Cigar decals and stickers.
Several personal notes & letters to the troops ( I didn't read them as they weren't to me)

All in all I dare say that I got so much out of this that it's hard to put into words. The feeling of brotherhood from the Jungle/Inmates and the feeling of getting those stogies to the troops was, and still is, just amazing.

Cheers,
Rob

Re: This Belongs to Everyone Here at Cigar Asylum
 

Awesome! Thanks for sharing that and for representing us so well.

Re: This Belongs to Everyone Here at Cigar Asylum
 

Very cool indeed.

Re: This Belongs to Everyone Here at Cigar Asylum
 

Your the man Rob!

Re: This Belongs to Everyone Here at Cigar Asylum
 

Thanks for saying that but in all honesty I don't deserve that much praise. The praise really should go to the BOTL's who helped make it happen.

It was an honor to be a part of this but I only played a part in a much bigger production.

Cheers,
Rob

Re: This Belongs to Everyone Here at Cigar Asylum
 

That is excellent!

Re: This Belongs to Everyone Here at Cigar Asylum
 

That is excellent!! Great job organizing the barrage of smokes!

Re: This Belongs to Everyone Here at Cigar Asylum
 

Well done...that is awesome! :tu

Re: This Belongs to Everyone Here at Cigar Asylum
 

Thank you for sharing that with us No1lder. That is so great! I find that I am continually blown away by the caliber of people we have in our midst.

Thanks!:usa

Re: This Belongs to Everyone Here at Cigar Asylum
 

Doskonały Istotnie!

Re: This Belongs to Everyone Here at Cigar Asylum
 

Very cool

Re: This Belongs to Everyone Here at Cigar Asylum
 

Rob, thanks for sharing that Certificate with us. It was a pleasure as a "former Gorilla" to contribute a box of cigars to the cause. I'm sure the troops enjoyed all that was sent to them. It's always nice to have a little piece of home in a land far away. Congratulations:ss

Re: This Belongs to Everyone Here at Cigar Asylum
 

Very cool! The gorillas will be remembered long after there gone thanks to generosity like this!