This didn’t make the front page of the New York Times, but thought you’d like to read it:

U.S. troops donate 800 pairs of shoes to kids in rural Iraq

“I went through villages when I first got here and noticed that some of the kids didn’t have shoes,” said Sgt. William Bailey, 29, of Logan Utah.

“Some of them had holes in their shoes and others cut out the backs so their feet could hang over and still have something solid to stand on.”

So Bailey made a formal request to tap into a special fund set aside by his battalion commander for low-cost (less than $1,000) humanitarian projects. The idea got approved, and now his team and three others are in the process of distributing 800 pairs of shoes to kids in remote pockets of northeastern Iraq.

Bailey’s unit — Battery B, 1st Battalion, 148th Field Artillery — has the job of aiding the Iraqi border police.

God bless ‘em!

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I should point out that some good news from Iraq did make it into the NY Times. Congrats to Chrenkoff and company for the terrific feature.