Operation Helmet
Dennis Smith of Illinois has good reason for launching the McHenry County arm of Operation Helmet, a project to ensure that Marines are equipped with proper helmets. His granddaughter’s husband is serving his second term in Iraq and still does not have the proper helmet protection, Smith said. Operation Helmet takes donations to buy upgrade kits for helmets to protect soldiers from traumatic brain injury. Since starting in November, McHenry Operation Helmet has raised about $3,000 in donations. Each new helmet upgrade kit costs $77. Operation Helmet is not just a local project. Bob Meaders of Texas started Operation Helmet in 2004 because he, like Smith, has a connection to a person serving in Iraq.
