How USO Naples Helped on Duty Troops Ring in 2022

Families around the globe celebrated the new year with good food, friendship, fireworks, toasts, and maybe even a kiss at midnight. For military troops keeping the midnight watch, celebrations looked a little different. On New Year’s Eve, USO Naples staff and volunteers visited working troops on the NSA Naples Capodichino and Support Site bases, delivering baskets of goodies to help them ring in 2022.

Service members working hard at security, the fire station, and the emergency room at the hospital were all visited by an energetic team of USO volunteers and staff who thanked them for working on the last day of the year. In each basket delivered were all the essential items to help them celebrate just as they would with their family and friends at home. Bottles of sparkling cider and cups were the most noticeable feature, allowing servicemen and women to still toast in the new year while on watch. Noisemakers, New Years’ Eve hats, and gold 2022 accessories were also included, along with bags of Hershey’s kisses so the troops who were away from their significant others could still enjoy a kiss at midnight.

Upon delivery at security, just 30 minutes shy of the new year a service member exclaimed, “why are you working?!”. The USO’s mission each day and especially on holidays is to strengthen America’s service members by keeping them connected to family, home, and country throughout their service to the nation. Whether they are working hard at their desk, training, executing missions, or keeping the watch on a holiday evening it is the USO’s top priority to be a force behind the forces. With a mighty team of volunteers and enthusiastic staff, USO Naples delivered new year’s cheer to service members when they needed it most, a perfect way to end 2021, showing gratitude for those who spent the holiday keeping the community safe.