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| Afghanistan |
| Ex-soldiers fly ice cream van to Afghanistan |
| 2011-05-14 |
| AN ice cream van is dishing out cooling cones to our troops in Afghanistan - thanks to three ex-soldiers. Squaddies sweltering in the desert dust queue to lap up the 99s. Former Para sergeant Neil Peacock and two pals spent nearly £30,000 from their savings to buy the van and fly it out. They painted it in camouflage colours with a Mind The Troops sign on the back - but it still has its Whistle While You Work chimes. Two girl servers have handed out 18,000 ice creams in two weeks - with British and US troops paying around £1.30 and local kids getting theirs free. Neil, 47, said: "We are Afghanistan's first ice cream men, sticking up two fingers to the Taliban. The response has been phenomenal. Everyone smiles when the van rolls by." Neil, former Royal Marine Craig Brewitt, 45, and ex-Guardsman Gordon Fleming, 45, came up with the idea while working as security men in the 60°C (140°F) heat of Kandahar. The 1993 van from Plymouth cost them £4,000 on eBay. The mates then chipped in £8,000 each to have it air-freighted to the danger zone via Amsterdam and Dubai. An Irish dairy farmer supplies the ice cream. Neil, from Newcastle upon Tyne, said: "I grew up having Mr Whippy on family trips to the seaside. "This took six months of hard work but now we have lovely serving girls, our Nato hygiene certificate and a trading name, ConeKAF. The only thing we need now is air conditioning." |
| Posted by:Anonymoose |
| #5 I would do it one better. Create a "paradise park", out of missile range within a military reservation. Lush, green, with lots of fountains, flowers and fruit trees. Open for (inspected) women and their young children. If done properly, it isn't very expensive, and leaves the children in awe of what might be, compared to the desolation, violence and misery that the Taliban offer. It is a superb, soft sell message, not of "This is what heaven will look like", but "This is what Afghanistan can look like, if you work to make it so." |
| Posted by: Anonymoose 2011-05-14 14:22 |
| #4 I love it!!! Now they need to get franchises going. Maybe they can buy locally grown pistachios and a few dairies, with jobs for local girls, nails nicely polished, to serve--the Ice Cream Revolution could defeat the Taliban. |
| Posted by: Lumpy Elmoluck5091 2011-05-14 13:57 |
| #3 this is a brilliant idea!! It could do wonders throughout the areas that we're deployed and the local kids will be the biggest recipients and talk about "very cool" Western ideas- the ice cream truck puts a smile on everyone's face, way to go guys! |
| Posted by: 746 2011-05-14 11:39 |
| #2 goto 3:25 |
| Posted by: Bright Pebbles 2011-05-14 11:21 |
| #1 Great idea. Well done! Icecream vans will do a lot to win over locals |
| Posted by: anon1 2011-05-14 10:31 |