Good People: Help For Afghanistan

Reported By: Brenda Wood

When 9/11 happened, a young Atlanta attorney decided to do something. So, he volunteered for the National Guard and eventually was sent to Afghanistan.

But the attorney-soldier who went to fight for our country came back an honored humanitarian.

What Captain Scott Delius did over there makes him Good People.

He's got a collection of military medals -- some every soldier gets when they go to war. But not every soldier gets this --

"This is the meritorious service medal which goes with the certificate," said Scott Delius.

Delius just got back from six months in Afghanistan, a soldier with the Georgia National Guard and an attorney. He was sent to Afghanistan to help set up a military court system. He never expected to be moved by what he saw.

"Seeing children with no clothes," he said. "And it was way below freezing. I'm bundled up. I'm comfortable, but I'm seeing children with no shoes that live in mud huts."

The villages of Afghanistan changed everything for Scott.

"That just struck me really hard," he said. "I just didn't feel like I could walk away from that."

"Scott sent this e-mail saying what are we gonna do about this," said his wife, Allison Garnett. "Oh my gosh, this is making me so upset and so sad -- there was a couple of people that responded and said I want to help. Tell me what to do."

It snowballed. The pictures Scott sent were wrenching. His wife forwarded them, and friends of friends and their friends got involved.

"I was surprised -- overwhelmed really," Scott said.

In two weeks, they raised $4,000 and then clothes started coming in from Georgia to as far away as Minnesota and Hawaii.

"We sent enough clothes from around Atlanta and the US to fill a seven ton truck," Allison said.

It was a hero moment. Scott and his fellow soldiers handed out clothes from village to village to grateful families -- so many clothes sometimes the bags were bigger than the kids.

"They really appreciate it," Scott said. "They don't have anything, I mean, at all. They don't have any shoes, they don't have any warm coats. They're very appreciative."

Scott likes helping people. He's a personal injury attorney. But what happened in Afghanistan deepened his desire to change lives. He went on to set up that military judicial system, and then he came home a different man.

"When you go day to day wondering if you're gonna make it through that day, that changes your perspective," Scott said. "You have a sense of maybe what's important and what's not now that I didn't have before."

Scott said now the small things don't bother him anymore -- not even Atlanta traffic.

By the way, they distributed those clothes all while keeping watch for suicide bombers. Some donations are still coming in.

If you'd like to help, contact Scott at Afghanistanjag.blogspot.com, via phone at (404) 352-3400.