But one day in September 2003, Chief Warrant Officer Paul Holton heard the cry of a child, and his life - and the lives of tens of thousands of soldiers and children in war-torn Iraq and Afghanistan - changed forever as a result.

Holton, a Utah National Guard interrogator, was walking inside the fortified U.S. military enclave when he heard the sobbing from beyond the wire. Then he spotted a ragged little girl, tears etching rivulets along her dirty cheeks.

"I motioned for her to come and had the guards bring her inside the compound," Holton says. "Through an interpreter, I learned she had been separated from her mother, who was inside the zone."

The scene of the girl reunited with her one-legged mother moved the soldier. He asked the two to wait while he quickly retrieved some items from his office. Holton returned with a toothbrush, a comb, some flip-flops to replace the girl's deteriorating shoes - and a toy, stuffed monkey.

"As I wrapped that monkey around her neck, I saw the light come back in her face. There was a twinkle in her eyes and a smile," he recalls. "That night I posted on my blog something like, 'If you want to send anything, send toys.' "

What began as a one-man campaign soon spurred thousands to donate cash, toys, clothing, shoes and snacks for the youngest, most innocent of the victims war. Operation Give was born, and then Operation Christmas Stocking, which this year targeted American soldiers serving in Afghanistan.

"We have 17,000 troops in Afghanistan, but with the attention on Iraq it often seems like people at home have forgotten about them," Holton says. "But our brothers and sisters are fighting and dying there, too."

Providing holiday packages to the 140,000 GIs in Iraq, he admits, is currently beyond the ability of Operation Christmas Stocking. But the smaller contingent in Afghanistan seemed ideal for the project.

Volunteers have labored for several weeks making the foot-long stockings, stuffing them with everything from candy, personal hygiene products, shaving gear, phone calling cards and disposable cameras to CDs and DVDs.

A growing network of fraternal organizations, school and church groups and Scouting units raise the donations of cash and goods nationwide. Holton's civilian employer, Federal Express, gathers them and ships the contributions to him.

Holton, his wife, Keeyeon, and four children pitch in along with other volunteers here to package the items, then store them temporarily in a Salt Lake City warehouse provided by the Globus Relief organization.

Federal Express then offers free shipping by container ship to Kuwait, from where the stockings and gifts flow into the war zones.

"I'm a big fan of his," Keeyeon said Sunday, helping Paul put the final touches on gift stockings at their east Salt Lake City home. "We've found giving to be a growing experience; it really is more fun than receiving."

The Holtons have seen more than 25 containers - each 40 feet long, holding about 1,000 packages each - delivered over the past couple of years.

"We've also sent some help to Sri Lanka after the tsunami, and for [Hurricane] Katrina," he says.

But the bulk of the aid is earmarked for soldiers and the children they touch every day.

"We won the war in those countries, but now we have to win the peace," Holton says. "With these programs, we are trying to do that, in our small way. One heart and one mind at a time."

For Holton, 53, of the Utah Army National Guard's 141st Military Intelligence Battalion, it all began by listening to a child's lament a little more than two years ago.

And now, he hopes to ease the loneliness of GIs in the war's all-but-forgotten Afghani backwater.

"They need to know we are behind them 100 percent," Holton says.

bmims@sltrib.com

How to help

To find out how you can help, visit Operation Give/Operation Christmas Stocking's Web site at http://www.operationgive.org.