EWING, NJ - On Friday morning, December 20th, 2002 Staff Sergeant Arthur Joseph Valenzuela-Bradley II received a special if not unexpected gift.  He was promoted to the new rank of Sergeant First Class.  Militarily speaking, the promotion and awarding of his new rank came immediately after Valenzuela completed the Army National Guard’s Advanced NCO (Non-Commissioned Officer) School, Class # 03-003 at Fort Dix, New Jersey on December 19th.  But in keeping with the magical spirit of the holiday season, the promotion also came on the 5th anniversary of “Operation Santa”, an annual Christmas drive established and coordinated by Sergeant Valenzuela and implemented through the Children’s Home Society of New Jersey, headquartered in Trenton.

While unloading his truckload of holiday gifts at the Children’s Home Society offices in Trenton, SFC Valenzuela (aka Santa) gets a helping hand from Dana Hyland of Ewing, New Jersey, an Administrative Assistant / Public Affairs specialist with the Children’s Home Society. Photo by Roman M. Martyniuk, NJDMAVA 

The United States Marine Corps Reserve has their annual Toys for Tots campaign, but in keeping with the Army’s current recruiting slogan, this “Army of One” managed to accomplish a most impressive and amazing goal... providing more than 230 very special children with gifts this holiday season. 

When asked what motivated him to undertake this rather unique annual activity, Valenzuela responded in a very calm, very humble voice.  “ I’ve been blessed with an awful lot.  Some of these kids have nothing.  Kids are special and, especially at this time of year, we need to make sure that they feel special.  They need to know that someone cares about them … even if that someone is Santa Claus.”

Because many of the recipients are in foster care or in situations that require strict confidentiality, Valenzuela doesn’t ever get to see the reactions of the children or their families.  His reaction to this somewhat ironic situation, “ Just knowing we did something is enough.”

SFC Valenzuela had a significant number of “Santa’s helpers” this year; generous and caring colleagues and acquaintances that responded to Valenzuela’s e-mail call to help.   Fellow Guard member Sergeant Major Edward Goetschius and his family who provided gifts for 11 children and an anonymous benefactor who provided toys, clothing, scarves, gloves, games, and other items for 8 children, and Chief Warrant Office Bill Tuttle and his wife Kate led the rather long list of donors.  Another rather prominent, New Jersey National Guardsman, the Commander-in-Chief himself, Governor James E. McGreevey, made a special trip to the National Guard Army Aviation Support Facility (AASF) in West Trenton to drop off his contribution to “Operation Santa”.  Beth Valenzuela, the Sergeant’s wife and the mother of their two beautiful daughters, Kylie (2½ years of age) and Allie (who celebrated her 1st birthday last week), helped with the wrapping, added ribbons and bows, and provided “lots of little stuff” from candy canes to stocking stuffers to help brighten the holiday experience for so many.  The Parkway Salon, Junior Women’s Club, and Lion’s Club in West Deptford (the Valenzuela’s home town) together with a wide variety of units and personnel from both the New Jersey Army and Air National Guard also played a key role in the effort.

Donors were asked to provide new, wrapped, age & gender specific items that were included on this year’s annual “wish list”.  Area Social Workers, Children’s Home Society staff, local churches, and other service agencies identified the intended recipients.
 “Our goal was to ensure that everyone on our list got something.  And if there are any extra’s, those will be used as birthday gifts or distributed on other appropriate occasions.”

Using a huge 5-ton (cargo capacity) cargo truck provided compliments of Captain _____Lapp, Sergeant ____Hurley, and the troops of the 1st Battalion -114th Infantry headquartered in Woodbury, New Jersey, Valenzuela made the relatively short trip to the Children’s Aid Society located just off Rt 129 across from the Sovereign Bank Arena.  Once there, a small army of civilian volunteers and Home Society staff helped unload the tons of colorfully wrapped holiday gifts.  The entire operation was conducted with the skill, efficiency, and precision one normally would expect from a professional military organization. 

The Garden State Guard’s newest Sergeant First Class, otherwise known as “Santa in combat boots” now is assigned to serve as the Readiness NCO for Troop D, 5th Squadron, 117th Cavalry, a new unit now located at the AASF.  A veteran of 4 years of active duty service with the United States Navy aboard the USS Kitty Hawk (CV-63) and 10 years with the New Jersey Army National Guard, Valenzuela will also serve as the Administrative and Supply Sergeant for his new unit.  He previously was assigned to Detachment 1, 3rd Battalion 112th Field Artillery headquartered in Cherry Hill, Headquarters and Headquarters Company, B Company, C Company, and D Company of the 1st Battalion -150th Aviation, all located at the Trenton-Mercer County Airport location. 

His MOS’s (military occupational specialties) include 13F (Forward Observer), 67Y (Cobra helicopter Crew Chief), 68X (Apache helicopter armament & electrician specialist), and 67R (Apache Crew Chief).  He’s not the only over-achiever in the family, his wife Beth, a former teacher at Drexel University in Philadelphia, has a BA in Business Administration and Masters degrees in both Economics and Finance.

For the Valenzuela family, military service has been something of a family tradition.  The grandfather on his mother’s side served for more than 30 years as a nuclear weapons technician including various tours of duty with the Navy, Marine Corps, Army, Army Air Corps, and both the United States Air Force and Air Force Reserve.  His stepfather’s father, a Master Chief in the Navy, was a veteran of Pearl Harbor.