A Good Cigar, From Friends

Source from:  By KEITH MORELLI The Tampa Tribune Aug 25, 2007 08/27/2007

Skip directly to the full story. Amid the explosions echoing through the mountains of Afghanistan, or the ruins of an Iraqi neighborhood, the robust aroma of a fine cigar is helping U.S. troops remember life back home. Quality cigars, by some estimates, are second only to Starbucks coffee on the wish list of troops overseas. Where but Tampa, Cigar City, can the need best be met? Enter Thompson Cigars, a 92-year-old retailer near Tampa International Airport, along with a dedicated employee and an ex-Navy man with a passion for helping the troops overseas. "The cigars are very popular," said U.S. Air Force Sgt. John Jewell, in an e-mail to the Tribune from Afghanistan on Friday. He said he initially started smoking cigars to keep the bugs away and is first to get the boxes of cigars from Thompson Cigars, which he doles out to fellow soldiers. "I did not think that many people smoked cigars," wrote Jewell, of Brandon. "But, I soon found out that there was a big demand all over this theater and with people working 12 or more hours a day, it provided the perfect excuse to congregate and talk while having a cigar." "Even people who did not smoke much, or at all, would gather," he wrote. "We call it mental health sessions." Many of the troops save their cigars for after dangerous missions, he said. Jewell often has extra cigars and likes to hand them out to soldiers, particularly ones who have had bad days. "You should see the smiles," he said. He credits Thompson Cigars with improving morale among the troops. "It is an opportunity to have a taste of home and to relax," he said, "and we certainly need that here." A month after terrorists struck New York and Washington on Sept. 11, 2001, Thompson began getting requests from overseas troops for cigars. Initially, the company just sent free boxes of cigars to those who asked. Now, it's a big-time giveaway. About 10,000 free cigars of all brands and varieties were shipped last year to troops, mostly in Iraq and Afghanistan. That amounts to $50,000 worth of finely rolled tobacco, said Thompson Cigars' owner, Carlos Franzblau. "They are making an incredible sacrifice," he said from the lobby of his business. "It's the least we could do. This offers them a chance to have a cigar, relax and take it easy. It's one of the few pleasures they can enjoy over there." A Celebratory Smoke Cigars typically are a celebration of success, he said, and for troops in Iraq and Afghanistan, a good cigar means, "You made it through another day." In a small cubicle in the Thompson warehouse is Marilyn Taylor, a Cuban-born woman who grew up in Tampa and has been around cigars all her life. She is the "Cigar Queen" who arranges shipments of cigars to troops overseas. It began with a box or two at a time, she said. Now, she packs 20 to 25 boxes every two weeks, each box filled with 300 to 350 cigars. They come from boxes that are broken or from returned boxes. Sometimes they are a less-expensive $3 variety; sometimes they're high-quality $15 stogies. "I've made a lot of friends," Taylor said Friday. Her cubicle has evidence of that. Photos of military men and women hoisting thick cigars adorn the walls. Plaques with photos and words of thanks hang below five folded flags that sit on top the partition. She said she has received more than 30 flags from troops saying thanks for the smokes. Once, an Illinois soldier on leave brought his family to Orlando for a vacation. He and the family drove from Orlando to Tampa to thank Taylor and give her a big hug. "It was pretty emotional," she said. "It made me cry." The work is most gratifying, she said. "It's wonderful. It's absolutely wonderful. We've never had to buy a flag. I keep getting them from soldiers." She keeps all the correspondence - thousands of e-mails and as many as 500 photos. One soldier sent her an e-mail saying he saved a box of Thompson cigars until the 230th birthday of the Marine Corps on Nov. 10, 2005. He handed them out to fellow solders in a bombed-out bunker. "It was not the most regal of cigar bars, but it was all we had and what a great time it was," wrote 1st Sgt Rene Perez, stationed at the time in the Al Anbar Province in Iraq. Taylor said she has gotten thanks from privates and generals, from soldiers in the mountains of Afghanistan and bomb-damaged cities of Iraq, even from a couple of chaplains. She has plenty of cigars to pick from. The whole warehouse area is a huge humidor, kept a cool 60 degrees with a steady 70 percent humidity. One corner is reserved for her work tossing expensive Romeo and Juliets and Pardons, as well as cigarillos and Swisher Sweets, into shipping boxes. The Overseas Gift Guy Bob Williams hasn't forgotten the troops, either. The 60-year-old Pasco County man spearheads efforts to send gift packages to the troops overseas, often working closely with Thompson Cigars. This week, he was involved in an effort to collect goodies for troops at a Tampa Yankees home game Friday night. Williams said that after Starbucks coffee, the second-most requested item is cigars. "The guys over there sometimes are bored out of their minds," Williams said. "And it's buggy. They like to sit down, have a good cigar and it keeps the bugs away." Recently, Thompson Cigars gave Williams 200 humidors along with 700 cigars to send to the troops. "Whenever I go over to Thompson, I walk out with a carload full of stuff. They go overboard. "Anybody who writes to them, asking, 'Can you send us cigars?' they send 300 of them," Williams said. "I know special forces guys in Afghanistan, who, after a successful mission, they like to come back and enjoy a nice cigar. "Giving them cigars and cigar cutters is like handing out $100 bills," Williams said. "You can see the morale go up." Enditem