LEWISTON – Maine Family Federal Credit Union recently received a letter from a troop stationed in Iraq.

Last fall the credit union asked their Monty Moose Youth Savers Group to write holiday cheer letters to the men and women in the U.S. military stationed in Iraq to show support.

The unit that received the letters is the 4th Battalion, 1st Field Artillery, nicknamed “The Gunnars.” Their commanding officer, Richard F. Bowyer, LTC, FA, wrote back.

He explained that the unit was living in one of Saddam Hussein’s palaces in the middle of Baghdad. He said that although the palace was damaged during the bombing, they were able to salvage many of the surrounding buildings and turn them into living quarters.

He said temperatures had hovered around 68 degrees; however they had peaked at 124 degrees in past months. The unit was deployed from Fort Riley, Kan., in April of last year and they hope to return to their families this April.

Maine Family FCU, a full service financial institution, has more than 1,400 Monty Moose members in the youth savers group. They are located at 555 Sabattus St. in Lewiston and 831 Minot Ave. in Auburn.