[Costello:] What do you imagine that Americans serving in Iraq want from back home most of all? Well, you will not believe it, but a New Jersey deli owner, Michael Brummer, thinks he's hit it right on the tongue. He joins he joins us now. Hi. I'm sorry, Michael. It just sounds funny, but it really is a nice gesture. Tell us what you're doing.
[Michael Brummer, Co-owner, Hobby's Deli:] We are sending hard salamis to the 42nd Infantry Division based in Tikrit.
[Costello:] And how are you doing that?
[Brummer:] We are taking donations from our customers, and we're hanging salamis in the in our restaurant and drying them and shipping them overseas. And we sent 2,000 just the other day.
[Costello:] And you're calling it a salami drop. What exactly is that? You're not dropping salamis from the sky, are you?
[Brummer:] No. We do have T-shirts that show salamis dropping by parachutes. But no. It was actually coined by my fraternity brother, Michael Rothman, who is a reserve, who's a JAG in Iraq and kind of started the whole thing. I sent him a few, and I said, "You know, you guys are really enjoying it. What about sending it to the rest of the guys in your division?" And it just snowballed. And he said, "Well, let's call it Operation Salami Drop." And just as a joke, I mean, as fraternity brothers do. And I said, "Hey, great name." And it just took off. And when we deal with colonels and majors now and I have to talk to them, it's Operation Salami Drop. And it's just it's it's just snowballed.
[Costello:] I can just hear it now. "General, we must talk about Operation Salami Drop right now."
[Brummer:] You know, I laugh when I get e-mails, when I get e- mails on Operation Salami Drop. But you know, I'll tell you, it's a great thing. People just want to do something for the for the troops. The 42nd is a bunch of reservists based pretty much out of New York and New Jersey, and I just want to do something for them. These guys are away from their families. They walk away from a job. And if a little bit of salami and some mustard raises their day, then that's, you know, that's great for me. My father's a World War II veteran, and his his friends who sent him salamis when he was in Europe. So you know, he said how much he enjoyed it, so I know that these guys are going to really enjoy it.
[Costello:] That's just fantastic.
[Brummer:] Thank you.
[Costello:] Well, thanks for sharing this, and I'm sure the guys over in Tikrit will be very happy to get your salamis.
[Brummer:] I know they will be.
[Costello:] I know. Michael Brummer, a co-owner of Hoppy's Deli in Newark, joining us this morning. Thank you. Short break now. We'll be right back.