Christopher Brimmer

In each issue of Scuba Diving Magazine, the magazine publishes a winning letter and awards a prize donated by a gear manufacturer. In the November/December 2011 issue, a letter submitted by Jenna Brimmer was chosen as their “Win This!” prize winner. This was no ordinary letter, but a letter sent by the heart to help a scuba-loving husband find some sense of home in the war-torn regions of Afghanistan. The prize that SPC Christopher and Jenna Brimmer won were two DCT dive lights donated by Moray Dive Gear. Moray’s Trevor Theriault had the lights custom–made; a pink one for Jenna and a camouflaged one inscribed with SPC Brimmer’s name.

But that's not all...

The letter (copied below) moved the staff and management at Sunset House so much by Jenna’s innocent and heartwarming request to make her husband’s deployment easier, that the they could not wait to get involved. Sunset House is treating this lovely young couple to a complimentary stay in one of the resort’s beautifully renovated oceanview rooms and all the diving the couple can do, including a dive on the ex-USS Kittiwake after Chris’s deployment in Afghanistan is over. What makes the story even more special is that Grand Cayman is one of Chris’s favorite destinations.

Here’s Jenna’s letter, published in the November/December 2011 issue of Scuba Diving:

Little Piece of Home

My husband, SPC Christopher Brimmer, is on his second deployment in Afghanistan (after a deployment in Iraq) with the 14th engineer battalion. I have his current subscription to Scuba Diving sent directly to him and he reads it all the time, saying it helps him remember the fun times from the past, and that it allows him to have a little piece of home in such a crazy, unfamiliar place so far away. An advanced open-water diver, he loves scuba diving and has gone more times than I can count, including his favorite destinations in Grand Cayman and Baja, Mexico. I’m writing with the hope that you might put this letter in; it would lighten his spirits and put a smile on his face. Thank you and keep up the good work on an awesome magazine. Jenna Brimmer — Brooklyn Center, Minnesota

“This was one of those moments where we looked at each other and we all said the same thing, “Let’s thank them as well with a dive vacation!” the staff at Sunset House said. Come to find out, some of SPC Brimmer’s fondest memories of diving in Grand Cayman in 2008 were the shore dives right off Sunset House.

In a phone conversation with Sunset House Director of Marketing Keith Sahm, Jenna related how Chris and she had been sweethearts since 9th grade, and after a long engagement, got married two months before Chris was deployed overseas. Jenna also related that her father-in-law (a scuba instructor) was teaching her how to dive and could not wait to make her open water checkout off the shore of Sunset House alongside her husband in the clear, warm waters of Grand Cayman!

With momentum buzzing after the word of Sunset House offering the free stay, the Cayman Islands Department of Tourism is getting on board and so is Cayman Airlines. Once the lovely couple gets on island, there will be even more outpouring of Caymankind!

Check out SPC Brimmer’s reaction on Sunset House’s Facebook page. Sunset House will update this story once SPC Brimmer is home and then again when he’s on island.

Sunset House encourages others in the industry this holiday season to reach out to a military family and thank them as well. “Whether they be from the USA, UK, Canada, Australia, whereever, a kind gesture is not that hard to do, especially this time of year,” Sahm says.

For more information on booking your next dive vacation to Sunset House, go to www.sunsethouse.com or call toll-free at 800-854-4767 or email [email protected].