SALT LAKE CITY — In July of 2006, Maj. Tom Bills was sitting in his Humvee outside a small village in Iraq. His unit, tasked with training the new Iraqi army, was on a search-and-cordon mission. As he waited for his command group to investigate the village — searching for insurgents and weapons caches and to document all military-age males — Bills noticed a farmhouse about a hundred yards away.

“I saw a small donkey,” Bills recalled. “He seemed very unimpressed with all the heavy machinery and soldiers around him. My grandfather was a farmer and I had been around farm animals since I was a small boy, so I wanted to have a closer look.”

Confident that the area was secure, Bills jumped out of his truck and, with an interpreter in tow, started up the hill to the farmhouse. Soon the Iraqi farmer and his 11 children emerged to join the American as he petted and admired the “cool and collected little burro.”

One of Bills’ fellow soldiers handed out some candy and toys to the children, and then Bills asked what they liked to do for fun. “Futbol!” all the children yelled in unison.

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“I looked at their feet,” Bills said. “Most of them were barefoot or had sandals, but that didn’t matter. Soccer was king with these kids as with most Iraqi kids. Sadly, though, these kids did not own a soccer ball.”

When Bills returned to his humble barracks at a forward operating base within the Iraqi base at Al Kisik, he wrote a quick email to his parents relating the day's experience and asking that they send a few soccer balls.

“I had no idea what I was starting,” he said happily.

Ray and Mary Jo Bills, Major Bills’ parents, who live in South Jordan, Utah, set immediately to work asking friends and neighbors for donations of money or soccer balls. With a generous first donation in hand, the couple went to a local sporting goods store and loaded a cart with soccer balls. While in the check-out line, a gentleman behind them asked why they would buy so many balls. After the Bills’ explained their son’s request the stranger turned to the cashier and told him that he would cover the cost. The Bills’ left with two carts full of balls and the man’s generosity inspired them to launch “Operation Soccer Ball.”

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The smiles are everywhere. From a young boy in Afghanistan to a girl in Iraq and children in Africa. These smiles are created thanks to a simple toy — a little wooden car made in a litte workshop in South Jordan, Utah.

Working out of their garage, the Bills started shipping soccer balls to Iraq. Ray Bills, a retired Army colonel, said, “We wanted the legacy Tom and the others left over there to be one of peace. We were happy to do anything to help.”

One day back home, a neighbor stopped by the Bills' house and offered to pass the story of Operation Soccer Ball on to Lee Benson, a syndicated columnist for the Deseret News. Benson called a short time after his article ran, and donations had been pouring in.

“Some people sent money — so much that my parents had to open an account and register Operation Soccer Ball as a charity,” Bills explained. “Others sent balls by the hundreds.”

Not only did Utahns donate to the cause, but a church group in California sent 150 balls and an American Legion Post in Rhode Island, after seeing the story online, sent a steady stream of balls. In addition, a sporting goods store in California sent over 600 reversible jerseys.

Large donations were a blessing, but Bills said the most touching donation was that of one solitary soccer ball.

“A little boy named Spencer sent us a single ball with a note that reads, ‘Please give this ball to a child in Iraq. I like soccer. Love, Spencer,’” Bills said. “That handwritten note is in my war journal.”

Back in Iraq, Bills had to use an entire barracks room to store all the donations. He never left the base without a box or bag of soccer balls.

“The demand was incredible. Kids came out of nowhere to get a soccer ball. Sometimes we just threw them out of the turrets of our trucks as we drove through a village,” he recalled. “The balls became part of the basic load plan for all our trucks. Each one had soccer balls on it — our secret weapon in the war on terror.”

Early one morning Bills and his crew searched a small village near Abu Maria. After the search, while waiting for a change in mission, Bills grabbed his big black bag of soccer balls and handed them out to a small group of boys. A pick-up game soon broke out, and Bills and another solider put down their rifles and joined in the game.

Bills said, “The kids played as if they didn’t have a care in the world. These kids who had only known death and destruction were playing with soldiers from a faraway place and having a great time. Did we make a difference that day? I don’t know. Will those kids remember the day that the Americans came to their village and didn’t hurt or kill anyone? I hope so.”

Bills continued, “Feelings are very powerful, and long after the memory of my face is gone those kids will remember the feeling of that day. Perhaps that memory will stop them from being an enemy of my children. Perhaps that memory will make them stand up to extremists who preach death and jihad.”

Overall, more than 3,000 balls were shipped to Iraq. These balls were not only entertainment and joy for kids who have little, but a means for buying soldiers information and safe passage. Bills explained, “Our team trucks were never fired on in the villages where we implemented Operation Soccer Ball. Other coalition and Iraqi Army units were fired on, but not the trucks loaded with the colorful soccer balls.”

Major Bills returned home safely in June of 2007. Operation Soccer Ball ended, but you can be sure that somewhere in Iraq, there are children taking a break from their troubles to play a game of soccer with a donated soccer ball. And perhaps, in the hot sun, running next to them, like a shimmer of heat, is the idea of peace and freedom.

Teri Harman is the author of the bi-weekly column, Book Matters, for ksl.com and the Deseret News. Visit her blog at book-matters.com.

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