Every morning, thousands of Soldiers wake up to a steaming cup of "Joe."

Whether it's black as midnight or mostly cream and sugar, it's part of their daily routine.

In association with the Hawaii Gathering of Eagles organization, coffee farmers from the Big Island of Hawaii launched "Operation Warrior Wake Up," recently, to provide Hawaii-based deployed Soldiers a little taste of the islands.

"'Operation Warrior Wake Up' is about how local Hawaiian businesses support the troops [and help them] get through the everyday grind," said Capt. Ronnie Geronimo, signal officer, 2nd Squadron, 14th Cavalry Regiment, 2nd Stryker Brigade Combat Team (2SBCT).

Although coffee is available in the form of grounds at the post exchange or at the numerous coffee shops at Camp Taji, the coffee provided to 2SBCT Soldiers is shipped directly from the farmers who grow and harvest it in Kona on the Big Island.

One man in particular, Robert Gowan, a Captain Cook, Hawaii, native and Hawaii's coordinator for the Gathering of Eagles organization, took the initiative to start sending local coffee beans to deployed troops from his home state.

Among the units receiving the coffee is the 2-14th Cav. Regt. While the unit is seemingly random, the regiment holds a more personal tie to the man taking the lead in this donation.

In the brutal winter of 1944, Soldiers of the 14th Cav. Regt. fought in the Battle of the Bulge in Belgium, and among them was Gowan's father, who served in the Army Air Corps, Gowan said.

"So ... here we are, all these years later, and I'm sending coffee to the Soldiers of the 14th Cav. [Regt.], the successors of the very men that stood fast and protected my own father all those years ago," he said. "These Soldiers are my ohana."

Having family ties to the unit isn't the only motivation behind Gowan's actions. While the unit trained at the Big Island's Pohakuloa Training Area, Gowan received a special gift from a warrior, which he keeps close to his heart.

"Last summer, in June, our [Gathering of Eagles group] turned out to give an aloha greeting to members of 2nd SBCT, 25th ID, who were ... traveling up Saddle Road in a convoy," said Gowan.

"As they passed us, our troops' appreciation sign, and many U.S. flags, one Soldier tossed me his own 'Tropic Lightning Division' shoulder patch, and, at that moment or shortly thereafter, the idea began to gel that perhaps there was a way I could offer to support these U.S. Army troops, our own 2nd SBCT, 25th ID Soldiers based right here in Hawaii."

With the division patch still in his pocket, Gowan began rallying to gain support for his fresh idea to support his troops.

"[The patch] went with me the day I decided to approach my own immediate neighbors, here in the heart of America's only coffee country, with the idea to start sending fresh-roasted Kona coffee, which they themselves have grown and freely donated," said Gowan. "They were amazingly receptive. Within days, they had come through with over 30 pounds of coffee, which I quickly put in the mail ... and it was on its way to Iraq."

A couple of weeks later at Camp Taji, 2nd SBCT Soldiers enjoyed local Hawaiian coffee donated by a grateful admirer.

"It really means a lot to the Soldiers in the squadron to have someone support them from the state of Hawaii since, at one point, we didn't even know if the Stryker Brigade was ever going back there," said Geronimo.

"It is good to know that no matter what the political pressures were, there are people from Hawaii that care about the Soldiers. It is also good to have something shipped to you to remind you of home."