Robert Gowan's father was a ground maintenance chief who also flew combat missions with the 9th Air Force out of Belgium in World War II.

Years later, Gowan remembers asking a question of his father, who had retired as a lieutenant colonel.

"I asked him if he had any happy memories from those terrible times (during the war)," Gowan said, "and he told me. 'Yep, Bob, when we'd wake up in the pre-dawn hours in the bitter cold winter in '44, we'd smell the coffee the cooks were cooking up in the mess tent, and that was just the most wonderful thing.'"

That stuck with the Big Island man, who lives in Captain Cook.

"That gave me an idea that maybe soldiers of this modern era would appreciate coffee as much," he said. "Sure enough, they do."

Since February 2008, Gowan, dozens of Kona coffee growers and the Gathering of Eagles in Hawai'i, a troop support organization he's part of, have collected and mailed nearly 4,000 pounds of Kona brew to service members in Iraq and Afghanistan.

The effort started with Gowan trying to do something to support the troops. The first shipment came from 45 pounds of coffee donated by his immediate neighbors in Captain Cook.

Coffee growers have since gotten on board in a big way.

Gowan said Greenwell Farms has provided thousands of pounds of coffee. Captain Cook Coffee Co.; Kona Mountain Coffee; and Arianna Farms Coffee have each donated hundreds of pounds of brew, he said.

It all goes out in Postal Service flat-rate boxes. Gowan, 56, said he's sent out 800 to 900 boxes so far, primarily to Hawai'i-based units. The Army, Navy, Air Force and Marines all get in on the Kona coffee.

Gowan, a trucker who hauls coffee and is a farmer himself, has dozens and dozens of heartfelt thank yous from Iraq and Afghan-istan.

Here's part of just one from Air Force Master Sgt. James Weeder in Iraq:

"Mr. Gowan, mahalo for all the coffee. It is definitely a welcome sight for me and my guys. We have four boxes each with five pounds of Arianna Farms' 'Ono Kona Coffee. ... A major part of what we do is support the 25th Infantry Division, also out of Hawai'i, with close air support (coordinating, deconflicting organic fire support and directing air strikes). I gave them five pounds for their break room and have received many thanks already and am expecting more. They are brewing a pot as I type this."