Vet hooked on java giving

"This was the first time that I could actually hear back from the people," Bishop said. "I get as much out of it as they do."

Bishop jokingly refers to his donations as an addiction, and one that began when he started getting thank-you e-mails back from the troops.

"We have a lot of contributors who are Vietnam veterans, also nurses from Vietnam. They got the short end of the stick when they got home and people didn't say thank you," said Clay Lingo, vice president of marketing for Green Beans, which operates more than 70 coffee shops on U.S. military bases in the U.S. and overseas, most of which are in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Anyone deployed for Operation Iraqi Freedom or Operation Enduring Freedom can sign up to receive a free Cup of Joe, Lingo said.

Since the program launched in 2009, more than 125,000 cups of coffee have been delivered.

Typically, it takes two to three days after Bishop has made a donation for a response to trickle in.

The correspondence varies from a quick thank you to a detailed response from the heart - Bishop says those are the days he most looks forward to.

One soldier recently told him in an e-mail, "Thanks for the pick-me-up. I have actually been feeling just that, lonely and forgotten, and time seems to pass so slow."

The soldier did not leave a name, but Bishop knows she was serving at Camp Arifjan in Iraq.

From the 100 cups he has sent out, he says about 95 percent of the recipients have responded. In some cases, he has exchanged personal e-mails with soldiers and continues to talk to them. He has even struck up Facebook friendships with others. It's a far cry from what Bishop experienced during his fighting days.

"I was in Vietnam, and in that era there wasn't any support, it was anti-war," Bishop said.

Even though today's soldiers aren't facing the same homecomings that Bishop experienced, the veteran said he still gives because he knows how lonely it can be.

Bishop, president of the Claremont Golf Course, has a history of supporting the armed services.

But, he said, none of the groups have opened the door for personal feedback like Green Beans Coffee.

"What's been sort of emotional for me is that I know I've reached out and touched somebody," Bishop said.

To make a donation to the "Cup O' Joe for a Joe" program, which allows donors to send a cup of fresh-brewed Green Beans Coffee to a deployed service member, visit www.greenbeanscoffee.com/coj.

To become a friend on Facebook, visit www.facebook.com/cupofjoeforajoe