Sometimes I wonder if America is doomed because it is full of Americans who have no clue about God and Country...
When my son was in Iraq, the care packages we sent were filled with Cliff bars, Tim Horton’s coffee (his favorite), and DVDs. And some NY Yankees paraphernalia during baseball season. He liked them!
I’m surprised they don’t have a field manual on how to survive in open water, or learn Japanese in 3 hours....;-)
Quinn and Rose occasionally air a bit they call, "They Walk Among Us".
There really is an almost overpowering number of a compilation of innocently stupid and evil people that actually have power and authority to do such things as .. show Barbarella in prison.
That's true and don't ask how I know ... suffice it to be .. that was in 1969 ...
They've been at it a long time.
That's why we sometimes bang our heads against the wall in disbelief.
They walk among us.
a couple of letters from the kids in my childrens classes also. Especially around Christmas
And WHAT is wrong with Hello Kitty t-shirts? Hello Kitty and soldiers are a good fit. Kittys don't take anything off of anybody.
Hell, we used to say that no plan survives contact with reality.
(Thanks to FR, this conjures up the image of a ludicrously herculean Obama ravishing an apparently "tingly" Chris Matthews.)
I am tempted to send him some "Hello Kitty" stickers just to see where he'd end up applying them, but past experience tells me that might be asking for trouble.
Mr. niteowl77
Why do these types of threads always wind up with some people telling the rest of us how smart they are and how they do things?
A missionary friend told me one time that people would send USED tea bags because everyone knows you can use a tea bag more than once....
OK...anyone want to organize a “Berlin air lift” of Skoal and Jim Beam?
There’s the reason I’ll never own a kindle. Real books don’t shatter.
Back in the day, pre-MREs, a can of peaches and a pound cake was da’ bomb...when our church makes up care packages, I tape a can of peaches to the bottom of a plastic tub (Zip-Lock), add in a package of shortcake (2 per) in a aired up Zip-Lock baggie toss in a plastic spoon, seal the tub with tape...instant dessert.
The taped down can prevents crushing the cake and the aired up baggie acts as a buffer because care packages aren’t always handled with care. The tub becomes the bowl, and can be used for storage later...reports coming back are positive.
These are mostly young guys so I toss in car, 4X4, gun, motorcycle, etc magazines, as many different current issues as I can find...they are great for a quick read and traded freely...even if there is a PX, BX or Navy Exchange handy where the troops can get them, free is still the best price and if there is no Exchange...score!
It seems like a lot of folks here have never heard the phrase, “It’s not the gift, but the thought that counts”.
And to think, in 1971 - 1974, while waging the war to end the extension of Communism in SouthEast Asia, I was beyond joyous to just get a letter from home!
I’m sure some of these things were people with good intentions just completely misjudging what to send. The bigger surprise is that the military let that rag, The Atlantic, anywhere near the troops for a story. I’m surprised this didn’t turn into anther “the troops are mentally disturbed” article.
Numerous times I have sent one of those tiny 500g drives packed with tv shows, movies, magazines, books, comics, and music. I usually include a couple of thumb drives to copy stuff around as well. (a typical tv show is about 350m, allowing for thousands of shows on a single drive). Once they have them, they can connect the drive to laptops for viewing
Another win were the home made cookies vacuum sealed on sheets and cut into strips of two.
A couple of papers and magazines are usually welcome.
Just remember, they have to move... Make it small, consumable, or able to be tossed without concern. The drives are light weight, fairly durable, and tiny. Easy enough to shove in the bag.
While most troops overseas are probably male twenty-something-year olds, not all of them are. ;)
That said, the folks picking the goodies and packing the boxes didn't quite grasp the obvious sometimes. No, most soldiers didn't want multiple copies of the same Chris Isaak CD. And no, packing bags of M&M's in the same box as detergent packs is NOT a good idea. Even the hungriest troops doesn't usually eat soap-flavored chocolate.
There were several libraries that had to cut their inventories last spring. They donated about 40 paper boxes full of all sorts of books, fiction and non fiction. I sent 20 boxes to the troops and the other 20 to injured troops in San Antonio. They loved the variety of various topics.