Posted on 06/03/2012 4:02:40 PM PDT by eeevil conservative
Many of you have friends and family in the military. Other than my grandfather, Navy- WWII, I do not. My son's best friend, like my own, leaves for Afghanistan later this month. We have a lot of history. This is so hard.
Anyway- I am planning a going away party for him. It will be a "scavenger hunt." A trip down memory lane. All of his friends are contributing. "I remember when...." For instance, he and my son ran track, they will go to the old school track and take a picture there. We had a camping trip, they will go there and take pictures. I included the local VFW canteen for a visit. He wants to be a fireman, local firehouse will let him come by and put on all the gear for a pic!
The end game is a rally at HOOTERS- where we get video of him doing the "chicken dance" with the waitresses.
There will me more than I listed, but I LOVE FREEPERS and we have so many great heroes who have served, that I wanted to reach out and ask for suggestions from ya'll.
We will be taking the pics and videos and creating a photo album page, so everyone can see, and create a video to upload. This way, while there, if he ever feels down or alone, he can watch the video once he is able- duty, etc in consideration. I figure he won't forget the party, but what is more, is the party itself will evoke so many good memories of those he loves and special times with them. I want him to be on base, and call to the other fellow heroes, and say, "This was my going away party..." and show them the youtube video....
Any thoughts would be very much appreciated on how I can make this more special...
Thanks,
EC
What a great tribute! The kid is lucky to have people like you. We all are lucky to have military folks like him.
Jim
U.S. Navy Retired (and I threw all of my own parties)
What a great tribute! The kid is lucky to have people like you. We all are lucky to have military folks like him.
Jim
U.S. Navy Retired (and I threw all of my own parties)
What a great tribute! The kid is lucky to have people like you. We all are lucky to have military folks like him.
Jim
U.S. Navy Retired (and I threw all of my own parties)
Make sure to update the address book while you have everyone there.
And make sure to give them my thanks.
THANK YOU, SIR— for our service!
The next time you get near ATL— u let me know— you can a party that YOU didn’t throw yourself!
Best wishes to your son and his friend! Anoreth got a little brother as a present before she left for the Coast Guard, but I understand not everyone can swing that ...
THANKS for that tip!
we are going to his yellow ribbon ceremony to get all the info we need on sending him packages, we will be sure to be the ones gathering, but yes- he needs an address book so he can send letters! I didn’t think of that!!! THANKS!
ROFL!!!
That sounds great, and it also sounds like enough. You don’t want to over schedule. Leave some down time just to talk. If it’s not ending at Hooters, maybe kicking back with a simple bonfire at home might be a nice ending.
It was amusing, especially because people thought Frank was her son, because they both have red hair.
But seriously, troops away from home (my father was in the Navy for 32 years) want to hear from their family. Get an address, and plan to write every day. I did this when Anoreth was in Basic - just a note card, usually, with anything that had happened at home or at church - and then when she was in the “rehab unit” with a foot fracture, I cut out magazine articles from “Road & Track” and “American Cowboy” and mailed them six pages at a time.
Making sure your son and and his friend each take an up-to-date address book is a great idea, but also, everyone they know should write to them as often as possible. “HI, I went to the Jimmy Buffett concert and you didn’t!” When they get someplace with a known address, send them boxes of batteries, baby wipes, trail mix, and granola bars. Or if you don’t get a firm address, send something to an address from “AnySoldier.com,” and hope someone’s goods get to your son.
The best way to send him a package is go to the USPS and get him a LARGE “if it fits it ships” box. They have some specially decorated just for the military, but that’s not really necessary.
You can stuff it to the gills and send it to any US Military Base for the domestic rate. It’s something like $16.
My son’s in Okinawa. He get’s his packages within 7-10 days.
A USMC mom~
“Any thoughts would be very much appreciated on how I can make this more special... “
Make sure he is actually ready to go. Seriously. I just saw one of my best friends off two days ago to Afghanistan and he was terribly unprepared. The military really doesn’t do a very good job of it.
GREAT IDEA!!!
Most of the troops just email or face book message home now-a-days. I only got snail mail from my son when he was in Basic Training and had no access to a computer. Even those in Afghanistan manage to get to computers on a semi-regular basis, so email addresses are crucial. My friend’s son lives in a tent somewhere in Afghanistan, and he skypes and emails home regularly.
Be VERY careful what you post on their face book sites. Their personal reputation’s matter when promotions are being considered. My son keeps his site above reproach. He deletes any potentially questionable post ASAP.
For the scavanger hunt, how about searching for extra rifle magazines, better goggles, gloves, socks, etc. than what is issued? With perhaps note cards or small toys to be handed in for the real thing? I suppose somewhere there is a website that lists useful personal items as well as better-quality military gear?
Wow, technology! Anoreth rarely had access to a computer while they were in the Pacific. We’d get emails, some of which had a large FReeper following. She didn’t get on Facebook until she was posted as a trainer at Cape May earlier this year, and now our Bill, her favorite brother, tells us what’s really going on! “Anoreth says she’ll be home May 16 ...”. “Oh, really? First I’ve heard of it!”
All my dad’s years in the Navy, there was just US Mail. Letters to Dad were like my diary.
I sent Anoreth boxes of trail mix and granola bars when her boat was in port in Seattle, where they don’t have Walmart.
(’Face, Mrs. Don-o, AAM, discussion on the young man’s going away to Afghanistan? The OP is somthing with a lot of eeeeee’s.)
You so rock!! thanks for all these tips!!!!
BLESS YOU— andyour family
COOL!!!!! thanks!! I am so thankful u shared that! I am in the dark here...but determined to treat him like he was my own there and do all I can...
It wasn’t my plan to have a warrior goddess daughter (”Diosa Guerrera, Alma de Espana”), but Anoreth, who just turned 21, never wanted anything except to be in the military. She chose the Coast Guard because they promised to put her on the front lines, and they did: 2-1/2 years in the Pacific, on drug and immigration enforcment, fisheries enforcement, and “showing the flag” in tiny Asian ports my dad never saw on an aircraft carrier.
Afghanistan is a scary prospect, but so is sending a teenager to college, knowing that nobody is monitoring his drinking and driving until it’s too late. The military, at least, has an investment in his survival. Bombard your son with mail ... if he doesn’t want to hear about the tomato worms or the dog’s sore foot, maybe his platoon-mates who aren’t getting mail will.
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