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
not ready how???
I mean emotionally- I think he is good...he and my son spent Memorial Day with us....my son played with his sisters all day...he sat with me...we really talked, about family, God, his troubled past, etc...honestly... he said all the things to me I wish my own son said....he is wise and mature beyond his years....
he worries about his team a bit....some drill went not well...what can I do????
plz don’t hold back— freepmail if ya need to— let me know what I can do for him...
AH!! I know to be careful on fb etc about info— but didnt think of the other stuff...I stink at using FB— so i will be sure get email addy from him...I will still prolly write everyday, just so he can get mail and know the that extra effort comes to lovin him...
GREAT IDEA!!!!
Not a bad idea.
When you get his address, stamp and address several envelopes, then place them in your pocketbook. Whenever you run into one of his friends give the friend the stamped envelope, a hug and a gentle reminder to write a note.
thank you.....you are such a gem....God Bless your brave daughter.....
I am committed to loving him so hard, he will report me for stalking!!!
I know exactly how you feel. My cuz is serving at Sokor close to the DMZ, and he’s in harm’s way everyday, defending an ungrateful nation that don’t want Americans there. When he comes back stateside though, we go nuts in Vegas. Every month I download all new shows. movies, comics etc worth 30 days and 300 gigs of movies, shows via bit torrent and send it to him.
When you get his address, stamp and address several envelopes, then place them in your pocketbook. Whenever you run into one of his friends give the friend the stamped envelope, a hug and a gentle reminder to write a note.
I just noticed you said your son is interested in firefighting. My Anoreth, 5’1” and 110 lbs, has had a full course of fire-fighting training and stood firewatch for uncounted hours with the Coast Guard. (They trained her as a rescue swimmer, too ... if anyone who needs rescuing is really small, like a dog ... ;-).
It’s a scary situation with people’s trying to kill our kids all the time, but statistically, most of them die in car accidents, even in a war zone. Stay calm, stay positive, stay in touch by any means. They’re doing a good thing.
I would say the best thing you can do for him before he leaves, is to advise him that if he has any “things” that he’s left unsaid toward friends, ex-friends etc. that should be cleared up.
I realize this sounds morbid or whatever, but something that really needs clearing up and wasn’t handled can cause a lot of problems. Imagine getting word while in a war zone that “Uncle Frank” or whomever is not expected to make it another day and this kid has never apologized for some misunderstanding that turned into hard feelings.
It’s hard for young people to think of things like that, but it’s much better to head out to a remote location with all your ducks in a row as far as stuff like that goes.
Also, one thing that a lot of troops overseas like is when they have a young relative or close friend (say 3rd grade on up) that has the class “adopt” the service member. It’s fun for them to get mail and pictures from kids. So if there’s someone like that or maybe a teacher friend you know, that is always appreciated.
Gear. It seems the military either skimped on gear or didn’t supply the proper gear at all. I was stunned by how lacking his gear was. He is going for a year, yet, he was missing so much. He had his helmet not show up, second pair of boots were gone, poncho liner made it but no poncho, his pack was in bad enough shape as to be useless, SERE kit was missing, some but not all cold weather gear was present, no first aid kit, etc. He was told, “Well, try to get what you need when you get there.” We all know how that’s going to go.
Hi Kathy
Would you mind pinging the Canteen list to this thread? I think they could be very helpful.
That is an AWESOME idea! Getting mail from such people always makes the day. I spent a few years running around the planet and when my mail would catch up to me I was surprised by who remembered enough to mail something.
HA!!!
I was plannin on puttin together notebooks for his friends..do’s don’ts what we will be cool to send - when we plan on sending, address. lists, and a place for pics and him to sign before he goes(like a yearbook).. GREAT IDEA! WE WILL PUT A BUNCH OF PRE-STAMPED AND ADDRESSED ENVELOPES IN THEIR PACKET!!!
you rock!
USMC Mom,
The large USPS Priority Mail flat rate box is about $14.00 to mail and the weight limit is 70 pounds. The heaviest flat rate box I’ve sent so far was about 22 pounds. Since a friend took command of a unit at Fallujah in 2005, I have been sending packages to Marines and sailors forward-deployed and have mailed somewhere around 500 boxes.
The timeframe from Chicago varies if the service member is at a FOB or at Camp Leatherneck. Larger brown boxes are accepted for military mail but can be pricey. A while back I sent chips and salsa and the postage was more than the value of the contents.
Once, I sent my friend several golf clubs and a bag of used golf balls and the box dimensions were only 2 inches under the maximum limit. The postage was around $80.00. Since my friend and his sergeant major are big golf nuts, the package was a big hit.
At last year’s Birthday Ball, guest of honor Ben Stein asked me why I do it; I said, “It keeps me out of trouble; besides, if not me, then who?”
No ideas to pass on to you, eeevil, but want to wish your son and friend well and I pray for their safe return.
we adopted a shift at our local firehouse....we go once a month to visit....sometimes we grill out steaks.. sometimes we just bring ice cream..Christmas morning we took them breakfast, before we opened gifts— LOL!! and we ate with them and the kids not ONCE asked to leave to go open their presents.....I will be sure to mention to him and them that this is a desire he has...
YOU ARE SO funny too! I am 5 one also— but gained from 110 once I hit 49 yrs old! I bet she is tough as nails!! I know I was...still am....scare folks when I they mess with my kids...not matter what my size...
;-)
COOL!! GREAT IDEA!!!
God Bless your cousin!!
http://afghanlessons.blogspot.com/2009/04/chapter-1-gear.html
Here’s a site I found that looks helpful, looks like there are many others as well.
Thanks!!
I will talk to him about this...and a class to adopt! I know the perfect teacher to talk to about it!! plus my daughters and their present classes come fall....
thank you so very much.....
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.