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
You can stuff it to the gills and send it to any US Military Base for the domestic rate. It’s something like $16.
Definitely this. I've been deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan for a total of more than two years, and my wife sent me anything I needed/wanted in those boxes. Letters stuffed in there are fantastic as well. A box per week or so (that can get expensive, get others to rotate in with you on a schedule, if possible) with just some magazines and some candy and whatever else you want to toss his way will always be greatly appreciated. Try not to deluge him with too much stuff that he'd have to carry back home, though--proper storage space can be a pain in the neck to secure.
Also, think about taking some video of this party and cutting it together along with still images, etc all set to music and burn it to a disc for him. That won't take up much room, it's cheap to send, and it'll give him something to look at and remember home/family during his down-time.
Our Cub Scouts and Boy Scouts do a lot for the local firehouse. My Cubs last year got to ride around the block a few times in the engine, since nothing was going on. Best experience of their lives.
Our kids have to move on, and there are much worse places, statistically, than Afghanistan. I hope your son does a lot of good there. Encourage him to be positive, whatever happens. Eye on the big picture: we’re alive today, we can be alive tomorrow.
WOW!!!
I will be at his yellow ribbon ceremony this saturday....is there a list they can give me of what he shouuld have? and a list of places to get what he is missing???
My advice is simple: Make sure to give any military personnel lots of hugs and handshakes and positive reinforcement prior to their shipping out, and thank them in advance for “taking out the trash”.
My older daughter’s fiance recently returned from a tour in Afghanistan and he said they always appreciate anything sent to them while deployed. His dad would send him cartons of cigarettes even though he didn’t smoke, simply so he could share with his fellow Marines and with the ‘friendlies’ over there. Sweet treats to share with the local kids are a good thing, too. FYI, while out on missions there are kids who will get pretty bold about trying to steal stuff off the vehicles, so that’s something for him to watch out for.
As for communication with people at home, they usually allow some time for Skyping and will periodically make a satellite phone available for the guys to make calls stateside.
Two kids’ mom saw some Navy guys at the airport yesterday and wished them well as they were getting ready to board a plane for who-knows-where. They were very appreciative.
All the best to you and yours and theirs. We truly are lucky to have these heroes in our lives.
You’re welcome. I hope the festivities go over well.
AWESOME!! THANKS!
YEs! already plan on making the video...asked his friends to get stuff together too to add.. and song suggestions etc...
space— got it....send usable stuff... although... let me run this by you...I have a wooden vile of anointing oil from Israel...I have had it for over 10 yrs... I plan to give this to him to take with... I don’t know how your faith is...not an issue to me... but I know he and I are both strong in faith...
it is about 3 inches high and one inch wide, made of wood...is it something he could carry in a pocket, would they let him carry it in his pocket??
thanks! you are a rock...I appreciate so much your time to share so much....u have a great spirit...thanks for sharin it
Sure, you can carry whatever you like in your pocket as long as it meets TSA regs. Though if it’s wood, he can keep it in his pocket since it won’t set off detectors.
Make sure you have the party at least 7 days before your son deploys. My wife was bumped up 5 days unexpectedly. Screwed up all her going away arrangements and to make matters worse, the flight overseas left on the date originally scheduled.
Military screws up travel plans all the time due to bureaucratic snafus and in my wife’s case, she was suck in Virginia for 3 days living under billeting hell when she could have spent more time with the kids.
For many different reasons, gear can end up just plain lost (I won't bore or terrify you with the details). There are Central Issue Facilities in-theater. Just a memo from the commander and a trip with an NCO is all it takes (assuming they have the right sizes, of course).
All of you stand firm, be strong! He’ll be back before you know it.
You’re quite welcome and please thank him for his service!
Have him look me up when he gets here....
We can sit around and drink fake beer (GO-1, is in effect even for contractors)
Well, at least in Afghanistan as a member of the U.S. Armed Forces he’ll be safer than if he lived in Chicago (Afghanistan since 2001: a bit over 2000 deaths; in Chicago since 2001, over 5000 murders).
God bless our kids. Angels, protect them. The reading from Mass today was so good, from Deuteronomy, right?
Way to give him a unique, one of a kind send off. Thank you for caring.
Our USMC son just returned from AFG-safe and sound. We sent packages often. Socks from covert threads.com are worth their weight in gold (they have heat and cold types). I got several “guy” science & car magazine subscriptions-we send out a lot of mil packages too. High protein foods, and drink mixes are great. Read anysoldier.com for ideas on what to send and where to find it, especially gear. Please thank him for defending our freedom. God bless you all!
When our nephew left for Afghanistan he wrote and told me he missed hearing the Stars and Stripes windchimes I made for his family.
Sooooo, I made another set and mailed it to him. He hung it outside his CP. Over the 1 year deployment, the wind did a number on the windchimes. Half the paint was chipped away.
When he returned last summer, he brought back the chimes and gave them back to me.
Rather than re-painting them, I hung them in front of our house, chipped paint and all. It’s a constant reminder of what our troops face each and every day serving our country.
May God bless and protect each one.
Good on you! I know the troops appreciate all you’ve done!
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