Sending boy off to Afghanistan

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...

There are many factors as to what each member should have for gear and every unit has their supply chain as well. The idea is simply to ensure he isn’t leaving without what he knows he should have and ensuring what he has is in good condition, fits properly, and is of good quality. For some reason the military is not doing as good a job as might be expected. I mean, after years of these deployments it would seem they would have this down to a science but they don’t. So, don’t assume that he is properly outfitted, make sure he is.

A primary reason troops go without is cost. Equipment is simply expensive. Add up all those items and it gets expensive real fast. Contrary to the expectation that the military would ensure every troop is properly outfitted they for some very strange reason don’t. Every unit does their own outfitting and some have more money than others and some know what they are doing and some don’t. It’s hit and miss. Parents have been picking up the slack for the troops for years, so don’t be afraid to ask and go over his gear with him and check what he thinks he needs to have and what you can afford to buy him. There are a zillion places to order and buy good gear nowadays so there is no reason for him to be without if you can afford it.

There are also many blogs and articles online from those that have been there as to what was useful and what wasn’t. Read those lists, study them, and even go so far as to call another unit currently over there and ask questions. His unit should be able to provide a contact to someone else over there. You can always send him packages with anything he needs but it simply is best to have what he needs before he goes. Take the time and effort, it pays off.

Your son might actually do it. Probably downloading every movie in existence because believe me, other than doing your daily routine, a GI needs to unwind and entertainment is at a premium. I don’t need to remind you that our soldiers are stationed in ungrateful, POS nations and isolated. Just make sure he has a 17 inch laptop with 2 extra batteries that has all the drivers and codecs to play the stuff ;)

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.