Help us support our troops! [Knives for Soldiers] Update: 1,000 shipped to date and counting!

As some of you know, The group of friends here at Free Republic known as the Hobbit Hole thread, have been contributing to a small project to buy pocketknives and other needed tools for our deployed soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan. It started out as care and comfort packages, and grew into pocketknives because we learned that while sweets and snacks were good, there were very practical tools, such as a good pocket knife, that our troops didn’t have unless they purchased them themselves. Handy items that would actually help them do their job.

Since we started we have shipped 700 knives as well as other tools, flashlights, EMT shears, seat belt cutters, and other gadgets to our troops overseas. Please visit our newly updated project blog to read about the rest of the project! The Hobbit Hole project blog

One of our pocketknives, in Iraq

Our project leader, 300winmag, has spent thousands of his own money to meet demand just hoping enough donations would be made to keep him out of the poorhouse. My husband ecurbh and I have sent at least $100 per month, and others in the group have sent more or less, depending on what they can afford. But still demand has outpaced the funds coming in. Requests for these knives continue to pour in at the rate of dozens per week:

July 27, 2005
I recently found out about your organization. It makes me feel really good to know there are people out there who care about us and the equipment we carry. I can’t express the amount of gratitude I felt when I found out about your organization. Many of us are junior enlisted, and just can’t afford a quality knife (which tends to be essential in our environment). I am an infantryman fulfilling a combat medic/shooter role because of civilian paramedic training. I was hoping I could get a few knives for the guys in my team if it isn’t too much of a burden. Check out my blog to see what we have been doing here, we are doing a good job of training the Iraqi soldiers if I may toot my own horn! - Chad in Baghdad

Much of the feedback we get are letters from deployed troops who have seen our knives, and went to our site to see about how to also receive one. (More emails from troops)

We have all donated as much as we can and will continue to regularly, but we have reached a limit on how much we alone can do. We’ve decided to both scale back on the more expensive knives we had tested sending, but also decided to ramp up the project and ask for money from outside the group... To ask fellow FReepers, and all our friends and family if you would consider sending a donation to our cause.

We aren’t official enough to fundraise in any kind of big way, we aren’t an official charity with financial statements and tax benefits, and we don’t want to be. We just want to help out just a little, the men and women that are sacrificing overseas for all of us. If you are reading this post, and agree with our mission, we hope you will help us . There is a donation link at the Hobbit Hole site linked above. We guarantee that every dollar you send will be spent on knives.

- HairOfTheDog, ecurbh, and 300winmag, for The Hobbit Hole.

Pinging the posters of the Foxhole, FR's finest and Canteen and other military members and veterans, for your pinging consideration. I'd like to think people will consider this a FR effort.

Here's one of the emails from the guys we've sent to:

July 2, 2005 The Hobbit Hole,
First I would like to say thank you for the support that you have shown to the Infantry troops. The practicality of the gift packages is by far that of the most sense anything has made to me since I’ve been in this country. I wish I could take a picture of every Joe’s face when they receive your package. I would have to say that, hands down, it is the highlight of their deployment.
I am sure you have heard from quite a few Bravo Company 3-156INF soldiers. My stories are the same as theirs: We’ve detained multiple “bad guys”, kicked in doors, searched lots of houses, been shot at(small arms & sniper), received blasts from IED’s, had RPG’s fired at us, killed Iraqi’s(civilian & terrorists), lost friends on the battlefield, and have friends recovering in hospitals. All of our stories are the same because we’ve been through it together. When my guys receive their packages from you, it seems as though all the troubles in the world are gone, their faces light up like kids on Christmas Day. It is completely spectacular how you make them feel. And of course like all Infantrymen, they have to show their new “toys” off to each other, and explain, in detail, how they are going to use it.
Thank you for what you have done for my troops.

More testimonials at the link above!

Thanks for posting this HOTD! I don't hang out at the Hobbit Hole so I wasn't aware of it. I get your doggie pings though!

I'm more than happy to donate to this fine cause and went to the paypal link to donate. Now I have a silly question of which the answer is probably so obvious it's sitting on the end of my nose: What do I put down in the Payment For: section? Knives for soldiers? As a 45 year old woman, I experience brain-freeze now and then, so my apologies for my befuddlement. (o:=

Pay To: donate@the-hobbit-hole.net

Payment For: ?????

Amount:

Shipping & Handling: $0.00USD

And thanks again for doing so much work on this project. Our soldiers deserve it, and then some.

Excellence bump.

I just found out by reading some of the letters that the "lives saved" by virtue of a HH-provided knife is now at least FOUR (4) and even that tally was several months ago. It could be more than that especially since the popularity of this program has grown massively in just the last couple of months.

I don't mean to imply that this is some kind of cheap score-keeping device. This is not some "game" but it is the real thing.

I *DO* mean to say that this in NOT merely a chips-and-salsa sort of comfort to our war fighters. Comfort stuff is good and useful, and not to be underestimated. But this program is about putting a tool in the hand of somebody that may well need it in the most desperate of times.

We already know that that this program is not just useful, but life-saving.

If you are somebody that would like to help your soldiers but hasn't yet known how to do it effectively-- THIS is a good way to do it.

Thanks, Ramius!

Here's one of those accounts:

July 6, 2004
Subject: Thank You

I would really like to thank you and yours for the superb knives and scissors, we have given all of the scissors to the medics and they actually loved them I was able to give a pair to Specialist Chin and it was actually on her birthday she was very flattered and thankful.

As for the knives we had a mortar attack at the airport, and one of my Marines grabbed his Combat life saver kit and he was able to use it and his Hobbit Hole knife which he was given that morning in recognition of outstanding performance of duty, he obviously used it in the way you intended because he is being recognized for actually saving a soldier from serious injury and assisting in stabilizing another wounded female soldier.

Coincidentally we looked at the knives and have been giving them out as awards for superior service and I assure you that everyone wants one now! It’s like the Army coin thing only cooler!

I hope you know we really appreciate what you are doing for us, It takes true patriotism to stand up for the troops in light of everything else you hear, God Bless you all and God Bless America!

Semper Fidelis

Frank

Col USMC

CO SCP-Baghdad

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