Vanity: Advice request for MP reservist to be deployed to Iraq

04/10/2004 | ConservativeWebServant

[ConservativeWebServant]

My wife's nephew is an Army Reserve MP being shipped to Fort Dix, NJ for training subsequent to being deployed to Iraq. The family is nervous about his deployment (naturally). Apart from the obvious environmental/societal dangers that are part of the equation of there, the kid is pretty well grounded and has a good head on his shoulders, and should come through the experience just fine.

But fortune favors the prepared, so I was wondering if some of the more knowledgable Freepers out there could post or freepmail me any info that I could pass on to this kid. What to take, where to go, where NOT to go, etc. (And I'll bean the first one who says "Fallujah!")

[ConservativeWebServant]

Thanks for any info - it will make a big difference to his parents. (He's an only son...)

[mystery-ak]

God speed to your nephew.....my hubby was in Iraq a year....tell him to obey his 1sgt orders and never take off alone....others will have more advice than I.

[FairOpinion]

Wishing your nephew all the best.

BABY WIPES seem to be one of the most requested items, according to what I read and have seen on TV.

http://www.savannahnow.com/stories/040904/LOC_scdsassembly.shtml

"Other questions dealt more specifically with the assembly's intention: what to put in shoe boxes that will be collected by students and then sent to soldiers serving in Iraq.

Other than food, what's the best thing to pack?" asked a middle-school student.

Baby wipes, wet wipes, or similar products that can be used to wipe off sand, Zentkovich answered.

Maj. Ellen Clark, who was stationed at a port in Kuwait last year, said wipes would be especially welcomed by GIs.

"Summer is coming," Clark said. "Those wipes will bring some relief."

[Graybeard58]

My son is in Iraq and is also a member of Free Republic. You can Freep Mail him at: smaagee

You may have to wait a couple of days for a reply.

[Cannoneer No. 4]

ping

[max_rpf]

Marlborough cigarettes are always appreciated in the Mid-East.

[woofer]

Give your wife's nephew a firm handshake and a hearty "Thank You, Sir!" from me.

Then load him up with:

Hart's Flea Collars. For around his ankles to keep the Sand Fleas off.

Calling cards. Gets bleak there, sometimes. A voice from home is a huge morale booster.

Lots of toothbrushes. There's more sand and blowing dust out there than you can ever imagine. And he'll go through usable ones faster than crap through a goose.

Several decks of playing cards.

Minimag Flashlight and plenty of batteries.

Leatherman Multitool. I perfer the "Wave" model with its soft side holster and velcro flap.

[wildwood]

dittos...double a batteries.

[Cannoneer No. 4]

What the Troops Are Buying With Their Own Money [or, what to send a combat soldier you know]

[Cannoneer No. 4]

Soldiers would love late gifts of candy, coffee, Cottonelle

[ConservativeWebServant]

Shoot! Guess I should have done a search BEFORE I posted, huh? :-)

[GailA]

Nix the flea collars, they are FOR ANIMALS not humans. Look in the hunting and fishing section at Wal-mart they sell bug repellant 'buttons' for HUMANS these can be tied onto shoe laces. Deep Woods Off in the concentrated form. SUN BLOCK 30 or up unless you want to have sun spot damage taken off many years later by a skin doc. Hard candy to keep mouth moist. Blistex lip stuff with the sun screen in it. Visine tears for the eyes. Might want saline spray for the nose to keep it moist. Baby lotion to keep skin moist.

[HairOfTheDog]

Nix the flea collars, they are FOR ANIMALS not humans. Look in the hunting and fishing section at Wal-mart they sell bug repellant 'buttons' for HUMANS these can be tied onto shoe laces.

But flea collars work better than anything else and last longer than spray. Used to wear one around each ankle, outside my socks, every day when I was going to a barn with a flea problem.

[GailA]

But you weren't wearing them for a long period of time. The Troops are needing them for maybe a year of daily wear. To bad DDT isn't around. It worked best so I've read. And the enviro whacko stuff has been well debunked.

[aft_lizard]

We used plain and simple talc powder in Iraq, and put vaseline up our nose to keep the sandflies at bay. The fleas hate talc and vaseline.

[HairOfTheDog]

Every day for years, yes I was.

Point is, there is no harm from using them if needed.

[First_Salute]

Get maps of Iraq and study them.

Team up with buddies and package as many handi-wipes / packaged hand-cleaning towelettes as they can take with them.

Same is true for vitamins.

Learn everything that can found out about every telephone system between the States and over there, as well as the systems in the mid-East --- EVERYTHING.

[LoudRepublicangirl]

I don't know if he likes tuna or not but my brother liked the tuna that comes in packages instead of the cans-lighter to pack or mail to him later on. I would also recommend lip balm and plenty of it-Burts Bees is a good line or Clinique. And, of course, plenty of sun block.

[archy]

FReepmailing you a private letter to me from a pal over there with some observations along those lines. But in general:

Hard candy- lemon drops, lifesavers

tan masking tape- they get GI OD duct tape okay, but the tan paper tape is mandy for breaking up the outline of an M16 and it's magazine.

socks.

telephone long distanbce calling cards

spices and condiments- they get Tabasco sauce, but MREs get real boring after two months of 'em...or eight.

magazines/paperback books.

batteries

civilian T-shirts- anything with a slogan or reference from hometown

[lowbridge]

where NOT to go

Iraq. (rimshot)

Hey, at least I didnt say "Fallujah".

OW!

Whoops, I said "Fallujah".

OW!

Stop throwing those things!

In ALL seriousness, maybe he could go to an occasional internet cafe so that he could post and email from Iraq?

Here is a link to a few Iraqi Bloggers.

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1111556/posts

Maybe they could give you ideas on where he can go and should not go (and the best internet cafes)