WRITE A THANK YOU NOTE TO A SOLDIER IN IRAQ THIS MEMORIAL DAY WEEKEND

5-29-04 | patriciaruth

[patriciaruth]

Please support our troops this Memorial Day weekend by writing a note or letter to a soldier. They will be sent to Balad and Mosul in care packages that should arrive by the Fourth of July.

You can get my address by FReepmail and send a hand written letter or thank you card to me and I will put it in the next box or manilla envelop going to Iraq,
or you can FReepmail me a note or letter and I will print it out and put it in the Fourth of July packages.

Also, if you have any used books or movies or magazines that you enjoyed, you can mail those also to me to be included in the packages. If you use book/movie/magazine rate, they may arrive too late for this wave, but they will go in a future package.

Monetary donations for care packages are also always gladly accepted.

Finally, I'd appreciate suggestions of good books, movies that could go in the future. I've just subscribed for Sports Illustrated, Road and Track, Men's Health, American Heritage, and U.S. News and World Report so I can send them regularly (until my introductory offer runs out....) I get the women's NRA mag and AUSA and Army regularly now.

Last year and this year, these are the packages we have sent to Baghdad, Balad, and Mosul.

BALAD
Magazines: People, Men's Health, Army mag, NRA mag, latest women's NRA one on training puppies, and an AUSA one,Sports Illustrated, AUSA, Decision
Books: Clancy's Without Remorse; L'Amour's Last of the Breed; Koonz's Icebound; Wister's The Virginian; Heinlein's Glory Road; a biography of Washington, the Indispensible Man, Bill O'Reilly's Those Who Trespass, Random Harvest by James Hilton, Goodbye Darkness (WWII in Pacific memoir)
Movies: DVD's Seabiscuit; Mystery Alaska; Gettysburg; Open Range; Last Action Hero; Stand and Deliver; Fifth Element; Glory; Shanghai Knights; Die Another Day; We Were Soldiers; Last of the Mohicans; Antwone Fisher; Windtalkers; October Sky, Enemy at the Gates, Gladiator, Young Frankenstein, Ghost, Moulin Rouge; and VHS Die Hard, Witness, Baby Boom
Misc: 2 disposable cameras, 2 phone cards with 120 minutes, 4 envelops with 4 sheets paper, pens, envelops, note pad, pkg 2 small flashlights Card games: poker chips, 4 decks of playing cards, Skipbo
Snacks: 2 boxes Wheat Thins, 2 boxes of brownies, can Lays potato chips, box Cheezits individual size 2 starburst, 2 pistachio nuts, Snickers, Kitkat, Reese's Peanut butter cups, 2 fig newtons, 2 chips ahoy, 2 vanilla cream cookies, 3 berry Skittles, 1 tropical Skittles, 2 pack sugarfree spearmint gum, 2 bread sticks/cheese, 2 cheese and peanut butter crackers, 3 long smoked deli jerked sausage, 6 American cheese sticks with jerked beef sausage, 4 lemonade Crystal Lite cups, 4 raspberry Crystal Lite cups, humungus decorated chocolate rocky road Easter egg, 2 bags Reese's peanut butter cups; bag Jelly Belly; bag regular jelly beans; bag mixed hard candy, bag candy corn; 3 cans mixed nuts, 2 cans pringles potato chips
Toiletries: lip balm, 4 wet wipes, 3 Kleenex, toothbrush, toothpaste, 3 bottles 45SPF sunscreen, Sunscreen Shade SPF45, 2 chapstick SPF30, hand sanitizer, Charmin t.p., Old Spice aftershave[Post office thought it was an IED due to alcohol content and had me remove it], indulgence items for female soldier: tampons, facial cleaning wipes, night moisturizing face cream, manicure set, nail file, cuticle cream, nail hardening and repair kit, bar mild soap Jergens

MOSUL
VHS recording of Pres. Bush talk and Jay Leno monologue at WH Correspondent's dinner 5/1/04.
15 DVD movies: Gettysburg; Glory; We Were Soldiers; Die Another Day; Tears of the Sun, Galaxy Quest, Total Recall; Second Hand Lions; Independence Day; Last of the Mohicans; Shanghai Noon; Along Came a Spider; Open Range; Signs; Moscow on the Hudson. VHS: Fletch
Books: On War (Clausewitz), Tunnel in the Sky (Heinlein), Tactics of Mistake (Dickson), Scrabble dictionary.
Games: Tin of poker cards, chips and dice; travel Scrabble in case with pencil
Toys: Radioshack radio control racer (yellow wheelies jeep) and batteries; 2 Liquidator supersoakers; 250 water balloons
Snacks: 1 bag mixed hard candy; 2 bags Tootsie pops; 1 bag Lifesavers assorted flavors; Reese's peanut butter cups (double wrapped in Ziplocks); 12 packs Juicy Fruit gum; 2 cups raspberry Crystal Lite drink mix; 1 can deluxe mixed nuts Magazines: AUSA's Army on WWII memorial; Truckers
Toiletriesone each for recipient: bandaids; foot powder; fungal cream; deodorant; hand sanitizer; Charmin t.p.; wet wipes; floss; toothpaste/toothbrush; shaving cream; Q-tips; Kleenex; chapstick SPF30; sunscreen SPF45
Misc: 6 envelops with 2 sheets writing paper in each; 2 retractable ballpoint pens

BAGHDAD
The 4 Valentine care packages that went out 1-16-04 contained 26 movies, 14 paperback books, 6 decks of cards, a Frizzbee, 4 thingees of Crystal Lite mix, 45 sewing needles and 2 spools of thread, 23 notepads of paper (50 ct each), 600 envelopes, 47 packages of Bic pens (11 to a pack), 4 calendars, magazines (3 Army, 2 NRA, Star with Mel Gibson cover, Time with Saddam capture, a Schwarzenegger bio in pictures), 15 packs of gum, 6 each personal care items: travel size Kleenex, wet wipes, toilet paper, hand sanitizing gel, mouthwash, toothbrush, toothpaste, comb, shampoo, shaving cream, disposable razors, dental floss, lotion, Q-tips, deodorant, chapstick SPF15, baby powder, 8 mild soaps, special wrapped 6 tampons, 6 small leatherette bag to carry travel toiletries. 2 boxes of bandaids. 1 small package of M&M's. And over 300 Valentines. 5 packages of Hershey's kisses (~670), 5 bags and 5 boxes with 506 lollypops (300 Tootsie Pops, 96 Charm bubblegum cherry and berry pops, and 108 Charm Valentine cherry suckers.
Movies are DVD: Gov. Schwarzenegger in Total Recall and The 6th Day, Crichton's Andromeda Strain, Antonio Banderas in Mask of Zorro, Kurt Russell in Stargate, Finding Nemo, Heinlein's Starship Troopers, Star Wars II, Tim Allen in Galaxy Quest, The Matrix, Samuel L. Jackson in Shaft, Harrison Ford in Air Force One, Will Smith in Independence Day, Tom Berenger in Last of the Dogmen, October Sky, Carl Sagan's Contact. VHS movies are Bruce Willis in Die Hard, the Sixth Sense, and Unbreakable; Jurassic Park, Jurassic Park III, Morgan Freeman in Along Came a Spider, Good Will Hunting, Mel Gibson in What Women Want, Zeffirelli's Romeo and Juliet, Casablanca. [Movies previously sent to Baghdad are Die Another Day, Collateral Damage, True Lies, Windtalkers, We Were Soldiers, Lawrence of Arabia, Last of the Mohicans, Return to Me, The Rookie, Antwone Fisher, Shanghai Knights, Tears of the Sun, Sum of All Fears, Panic Room, Ghostbusters, Frequency, Remember the Titans, Forever Young, Predator, Men in Black, The Great Escape.]

Books are Crichton's Timeline, Clancy's Without Remorse and Sum of All Fears, L'Amour's Last of the Breed, Heinlein's Starship Troopers and Double Star, Larry Bond's Red Phoenix, Stephen Horn's Law of Gravity, Don Coldsmith's Runestone, T.E. Lawrence's Seven Pillars of Wisdom, Neal Stephenson's Snow Crash, Olson Scott Card's Postwatch and Enchantment, Zane Gray's Riders of the Purple Sage. [Books previously sent to Baghdad are Ice Station Zebra, Out of the Silent Planet, Perelandra, That Hideous Strength, Manifold Time, Manifold Space, The Pilgrimage, No Different Flesh, Glory Road, Tunnel in the Sky, Ender's Game, The Virginian.]

June2003 personal care items sent to Baghdad: 3 bottles sunblock 45 10 each travel size, gum, eyedrops, wet wipes, toilet paper, pens, small notepads, SPF45 chapstick, Kleenex, 3 magazines, music CD Have you Forgotten, music tape, q-tips in a baggie, box of Ziplock baggies, Box Cheezit crackers.

So far In the next boxes:
Mosul: Book's: Clancy's Without Remorse, Sun Tzu's Art of War, Goodbye Darkness (WWII Pacific memoir), Olson Scott Card's Enchantment, Heinlein's Starship Troopers, 50 Pocket constitutions (at cost by Vetscor
Movies: Fifth Element, Count of Monte Cristo, True Lies, Starship Troopers

Balad: Book's: Nevil Shute's Pied Piper and A Town Like Alice, 50 Pocket constitutions
Movies: Last of the Dogmen, Moscow on the Hudson
Envelops, Writing Pads
President Bush Address to the Nation on Iraq 5/24/04 recorded on VHS

[68-69TonkinGulfYachtClub]

"They are so young. Wish I could be there in their stead."

I wanted to right after 9/11
I have nothing to lose.
I tried to reenlist in the Navy and when they said I was to old I tried the Oregon National Guard and got the same answer.
Then on Oct 3 2001 I joined the Coast Guard Auxiliary.
The rest is history.
The men and women I work with each week on the base are so young also.
And they risk their lives every time they go out on a rescue.
I'd rather face an enemy with a gun than some of those 20-30 ft waves they go out in to rescue someone else.

[patriciaruth]

Give your eyes a rest. Go to post 92 and wait for the pix to load.

[patriciaruth]

Yep. There are a lot of us who know what the stakes are and gladly would put our lives on the line, and who would not be such a seering loss as these younguns who have all their lives ahead of them, not mostly behind them as we do.

[68-69TonkinGulfYachtClub]

I hope no one ever forgets who Mike Spann was.

[TruthNtegrity]

I'll never forget. I go to Manassas a couple of times a week - have clients there, and I always - repeat, always - think of him when I'm there.

God bless him - and hold his family even closer.

Thank God for what Sean Hannity did to help that heroes family.

Truthy

[BykrBayb]

Thank you. The healing has begun! Still didn't find that other picture you asked for, but you don't really want to see it, do you?

[patriciaruth]

Nah, since the pictures came on line, I've been healed, too.

[patriciaruth]

He was our first loss. He stands for all of them. My profile page has not changed for the last two and a half years. What was true then is true today.

[Alamo-Girl]

Thanks for the ping!

[SerpentDove]

That takes my breath away. I'm not overly emotional, but...ya got me!

:-))

Thanks so much!

SD

[iceskater]

Thank you for those pictures. They are all so young to be carrying such a burden.

I am in tears - I don't know why exactly - but I am.
I need to stop this - the folks in my office will never understand.

[2Jedismom]

Patty, I bumped into Battle Axe on another thread and she voiced an interest in helping with some freeper care packages!

Ping to this thread, Battle Axe!

[2Jedismom]

Uh...I think Battle Axe is a she!!

My apologies if I err!

[2Jedismom]

I once hit someone who was attacking me in my dorm room with a 20" box fan! Left a mark on her head, I can tell ya! (And on mine too, when it rebounded and hit me in the forehead!)

[SerpentDove]

[patriciaruth]

Gorgeous! Got to admit my favorite sign is the one that starts, "First Iraq,...."

Cheers!
Patty

[Renfield]

We have a couple of care packages made up, but how do we address them? Who do we send them to?

[patriciaruth]

For information of anyone else, we are discussing by FReepmail how to get the packages to one of our group who has the closely guarded APO's.

[patriciaruth]

Hi, all!

Two packages were mailed today--one a manilla envelop to Balad in Iraq with a couple magazines (NASCAR Illustrated, People), a few pocket constitutions, 15 thank you cards/notes/letters, and a picture album of troop support rallies by Tunehead54 and SerpentDove.

Mailed July 8, 2204, 1 box to Bagram:
snacks: 4 boxes of 5 Kettle Corn microwave popcorn (Act II brand), 4 boxes of 6 microwave buttered popcorn (Orville R. brand).
DVD Movies: Requests: The Jerk (Steve Martin), Broken Arrow (John Travolta). Emergency chick flick airlift: My Big Fat Greek Wedding, Forever Young (Mel Gibson), Forces of Nature (Sandra Bullock, Ben Affleck), Last of the Dogmen (Tom Berenger, Barbara Hershey), Moulin Rouge (Ewan McGregor, Nicole Kidman), Grand Canyon (Alfie Woodard, Danny Glover, Kevin Kline, Steve Martin), Best of Friends TV show (first 3 seasons), and to fill a hole Back to the Future Trilogy (Michael J. Fox)
Toiletries: 5 lipbalm spf30, 8 oz sunblock cream spf50, 8 Kleenex travel size.
1 Army magazine on Iraq, 1 Decision with J.C. Watts on the cover.

jtill has a list of 28 paperbacks, most action/legal/thriller type that she is currently deciding how to divie up for mailing to the fire bases in Afghanistan and maybe some for the wounded at Walter Reed or for the Kirkuk soldiers. I'll post them when I hear how she's going to divide them.