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

[patriciaruth]

I had to hold off on sending the two boxes to Bagram, Afghanistan, due to very hot weather here and all the candy bars in the boxes, but they finally went out today.

Thanks especially to TexasCowboy, libertina, Mo1, Tunehead54, DrDeb, and jtill for their monetary contributions, and to Mary Beth, Christopher, Alba, Joan, Kate, ALOHA RONNIE, tunehead54, Randy and Angela, TruthNtegrity, jtill for thank you notes which were included. (Other contributions and letters are going to Iraq.)

Bagram, Afghanistan, June 7, 2004 2 care packages with
Movies: We Were Soldiers (Mel Gibson), Total Recall (Schwarzenegger), October Sky, Galaxy Quest (Tim Allen), Moscow on the Hudson (Robin Williams), Gettysburg (Jeff Daniels, Martin Sheen), Shanhai Knights (Jackie Chan), Open Range (whatshisname), Saving Private Ryan (Tom Hanks, Matt Damon), Independence Day (Will Smith), Glory (Denzel Washington), Last of the Mohicans (Daniel Day-Lewis), Tears of the Sun (Bruce Willis), Frequency (Dennis Quiad), Die Another Day (Pierce Brosnan).
VHS recording of TV movie: Ike/Countdown to D-Day
Books: Pied Piper (Nevil Shute), A Town Like Alice(Nevil Shute), Without Remorse (Tom Clancy), Last of the Breed (Louis L'Amour), The Other (Tom Tryon), Enchantment (Orson Scott Card), The Altman Code (Ludlum book), 25 or so pocket constitutions
Candy bars and Cookies: 2 boxes 30 Reese's peanut butter Cups, Kitkats, Hershey's, power bars; 1 box 24 M&M's, 1 box 48 Snickers bars, 1 box 24 Almond Snickers, 4 boxes 6 fudge brownies.
Cookies (2 boxes Chips Ahoy 12 pkgs of 4, 2 boxes of Oreos 12 pkgs of 3), 4 individual Chips Ahoy pkgs of 4
Snacks:box of 8 Carefree sugarless gum
Box of 24 Jolly Time buttered microwave popcorn bags
Magazines: Army on D-Day, 2 women's NRA, AUSA on D-Day
toiletries to fill in the holes: 4 Q-tips, 4 floss, 2 travel toothpaste/toothbrush, 4 skin cream, 1 baby powder.
Misc: 30 small flags, 10 thank you notes

[Libertina]

Yippee! Candy to the troops:) But expect the chocolate to melt there as well. It's yummy, but doesn't ship well. Thanks patriciaruth! Good job:)

[patriciaruth]

LETTER FROM KIRKUK! (And see above for items en route now to Bagram, Afghanistan.)

"Dear Patricia and Friends,
I would to, 1st and foremost, like to give my higest thanks and appreciation for all in your "Band of Merry Patriots"! All of us here in ***** Battery **********, truly are uplifted by your generosity and kindness. Our morale has received a booster shot!
...Kirkuk is located in the N.E. Corner, and demographically comprised of Kurds, Arabs, and turks. We are trying to start an Outreach Program in the outlying villages of Kirkuk through the local school system. the need is great as this may be the most neglected area of Iraq during Sadaam's reign due to his contempt for the Kurdish people. the ages for toys and school supplies range from kindergarten thru sixth grade. Clothing is also needed. I will be getting more details over the next week and will be happy to pass the info on as I receive it."

[He goes on to request only one item for himself, so anybody out there have any CD's from the group "The Cardigans?" He especially would like "The First Band on the Moon."

Ends: "thanks again for all your support,"

Please contact me if you can help with the CD's or with some items for children as the thing they most want in their hands is something to give to the kids around them.

[Victoria Delsoul]

Thanks so much for sharing this letter with us, Patricia.

Big bump!

[Libertina]

BUMP...the Cardigans, uh?

[patriciaruth]

Email from BAGRAM (Afghanistan)! (For information on the new packages that went to Kirkuk and Bagram, click on the thread.) Email follows:

Hi Patty,

I'm having technical difficulties as far as sending you the pix, but I wanted to let you know that you have quite a few happy kids here.

The chocolate was a little soft, but we put it in the fridge and it was fine. Everything arrived in great shape. We have a check-out sheet for the movies (so that everyone can enjoy them) and the popcorn was popping throughout the day yesterday.

You should be getting some thank-you notes in the near future - or how ever long the post office takes. The folks here are truly grateful and amazed at the generosity. One guy wanted to know if you were married (!) and I said you were, so then he wanted to know if you had a daughter. :)

We have the flags flying around our office area and the pocket constitutions are out for everyone. EVERYTHING is so much appreciated. I only wish you could see the smiles.

Truly - I'm amazed at the thoughtfulness. I never thought I'd be on the receiving end of FReepers commitment to soldiers. You guys rock!

[Peach]

God bless those soldiers. Be sure to let us know if there is more we can do.

[patriciaruth]

Bagram wanted the tapes of the Reagan funeral, and I tucked more stuff in the spaces left:

Sent on June 16 to Bagram: (postage $19.70 insured for $67)
5 tapes of the Ronald Reagan funeral ceremonies and processions
Books: Goodbye Darkness-Memoir of WWII in Pacific (William Manchester), Tunnel in the Sky (Robert Heinlein), Far Side cartoon book, Washington the Indispensible Man-biography
Essay on Islam in America
Magazines: Army on Space, Women's NRA, Decision on Bakersfield crusade
2 Jergens mild soap, 2 Carefree gum, 5 stuffed envelops, 1966 music CD

Had to send a letter to Kirkuk for more details about culturally appropriate gifts for kids there after getting the thank you from Kirkuk with request for help with their school kids project. Also needed to send thank you cards and notes I'd received for them. So I put in some more goodies that Mo1 had sent and that I had around here.

June 16, 2004, to Kirkuk: (postage $29.25 insured for $191)
Picture album of troop support rallies (Tunehead54 and SerpentDove) and 16 Thank you notes and cards
DVD Movies: Bruce Almighty (Jim Carey); Radio (Cuba Gooding, Jr.); Men in Black II (Will Smith, Tommy Lee Jones)[contributed by Mo1]; Lawrence of Arabia (Peter O'Toole); Starship Troopers; True Lies (Schwarzenegger); Fifth Element(Bruce Willis)
VHS tape of President Bush Speech to the Nation on Iraq
Books: Sun Tzu's Art of War; Seven Pillars of Wisdom (T.E. Lawrence); Shogun (James Clavell); Goodbye Darkness-Memoir of WWII in the Pacific(William Manchester); Sum of All Fears (Tom Clancy); Starship Troopers (Robert Heinlein); Pied Piper (Nevil Shute); A Town Like Alice (Nevil Shute); 25 pocket constitutions
24 pencils #2 in plastic case
CD 1965 Music
2 Carefree gum
Light reading: People magazine issue about Reagan, Essay on Reagan and Margaret Thatcher, Letter by Franklin Graham about faith.

[patriciaruth]

Be sure to let us know if there is more we can do.

Just keep those cards and letters coming, folks! :-)

[Tunehead54]

Good FReeper Deeds bump!

---

;-)

[patriciaruth]

Thank you both for your fabulous picture album of troop support rallies!

Copies have now gone to Kirkuk and Bagram and soon to the wounded at Walter Reed and the field hospital near Baghdad, if I get the APO's as promised.

[TexasCowboy]

Kinda makes you feel all warm inside, huh?

May God bless these young men and women!

[patriciaruth]

Kinda makes you feel all warm inside, huh?

Yup.

[Peach]

Are you still accepting cards for soldiers?

If yes, please freepmail me the information again. Thanks!

[patriciaruth]

Cards and notes and letters are always accepted!

FReepmail me and I will print it out, or mail it to me. I'll FReep you my address.

[Mo1]

after getting the thank you from Kirkuk with request for help with their school kids project.

Do they need school supplies??

[Alamo-Girl]

Thank you for sharing that!

[patriciaruth]

See extracts from letter above. Our man in Kirkuk is getting more information, but is asking for school supplies, toys and clothes for children of school age.

I wrote to him asking about culture appropriate toys and making suggestions about school supplies we might be able to help with, and told him what toys were available at the 99 cent store here. For all I know there are thousands, maybe tens of thousands of children in schools there. As to culturally appropriate clothing, I haven't got a clue.

I'll give you his email address if you would kindly try contacting him for more information faster than my letter. My email is disabled due to the high volume of spam I was getting--over 100 a day.

P.S. In case you didn't notice, your DVD's went out Weds. to Kirkuk.

[Mo1]

I'll give you his email address if you would kindly try contacting him for more information faster than my letter

Sure I can do that

[patriciaruth]

Email and picture from KIRKUK! Thanks especially to Bigg Redd, Kathy in Alaska, Mo1, and Tunehead54 for contributions.

Mo1 is acting as email/photo intermediary:

Dear M******,

Wow! That is about how to describe all the goodies coming our way to kirkuk!! Patty and all the Merry Patriots seem to have a knack for sending the things we like to get in the mail. I will definitely have to send photo's of our 4th of July celebration your way to share with all that contributed to this effort.
I cannot begin to thank you all for the kindness in your hearts, especially in regards to the Iraqi children. These kids are the real losers of the gulf war, and ironically, can also be the biggest benefactors with the right influence.
Last evening we held another sorting party and many of the bins are getting filled. Soon we will have to put our individual packages together for distribution, and that is when all of the team effort will pay-off. I will be sure to send out pictures through email so all can experience the joy of making positive change in the lives of many.
I want to personally thank Patty for the Cardigans CD. I hope she had a chance to listen to it before sending it on to me. It is different, but fairly tame comparatively to most pop music.
She also sent some really classic books. I look forward to reading Starship Troopers, as the book was originally published in the 1940's. Any chance of finding a old copy of Homer's Illiad or the Oddessy?
Well, I'm sure that these books and movies will be well circulated in no time, and there will be lots of happy soldiers in Kirkuk.
Thanks again from all of us here in "Beast".

Sincerely, C******

June 16, 2004, to Kirkuk(should be arriving any time):
Picture album of troop support rallies (Tunehead54 and SerpentDove) and 16 Thank you notes and cards
DVD Movies: Bruce Almighty (Jim Carey); Radio (Cuba Gooding, Jr.); Men in Black II (Will Smith, Tommy Lee Jones)[contributed by Mo1]; Lawrence of Arabia (Peter O'Toole); Starship Troopers; True Lies (Schwarzenegger); Fifth Element(Bruce Willis)
VHS tape of President Bush Speech to the Nation on Iraq
Books: Sun Tzu's Art of War; Seven Pillars of Wisdom (T.E. Lawrence); Shogun (James Clavell); Goodbye Darkness-Memoir of WWII in the Pacific(William Manchester); Sum of All Fears (Tom Clancy); Starship Troopers (Robert Heinlein); Pied Piper (Nevil Shute); A Town Like Alice (Nevil Shute); 25 pocket constitutions
24 pencils #2 in plastic case
CD 1965 Music
2 Carefree gum
Magazine: People issue about Reagan, Essay on Reagan and Margaret Thatcher, Letter by Franklin Graham about faith

June 23, 2004, 3 packages sent to Kirkuk,
Box 1: 3 cans (each makes 32 quarts) of sugared Country Time lemonade mix
Box 2: 9 boxes (each has 12 packs of 4 cookies) of Chips Ahoy cookies, First Band on the Moon CD by Cardigans, 1968 music hits CD, DVD movie The Count of Monte Cristo with Jim Caviezel, personal mini fan and 4 pack of AA batteries, overflow toys--7 packs of 5 die cast fire dept or construction trucks/motorcycle/helicopter, 8 mesh bags of sand toys, 1 dress up jewelry and clutch purse combo pack.
Box 3: 21 SUV toys, 17 dress up jewelry and clutch purse packs, 6 baby dolls, 4 combo packs of jump rope, jacks, yo-yo and paddle ball, 1 small card game of FISH.

Box 4 still being packed:
8 packs of 72 pencils, 10 glue and glitter sets, 10 fat kiddie crayon boxes, 4 packs of 4 rulers (with metric on one side). I hope I can find my old office pencil sharpener before I pack this. 1 can 32 qts lemonade mix. Box 100 Tootsie Pops. CD disk holder album.

On way from Amazon, Braveheart movie with Mel Gibson, books Altman code, Glory Road, Tai-pan, Shogun, King Rat, And from Caswell-Massey, travel size aftershave gel (can't send liquid) sandlewood scent. Depending on room I'll tuck some of these in.

Anyone out there have a copy of the Iliad or the Odyssey? I read them in Latin class in high school and never bought a copy.