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Care Packages and Thank-You Notes for our Troops in Afghanistan
self | 7-3-04 | patriciaruth

Posted on 07/03/2004 5:35:38 PM PDT by patriciaruth

Our troop support group finally found a way to send care packages to our troops in Afghanistan, and I've received a couple letters this week requesting goodies. We're pretty excited about finally making contact, and are inviting others who want to show support to join us.

If you can't afford to contribute money or goods, the troops also really appreciate letters, cards and notes, and request your prayers for their safety and peace of mind.

The first set of care packages and thank you cards and notes that we sent to Afghanistan for the Fourth of July were received with joy and you can read about them on the second half of our last thread, Write a Thank You Note to a Soldier in Iraq this Memorial Day Weekend

We've been collecting goodies and contributions toward the next set of care packages to go to Afghanistan. Our contact there will send them to the troops at the outlying fire bases, and has requested toiletries, movies, paperback books, snacks, and games for them.

Also, there are ongoing requests from a group of soldiers near Kirkuk in Iraq for items for the poor village schools and children in the surrounding area, specifically elementary school supplies and children's toys and crayons 24 to a box are a special project of theirs.


TOPICS: Activism/Chapters; Announcements; Foreign Affairs
KEYWORDS: afghanistan; carepackages; military; oef; supportourtroops; thankyou; troopsupport
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To: asgardshill
"Over the lips, over the gums, look out tummy, here she comes."

I didn't realize you met my father!

221 posted on 08/03/2004 7:04:49 PM PDT by patriciaruth (They are all Mike Spanns)
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To: Kaslin
Wonderful letter! Thanks for posting it. So much nicer to read than a discussion of horror movies.

And it goes with the picture of one of our soldiers on a street in an Afghan city, see post 194.

222 posted on 08/03/2004 7:09:59 PM PDT by patriciaruth (They are all Mike Spanns)
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To: JustAmy; Battle Axe
Got a letter from a few gals in Kirkuk today and sent them a small emergency airlift of chick flicks and books and hand cream, which you may recognize, until I can order some more specific things they requested.:-)

Will ping everyone when we get acknowledgement of receipt.

Mailed August 4, 2004, to Kirkuk for $15.75 postage, no insurance.
Books: Wings (Danielle Steel), A Rage Against Heaven (Fred M. Stewart), Thorns of Truth (Eileen Goudge)--from JustAmy
VHS movies: My Big Fat Greek Wedding, The American President (Michael Douglas, Annette Benning), --from JustAmy, Baby Boom (Diane Keaton, Sam Shepard), Grand Canyon (Alfie Woodard, Kevin Kline, Steve Martin)--from patriciaruth
3-4.3 oz of hand cream from Battle Axe.
Vogue magazine with Bush daughters from patriciaruth.
CD-Van Morrison
1 bar Caswell Massey ginger and lemon herb soap.

223 posted on 08/04/2004 6:40:15 PM PDT by patriciaruth (They are all Mike Spanns)
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To: etabeta
For anyone looking to avoid duplications. Received box of books July 28, 2004, from etabeta and her friends. I'll be dividing them up between Kirkuk and Balad and Bagram as I start filling new set of boxes in next two weeks.

The Arraignment (Steve Martini)
Executive Orders (Tom Clancy)
Ice Bound (Dr. Jerri Nielsen)
The Jansun Directive (Robert Ludlum)
The Last Man Standing (David Baldacci)
LOTR, The Fellowship of the Rings (J.R.R. Tolkien)
The Medusa Stone (Jack DuBrul)
The Paris Option, a Robert Ludlum book
The Patient (Michael Palmer)
The Prometheus Deception, a Robert Ludlum book
Secret Honor (W.E.B. Griffin) Shock (Robin Cook)
The Sigma Protocol (Robert Ludlum)
Timeline (Michael Crichton)
Undue Influence (Steve Martini)

224 posted on 08/04/2004 6:44:37 PM PDT by patriciaruth (They are all Mike Spanns)
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To: patriciaruth

Could you send me the address to the base near Kirkuk in Iraq, I have some school supplies to send over.


225 posted on 08/04/2004 6:49:20 PM PDT by Aquamarine
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To: Aquamarine
I'm not giving away anything that's not on the web.

This address is easily found at Google Link under Operation Crayon

226 posted on 08/04/2004 7:26:37 PM PDT by patriciaruth (They are all Mike Spanns)
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To: patriciaruth

I didn't get any more movies picked up but I did get a few things today. More tampons and some snack stuff.

Will you be joining us in Fresno on Friday? If so, I will give this to you then; if not, I will get it in the mail to you.

I will go through my old paperbacks books to see what else I may have. I've had people give me books that I haven't gotten around to reading. I may have a treasure in the closet! ;~)

Thanks for getting these packages to our troops.


227 posted on 08/04/2004 7:38:25 PM PDT by JustAmy (Please pray for our Military and their families.)
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To: Aquamarine
Schools start opening around Kirkuk on August 25, so you'll need to hustle.

In case you need help filling out the customs form (available in post office), here's some tips.

First, list what you are putting in the box and its value as you pack in the items, and before you seal the box make sure you've got a complete list.

On the customs form, which is a half page size white form with multiple copies, so press hard when you are filling it out (the new one is very busy looking, the old one was easier):
Under sender's name: Write "private citizen" in the business line, and USA in country line.
Under addressee's Name, cross out business and street and just write in the information between the soldier's name and the APO zip code, then cross out city and put the APO AE in, over and around it. Nothing in country.
Check "airmail priority" (due to security, this is the only way you can send gifts to unknown recipients)
Check "gift"
Skip down to the bottom, sign and date it with the date you will be mailing it out.
Move over to the right and check EITHER "return to sender" (you have to send priority USPS and return postage is paid for you if they can't deliver it when it goes priority.) OR check "redirect" and write "chaplain's office" and the same APO info, in case your contact is injured and evacuated and you don't want the stuff sent back.
Insurance is up to you, but I tend not to insure stuff not valued near $100 or if it doesn't contain CD's or DVD's or things more likely to be stolen or damaged.
Finally, you need to fill out the not large enough blank space for "Detailed description of contents". The trick is to categorize your items as much as possible, so you end up with as few lines as possible. Don't hesitate to list like items in a row, like 4 boxes 72 pencils, 3 pkgs 12 pens, 2 pkgs 40 erasers,..
Then put the total number of boxes, bags, pkgs, loose items in that line in the QTY. column next to it.
IGNORE THE WEIGHT COLUMN.
Put the combined value of everything in each line in the VALUE column.
ADD all the values in the value column for the total value.
IGNORE all the other boxes.

228 posted on 08/04/2004 7:47:15 PM PDT by patriciaruth (They are all Mike Spanns)
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To: JustAmy

I'll let you know tomorrow about the trek to Fresno. I've been under the weather and am still a bit wobbly. If I can get some good rest tonight (I've been waking with muscle pain), then it'll be a go.


229 posted on 08/04/2004 7:49:23 PM PDT by patriciaruth (They are all Mike Spanns)
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To: Kathy in Alaska; RedWing9; MJY1288; esther2; Left_Coast_Conservative; lonestargal; lonestar; ...
MJY1288 got the VCR/DVD player from Arjay packed and shipped to Kirkuk today! Take a bow, Mike! And thank you again to Arjay for the FABULOUS donation!

Mo1 is packing up a Playstation 1 she has for shipment to Kirkuk this coming week. FANTASTIC! She'll also scoping out a website to get brown army T-shirts and socks that are half wool as requested by our special forces in Afghanistan.

And I just got a gazillion movies (well, not quite that many) from asgardshill for Kirkuk -- the long desired James Bond and Westerns they requested. The man is INCREDIBLE!

I'll list them in the next post. Meanwhile, if you want to see what's gone out this week, you can check the posts above this one.

CHEERS!

(I'm definitely feeling manic this week. ;-))

230 posted on 08/05/2004 6:44:04 PM PDT by patriciaruth (They are all Mike Spanns)
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To: asgardshill

Have recently received the following:

Sean Connery James Bond
Goldfinger
Dr. No
From Russia with Love
Diamonds are Forever
Never Say Never Again

John Wayne
The Shootist
The Quiet Man
McLintock!
The Sons of Katie Elder
Big Jake

Indiana Jones trilogy
The Lost Ark
The Temple of Doom
The Last Crusade

Stargate SG-1 cable TV series
Season 2
Season 5
Season 6


231 posted on 08/05/2004 6:50:58 PM PDT by patriciaruth (They are all Mike Spanns)
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To: patriciaruth
Great!

Looks like the following are still on the way to you (already ordered and shipped but just not there yet):

You Only Live Twice
Thunderball

Here's what I still owe you (they're not here yet or they're here pending shipment):

Stargate SG1 Seasons 1, 3, 4, and 7 (DVD)
Red Dragon (jumped the shark horror) (DVD)
Alien (VHS)
Aliens (VHS)
Dawn Of The Dead (classic horror) (DVD)
Hidalgo (DVD)
The Crawling Hand (VHS) (goofy horror)
Jason X (derivative horror) (DVD)
Jason Goes To Hell (DVD) (derivative horror)
Freddy vs. Jason (DVD) (derivative horror)
The Pit and the Pendulum (Hammer Films horror) (VHS)
Plan 9 From Outer Space (totally inept horror) (VHS)
The Blair Witch Project (stupid teenagers horror) (VHS)
The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (VHS) (don't eat the sausage horror)

Be looking for all of these around the end of next week.

232 posted on 08/05/2004 7:08:45 PM PDT by asgardshill ("Jack Black - killing brain cells and making friends UNTIL 2004")
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To: asgardshill

LOL!


233 posted on 08/05/2004 7:16:13 PM PDT by patriciaruth (They are all Mike Spanns)
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To: patriciaruth

Thanks for you help, got the address I needed and will be sending a package out next week. Still need to get a few more items.


234 posted on 08/05/2004 8:34:42 PM PDT by Aquamarine
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To: asgardshill
The Sean Connery James Bond movies Thunderball and You Only Live Twice showed up today. Whoopie! Now we have all the Connery Bonds!

I'm going to ship all the great movies you've sent lately some other things Monday to Kirkuk.

We'll make up another box of the goodies that will be coming in the next couple weeks.

Cheers!!

Patty

235 posted on 08/07/2004 5:13:37 PM PDT by patriciaruth (They are all Mike Spanns)
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To: Kathy in Alaska; RedWing9; MJY1288; esther2; Left_Coast_Conservative; lonestargal; lonestar; ...

Email from BAGRAM!

Hello Patty (& the Esteemed Merry Band of Patriots!),

R**** got back to Bagram yesterday from her leave. It was so good to see her. We've missed her bright personality around here. Tomorrow we will gather all the boxes for the firebases and re-pack and divide up the stuff to send out to them.

We received the box of the female goodies and chick flicks and other toiletries for the guys yesterday.

THANK YOU SO MUCH! It really is amazing at how generous and loving everyone has been to contribute to our movie lending library and general well-being here. Please pass on my thanks.

The mail guy knows you on a first-name basis - LOL! Or, he just calls you "The Doc".

Hope you are doing well --

L**** :)

P.S. I talked to G**** - he's the one that wanted Orange County, but he said it was NOT the TV series, rather it was a movie called that. I've never heard of it...

[I just ordered it, and it will go out in the next box--Patty]


236 posted on 08/07/2004 5:19:40 PM PDT by patriciaruth (They are all Mike Spanns)
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To: patriciaruth
re 235 and 236, coolness.

I'll see what I can do about Orange County the movie not the TV series.


237 posted on 08/07/2004 5:43:13 PM PDT by asgardshill ("I came here to kick ass and chew bubblegum. And I can't find my shoes")
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To: asgardshill

I already ordered it!!


238 posted on 08/07/2004 5:52:06 PM PDT by patriciaruth (They are all Mike Spanns)
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To: patriciaruth

OK. I got Signs with Mel Gibson instead, so I'll throw that in the box.


239 posted on 08/07/2004 5:53:27 PM PDT by asgardshill ("I came here to kick ass and chew bubblegum. And I can't find my shoes")
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To: asgardshill
If you can't unorder Signs, I'll send it to Balad or Walter Reed.

Here's our current lists of movies, not counting yet the ones you have yet to send.

KIRKUK:
VHS movies
Bush talk and Jaye Leno monolog at White House Correspondent's Dinner VHS tape of President Bush Speech to the Nation on Iraq
The American President (Michael Douglas, Annette Benning)
Baby Boom (Diane Keaton, Sam Shepard)
Fletch (Chevy Chase)
Grand Canyon (Alfie Woodard, Kevin Kline, Steve Martin
My Big Fat Greek Wedding
Remember the Titans (Denzel Washington)
The Unforgiven (Burt Lancaster, Audrey Hepburn)
DVD movies
24--Season 2 of TV series starring Keifer Sutherland
Along Came a Spider (Morgan Freeman)
Antwone Fisher (Denzel Washington)
Beverly Hillbillies TV series 16 episodes
Big Jake (John Wayne)
Black Beauty
Bonanza TV episodes
Braveheart (Mel Gibson)
Brian's Song (Billy Dee Williams, James Caen)
Bruce Almighty (Jim Carey)
Chisum (John Wayne)
City Slickers (Billy Crystal, Jack Palance)
Count of Monte Cristo (Jim Caviezel)
Die Another Day (Pierce Brosnan, Halle Barry)
Diamonds are Forever (Sean Connery, Jill St. John)
Don't Say a Word (Michael Douglas)
Dr. No (Sean Connery, Ursula Andress)
Fifth Element(Bruce Willis)
From Russia with Love (Sean Connery)
Galaxy Quest (Tim Allen, Sigourney Weaver)
Gettysburg (Jeff Daniels, Martin Sheen, Tom Berenger)
Ghostbusters (Bill Murray, Dan Akroyd, Sigourney Weaver)
Glory (Denzel Washington, Morgan Freeman, Matthew Broderick)
Goldfinger (Sean Connery)
Independence Day (Will Smith, Jeff Goldblum, Bill Pullman)
Indiana Jones and Raiders of the Lost Ark (Harrison Ford, Karen Allen)
Indiana Jones and The Temple of Doom (Harrison Ford, Kate Capshaw)
Indiana Jones and The Last Crusade (Harrison Ford, Sean Connery)
John Wayne, 11 B&W 1930's western movies
Last of the Mohicans (Daniel Day-Lewis)
Lawrence of Arabia (Peter O'Toole, Alec Guiness, Omar Sharif)
Liar, Liar (Jim Carrey)
Lonesome Dove
Lord of the Rings--Return of the King
The Mask of Zorro (Antonio Banderas, Anthony Hopkins, Catherine Zeta-Jones) Master and Commander (Russell Crowe)
McLintock! (John Wayne, Maureen O'Hara)
Men in Black II (Will Smith, Tommy Lee Jones)
A Murder of Crows (Cuba Gooding, Jr., Tom Berenger)
Moscow on the Hudson (Robin Williams)
Never Say Never Again (Sean Connery, Kim Basinger)
On Any Sunday (Steve McQueen)
Open Range (Kevin Costner)
Outlands (Sean Connery)
The Quiet Man (John Wayne, Maureen O'Hara)
Radio (Cuba Gooding, Jr.)
Rio Bravo (John Wayne, Dean Martin)
The Rookie (Dennis Quaid)
Secondhand Lions (Michael Caine)
Shaft (Samuel L. Jackson)
Shane (Alan Ladd, Jean Arthur)
Shanghai Noon (Jackie Chan)
The Shootist (John Wayne, Lauren Bacall)
Sons of Katie Elder (John Wayne, Dean Martin)
Space Cowboys (Clint Eastwood, Tommy Lee Jones)
Stargate (Kurt Russell, James Spader, Jaye Davidson)
Starship Troopers
Tears of the Sun (Bruce Willis)
Total Recall (Arnold Schwarzenegger, Sharon Stone)
True Lies (Schwarzenegger, Jamie Lee Curtis)
Thunderball (Sean Connery)
Signs (Mel Gibson)
We Were Soldiers (Mel Gibson)
You Only Live Twice (Sean Connery)

BAGRAM:
VHS Movies:
tape of TV movie--Ike: Countdown to D-Day (Tom Selleck)
9 hours tapes of funeral and processions for President Ronald Reagan
Angel and the Badman (John Wayne, Gail Russell)
Anna and the King (Jodie Foster, Chow Yun-Fat)
Apollo 13 (Tom Hanks, Kevin Bacon)
The Bridge on the River Kwai (William Holden, Alec Guiness) Men in Black II (Will Smith, Tommy Lee Jones)
Regarding Henry (Harrison Ford, Annette Benning)
DVD Movies
Airplane! (Leslie Nielsen, Lloyd Bridges)
*Antz (Woody Allen)
Back to the Future trilogy (Michael J. Fox)
Braveheart (Mel Gibson)
*Broken Arrow (John Travolta)
Bruce Almighty (Jim Carrey)
*Chocolat (Johnny Depp)
Contact (Jodie Foster, Michael McConaughey)
Dennis Miller--The Raw Feed (2003)
Die Another Day (Pierce Brosnan, Halle Barry)
*Finding Nemo (Albert Brooks, Ellen Degeneris)
First Strike (Jackie Chan)
Forces of Nature (Sandra Bullock, Ben Affleck)
Forever Young (Mel Gibson)
Friends TV series best of Seasons 1,2,3, (Courtney Cox,etc.)
Frequency (Dennis Quaid, Jim Caviezel)
Galaxy Quest (Tim Allen, Sigourney Weaver)
Gettysburg (Jeff Daniels, Martin Sheen)
Ghostbusters (Bill Murray, Dan Akroyd, Sigourney Weaver)
Glory (Denzel Washington, Morgan Freeman, Matthew Broderick)
The Gods Must Be Crazy
Grand Canyon (Kevin Kline, Alfie Woodard, Steve Martin)
Independence Day (Will Smith, Jeff Goldblum, Bill Pullman)
*The Jerk (Steve Martin)
Last of the Dogmen (Tom Berenger, Barbara Hershey)
Last of the Mohicans (Daniel Day-Lewis)
Lonesome Dove
The Magnificent Seven (Yul Brenner, Steve McQueen)
Master and Commander (Russell Crowe)
Moscow on the Hudson (Robin Williams)
Moulin Rouge (Ewan McGregor, Nicole Kidman)
My Big Fat Greek Wedding
October Sky
*Office Space (Rod Livingston, Jennifer Anistan)
Once Upon a Time in the West (Henry Fonda, Charles Bronson)
Open Range (Kevin Cosner)
*Orange County
Return to Me (David Duchovny, Minnie Driver)
Rio Bravo (John Wayne, Dean Martin)
The Rookie (Dennis Quaid)
Saving Private Ryan (Tom Hanks, Matt Damon)
*Sea of Love (Al Pacino, Ellen Barkin)
Secondhand Lions (Michael Caine)
Shane (Alan Ladd, Jean Arthur)
Shanghai Knights (Jackie Chan)
Signs (Mel Gibson)
Sleepless in Seattle (Tom Hanks, Meg Ryan)
Smokey and the Bandit trilogy (Burt Reynolds, Sally Field, Jackie Gleason)
Stargate (Kurt Russell, James Spader)
Stargate SG-1 Cable TV series, Season 1 (Richard Dean Anderson, Amanda Tapping, Michael Shanks, Christopher Judge)
Tears of the Sun (Bruce Willis)
There's Something about Mary (Carmen Diaz, Ben Stiller)
*The Three Kings (George Clooney, Ice Tea)
Total Recall (Arnold Schwarzenegger, Sharon Stove)
*U-571 (Matthew McConaughey, Bill Paxton)
We Were Soldiers (Mel Gibson)
*requested by a soldier

240 posted on 08/07/2004 6:04:00 PM PDT by patriciaruth (They are all Mike Spanns)
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