Posted on 02/19/2005 12:40:42 AM PST by patriciaruth
Time for a new thread!
Our Merry Band of Patriots has seen a psy-ops unit at Bagram, Afghanistan, help educate voters in Afghanistan and come home successfully, while we supported them and special forces in the field by sending over 100 movies and many packages of snacks and toiletries and Hallowe'en candy. A Christmas tree and decorations (Daybreakcoming) and stockings (Ican'tbelieveit) and cards and over 400 candy canes were sent for their follow-on unit, and a box with movies and magazines and misc is just beginning to fill for their next care package. The movies and books we sent previously went into the Special Forces library there.
We've seen Beast Battery at Kirkuk, Iraq, through till their deployment home, sending them over 100 movies and dozens of books and a microwave and DVD/VCR player (from arjay) and many big boxes of snacks. Plus a huge wave of goodies was organized by McLynnan for Christmas in Kirkuk (2 prelit trees, ornaments, Santa suit, many stockings with stuffers, many cards, and a couple thousand candy canes to share out with all the forces there).
We've supported the 411th Engineers at Baghdad in 2004 with about 70 movies and several dozen books, a Playstation 2 and a Nintendo console with a couple dozen games (from asgardshill and ican'tbelieveit), a 4 foot Christmas tree and ornaments and boxes of snacks and many cards and 600 candy canes. In the next couple months we will be bidding them Godspeed as they return to their homebase in Hawaii.
We've sent over 50 movies, a DVD/VCR player (from arjay), and a dozen and a half books to an MI unit near Kirkuk, plus some Christmas decorations and stocking stuffers, and many cards and 156 candy canes. They have mostly left for home now and we just sent a package with more movies to their follow-on unit.
Also we have sent some packages to an Aviation unit at Balad, Iraq and to an Infantry Medics unit, and a small Christmas package each to another AVN unit and an MP unit.
Stryker Infantry company formerly at Fallujah and now at Mosul since November has been the major focus of our care packages these past months. All of Stryker at Mosul has taken fire, and our adopted company has suffered a KIA and some soldiers with severe injuries.
Early on we sent food items (mostly power bars and dried fruit and nuts) then Christmas stockings stuffed with goodies and many cards and 200 candy canes, and since Christmas have begun sending movies. They recently received a DVD/VCR player (from arjay) and with the movies just mailed today their collection will total about 75 movies and a dozen books.
And all this happened because our grassroots volunteer group began forming in the early summer of 2001 to send care packages to Camp Bondsteel in Kosovo, when the 101st Airborne and then the 10th Mountain were there.
The contents of packages just mailed will be listed in post below.
mathluv mailed around 14 boxes to the Engineers at Baghdad, all flat rate except 2, one $7.15, the other $10.85. Contents:
3 boxes of 60 hot chocolate
2 boxes of 48 peanuts
3 containers of 310 candy canes
4 9' evergreen garlands
18 Poinsettia clips
24 sm red bows
4 larger red bows
10 air freshners
100 satin ornaments
3 Santa hats
1 tree skirt
6 9' tinsel garlands
6 18' tinsel garlands
1 pkg 625 peppermints
1 pkg safety pops
1 pkg tootsie roll pops
1 pkg Kiddie Mix (Smarties, jaw breakers, bubble gum, and Sweet Tarts)
2 pkg tootsie rolls (220 each)
2 pkg Chewy Mix (Slopokes, Bit-O-Honey, etc)
22 Chapsticks
3 tubes hand cream
2 pkgs beef sticks
See 1072, 1080 and 1081 posts above for contents of about 28 boxes mailed out to the Engineers at Baghdad by kattracks, mathluv and me.
I noticed that we all had sent envelops of hot chocolate mix, and realized that with a bit more help we could send enough for all the troops in this large battalion.
If 4 volunteers would send 10 more boxes of 10 envelops each (at around $1-2 a box), then we could make that goal. Anybody want to sent hot cocoa mix to the Engineers?
VeniVidiVici and I are still hip deep in stockings for MI at Kirkuk, but I finally found some green glitter today and so will probably have mine out by Friday. How you doing VeniVidiVici?
Now that I have a few seconds to look at your list of goodies, I am thinking how really lovely and Christmas-y those garlands and pointsettia clips are going to look.
And the Santa hats are great!
What does your tree skirt look like?
Do you still accept paypal? I'll send a donation to help.
The movie Gettysburg (Jeff Daniels, Martin Sheen, Tom Berenger) that you sent psyops at Baghdad is also a great movie, a classic in my opinion.
Yep! Paypal donations gratefully accepted. I get movies and computer games and holiday decorations and other stuff at eBay and pay with paypal.
I'll FReepmail you.
How are you doing lately? I'll never forget the beautiful computer image you made with the eagle, etc, a couple years ago for one of the cards.
Good! Stockings are all done and stuffed. Got the boxes today and will ship them tomorrow. So I'll be shipping the stockings and the two dvd players.
I should have an extra box or two so let me know if you want me to get the cocoa.
How's Emily making out? You know, Home Depot does water heater installs.
I've got two or three priority boxes that are sad because they didn't get to go to Iraq! They can easily be filled with Hot Cocoa. FReepmail me the address to Baghdad and I can have them in the mail by Friday. I figure I can load 2 boxes of 60 packages each into them. Maybe more.
Aren't you bankrupt yet? Do you really want to send some boxes with envelops of hot chocolate mix to the Engineers at Baghdad?
I was thinking about recruiting someone who hasn't had time or money to do much until now. Sending hot cocoa mix is fairly inexpensive and easy to do if a few people divide this chore up.
I'll let you know if no one else steps forward.
Emily won't let anybody in the house normally, because an uninstalled water heater is sitting in the livingroom.
The plumbing was messed up from the incompetent plumber that took her for a ride and that has to be straightened out before anyone else can install anything.
BUT...I could ask Home Depot if their installer can also fix plumbing. That was a great suggestion.
The insurance adjuster for her hurricane roof damage came by Monday and FEMA stopped by, too, this week. She's hoping FEMA will pay for the tarping of her roof we did as she wants to pay us back....@@ (my eyes rolling up in head).
WooHoo!!
Hey, I'm going to take you up on that offer!!
FReepmail coming with the APO!
Thanks, doll!
No problem. He he, won't Costco be glad they are helping our troops! Can we all say NEENER, NEENER COSTCO!
I just thought of something else too. My son just started working at Lowes. Let me see if I can get the name of an installer for them down in that area.
Hey Miss Patty - you sound like you must be feeling waaaaay better.
OK - I have shipped what I think are my last Christmas boxes.
To Kosovo
4 bags of candy
1 large candy cane candle
4 Christmas trays (to hold goodies)
34 Christmas messages from FReepers
To Baghdad
5 bags of candy
2 cans of assorted nuts
2 boxes (24 ea) candy canes
34 Christmas messages from FReepers
12 Christmas cards from my kinfolk
To Tel Afar
3 bags of candy
3 bags of Fritos
2 boxes (24 ea) candy canes
4 Christmas trays
34 Christmas messages from FReepers
AND
a stuffed American Eagle (not real) that I got from Nat Geographic - about 16 inches high - told our contact it was his to keep or give away. If a stuffed animal can look majestic - this eagle can.
And oh, one more Cabela's catalog :o)
I apologize for not notifying the captains of these locations of these last shipments.
I have been reading the posts of all that has been sent and it is just awesome.
Gotta go play with hubby now. He hoofed the boxes into the car and into the Post Office, so I owe him some time.
Be back in a few hours.
And if you can, please post the list of what all you sent to MI at Kirkuk after you mail it out.
:-)
Cheers!
You're right, we're starting to be AWESOME!!
mathluv and CAluvdubya, check out daybreakcoming's post above...she sent some more goodies and Christmas messages to the Engineers at Baghdad and to Tal Afar (Tel Afar, Tall Afar, Arabic has fluid spelling).
Daybreak, who is sending the bags of candy from the Staffers to Tel Afar?
WE LOVE AND SUPPORT OUR TROOPS
Freepmail me an APO and a number. ;-)
I've got several boxes going out to psyops in Kosovo...probably Saturday or Monday.
Stockings, some stuffings and a Santa hat.
Thanks for your help.
That would be my sis and her LA Legislature staff. She's the one who uses 8 lb of packing tape. :o)
You bet! The more him, the She-Beast, and Kerry spew, the more we'll send.
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