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.
Hello (Tunehead54),
Please do not apologize for contacting me. I am happy to help you and I thank you in advance for keeping in touch with our young men and women who defend our country, our freedom every day, for letting them all know that we do care, they do matter to us as they prove to us each day we matter to them.
This is a beautiful poem & like many I felt it was a wonderful way of letting our service men & women know how much I care & how much they matter to me, how much I love each one of them for sacrificing their youth, their lives for us.
Ed ________ a SwiftBoat (#79?)captain. Please thank your friend Ed _________ for all he gave during his time in VN. Richard Baumberger, BM3 KIA 5/5/69 was my fiancée - 3rd time in VN - taken 36 years ago.
Unfortunately no one seems to know who the author is as you can see from the links below. Even Dr. Laura's web site has it posted as Author Unknown.
http://www.blackfive.net/main/2005/12/a_different_chr.html
http://www.drlaura.com/letters/?mode=view&tile=1&id=10896
Thank you,
Barbara _________
3 boxes containing
4 tins butter cookies-50 leis- 95-party hats-70 blowouts-50 tiaras-11 noisemakers-75 horns-1/4 lb. balloons (that's what it said on the package)-96 small plates (red & white)-96 small red napkins-96 red cups-1 red plastic tablecloth-12 boxes Cappuccino mix (8 pkgs per box)-10 Boxes Celestial Seasonings Cinnamon Apple Spice tea (20 bags per box)
Bless your fairy godmother heart!
Thanks for checking up on that.
I posted the poem to one of our soldiers who is probably home now.
Just waiting to get word on if that unit all made it back okay.
Or they may have been held over for the elections and are coming home this week...
We'll see.
Since I apparently reminded you about some New Year's decorations you got last year on sale should I mention Valentine's Day is coming up? Got any year old chocolate? ;-)
Just in case - please know I'm just kidding and saying hello, thanks for all you do and good night. :-)
Now that you mention it, I did find a packet of a Russell Stover chocolate marshmallow egg when I cleaned out the trunk of the car recently.
From Easter...must have fallen out of the bag and rolled into the well.
My husband had no qualms about eating it immediately.
Lest you worry, the Valentine's candy is long gone. That was our 25th anniversary and we spent it at a romantic hideaway with a 5 star restaurant.
Mailed December 17, 2005, to our adopted company of Stryker Brigade at Mosul, 2 boxes
Box 1, insured $70.38, postage $9.90
5 Hickory Farms all-beef summer sausages 1 lb. each
Cheese:
2 lb bricks of Tillamook Medium Cheddar, Monterey Jack, and Colby-Jack
2 baby Gouda 7 oz
2 Havarti 8 oz (one creamy, one with caraway seeds)
People magazine, 2005 review issue (President and Mrs. Bush full page picture/article)*
½ USA Today, Dec 15 issue*
Box 2: almost same as box 1, insured $70.38, postage $9.90
5 Hickory Farms all-beef summer sausages 1 lb. each
Cheese:
2 lb bricks of Tillamook Medium Cheddar, Monterey Jack, and Colby-Jack
2 baby Gouda 7 oz
2 Havarti 8 oz (one plain, one with caraway seeds)
People magazine, different issue
½ USA Today, Dec 15 issue
Mailed December 19, 2005, 8 boxes to Mosul
Box 3, value $22.14, postage $7.70
Keeblers 3 boxes Club crackers (96x4)
2 lb bag of Jelly Belly jelly beans (35x25)
4 magazines:
3 Weekly Standard (Aug 29, Sept 5, Oct 24) (Border Control, Iraq, CIA Plame affair)*
1 Army magazine, December, 2005
Box 4, value $17.98+7.00 (to disquise DVD), postage $7.70
Box Mauna Loa macadamia nut chocolate chip cookies (bite size) (40x4)
DVD: Forever Young (Mel Gibson)
2 lb. bag of Jelly Belly jelly beans
Box 5, value $8.19, postage $7.70
Box 2 lb 8 oz Wheat Thins crackers (16x36)
2 DVD recordings by MJY1288:
White House Christmas tour with Laura Bush
President Bush, December 7 speech on Iraq
Saturday, December 17, Los Angeles Times (front page, sports, business)*
Box 6, value $22.53, postage $7.70
4 canisters of Kool Aid Tropical Punch sugared mix, each makes 8 qts.
3 bags Klass Guanabana, each makes 6 qts.
Box 7, value $22.53, postage $7.70
4 canisters of Kool Aid Tropical Punch sugared mix, each makes 8 qts
3 bags Klass Tamarindo, each makes 6 qts.
Box 8, value $14.97, postage $7.70
3 boxes of Chips Ahoy chocolate chip cookies, each with 12 packs of 4 cookies
Box 9, value $6.99, postage $7.70
24 small bags Knotts Berry Farm shortbread cookies (2 oz.)--8 raspberry, 8 boysenberry, and 8 strawberry centers
Box 10, value $12.34, postage $7.70
2 boxes Chips Ahoy chocolate chip cookies with 12 packs of 4 cookies
8 small bags of Knotts Berry Farm shortbread cookies (2 oz) with apricot centers
*they had requested news magazines, newspapers, even People magazine.
Update:
We had word from our contact at Tal Afar (temporarily in Baghdad due to the election) that 22 boxes had arrived at Tel Afar since his last report. He will be back in Tall Afar just before Christmas, and well probably get more detail then.
Nina0113 mailed the Xbox 100 to Bagram Saturday, December 17, with its extra controller accessory (shed been penned in by an ice storm prior to that)
Before the ice storm she mailed Playstation2 accessories to the Engineers at Baghdad (4 player accessory and 64-Meg card).
Icantbelieveit sent 3 boxes to Mosul, 3 to Tal Afar, back on December 5, see post 1214 for details of cocoa, candy, garlands and entertainment.
Kattracks mailed 3 boxes of New Years paper goods, party favors, food and drink to MI at Kirkuk, see posts 1182.
And today she mailed them 6 Boxes Ritz/Keebler crackers w/ cheese (12 pkgs per box, 4 boxes flavored chips (12 pkgs per box), and 2 boxes Milano cookies (12 pkgs per box).
I mailed 14 boxes of New Years Party goods, food and drink to Mosul, see posts 1156, 1163, and 1188. Also sent one box for New Years to Kirkuk, post 1156.
SENClander mailed a big New Years box to Mosul with 200 envelops of Motts hot spiced apple cider mix (original, granny smith, red delicious, and golden delicious), 35 little bags of assorted Keeblers cookies, two 'Happy New Year' banners, a Far Side 2006 calendar and a Ronald Reagan 2006 calendar.
Any of you who havent read the poem by an unknown author that Tunehead54 posted at 1169 should read it. It really begins to hit home after the first 20 verses.
Do you still need apple cider? I can check at Costco - they've had it in the past but I'm not sure if they still carry it.
What a nice package you sent.
Thank you. I think we've all done a really good job.
Hoping our wonderful Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen/women, and Marines have a Merry Christmas and a safe and successful New Year!
God bless 'em, every one!
Christmas in Ramadi.
Wow, nice pic Patty!
I wonder what's in those wrapped packages?
Those are the packages that the families sent to the soldiers in the unit.
The tree and most of the decorations were sent by mscht and Ros42.
Isn't that a beautiful tree?
Email from BAGRAM air base, AFGHANISTAN. (near Kabul) Good news and very sad news.
*****
Patty,
Sorry for not getting back to you sooner on all the great things you all have done for us. In spite of our tardiness, I can assure you that your generosity is deeply appreciated.
The Xbox did arrive; I'm not much of a gamer, but the kids love it. On the other hand, the coffee has been fabulous. It, along with the games, arrived a while back. Again, apologies for not letting you know sooner. Thank you.
We have a Christmas tree up in my conference room with wonderful decorations; I assume that is from the people you describe below.
I also saw the Karaoke machine, though have not personally participated in any live performances. Believe me, the guys appreciate my discretion in this area.
Please accept my apologies for not being more responsive in letting you know that your gifts have arrived safely. Rest assured, they have not gone unnoticed. My guys are extremely grateful to have friends such as you back home. It truly does mean a great deal to know that folks back home are thinking of us.
I have intended to write you many times, but events seem to always dictate otherwise. With the memorial service for our soldier who was killed a few days ago behind us, perhaps now I can catch up on correspondence.
Thank you so much for your generosity. You are truly appreciated.
***
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