CARE PACKAGES for our Troops in Iraq and Afghanistan, 2005

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.

kattracks

If you call UPS and ask for the Military Package they send you the following, free of charge.... Proirity Flat Rate Boxes, Priority packing tape, labels, custom forms, both for 4lbs and under and some for larger than 4 lbs including the sleeves for it to go into. This is free for Family and Friends of Deployed Soldiers and comes right to your front door. It has made my life a lot easier, I simply tape the bottom of the boxes and have them ready to fill. I try to pick up a few items everytime I go to the store. So after a few grocery shopping trips there full and ready to go.

Of course I no longer have a dining table but heck we like to watch TV while we eat anyway, lol.

Maybe I'll go to work for the post office since I spend so much time there and they all know me now.

LOL! My post office just sees me as more hard work for them to do when I step into the lobby with hubby or some nice male bystander hauling in the boxes from the car.

Thanks for the suggestions. The noodle soup is a great one. I hear the weather is starting to turn, but will still be cold at night for another month maybe, so someone may want to send some while it will still be welcome.

They must burn off a ton of calories with all the work they do, so they must be hungry all the time when exhaustion isn't killing their appetites. It's too bad beef jerky is so expensive. Lots of protein is necessary for maintaining their muscle strength.

God bless them all.

I thought your first label was better because it was simpler.

The books you are sending are from the Merry Band that are at FR. The other donors can make their own labels if they want.

Maybe I'll make up some generic ones to put on further movies, books, etc. I've seen here at FR a cute cartoon icon with a dumpy old lady waving flag that could be me.

In the past I kept hoping the war would be winding down in the next year or so, so never felt it would be worth the effort of making up labels.

Now I'm scared we're going to have to go to war with Iran, which can only be a bloody and costly mess to win. And the fear is mostly because I'm not sure enough American people are up to the sacrifices that will be necessary to win it efficiently. The balking of the Dems has to my mind added to our death toll and the time and labor necessary to pull off a victory in Iraq and will be amplified for a military conflict with Iran.

I vote for your original label.

"It's too bad beef jerky is so expensive. Lots of protein is necessary for maintaining their muscle strength."

It had not even occurred to me until tonight when one of my husband's friends came over and suggested I try a sporting good store. We have a very large one here that caters to fishing and hunting supplies. He told me it was a lot cheaper there than regular stores. I thought it was a great idea, I had just never thought of it before. Thankfully it is close by so I can go check it out.

I have to admit I got a chuckle visualizing you going to your post office. You have been doing this for so long and I know how much you send out. Do you ever wonder if they draw straws when they see you coming, lol.

Thank you. I'll give UPS a call and get some of their boxes too. Whatever I get will sure beat having to pick up boxes each time I go to the PO. We are almost on a first name basis there and I am waiting for them to get me my own mug. I have to say that they are most supportive at my local PO when they see where the boxes are going. I have explained about "The Merry Band of Patriots" because they kept asking if I was sending the boxes to a family member serving in Iraq. One of the clerks never fails to ask me how our group is doing.

There's also a young clerk at my local supermarket who packs groceries (paper or plastic) and she had made a comment to me once that my family must sure like snacks. I explained to her who those snacks were for and now, whenever she's packing my stuff, she always mentions the troops and asks about our group.

We have a room here that we had made into an "office" of sorts, which has now become a mini warehouse. I too always pick up items with each shopping trip, not to mention the trips I make strictly to pick up goodies for our troops. Wow, that stuff sure does accumulate quickly. At the moment I have two full boxes almost ready to go to Iraq (have to fill out those pesky custom forms) and one for the troops at Walter Reed (no custom form... thank goodness). This leaves me now with only about three bunches of items to sort and package. I have started gathering Valentine's goodies for my next shipment (after this one) and I'm happy they come out early so that I can send them in time for Valentine's Day.

Thank you for the list and the suggestion on the Jerky. I'll have to find a local sporting good store and pick some up.

Mailed to Tal Afar today. I thought the PO was only open on Sat. until noon, so my husband and I made a mad dash to get these boxes out today. Well, my local PO is open until 1:00 pm. so the dash wasn't necessary. Anyway, they're off.

2 boxes containing:

2 boxes Little Debbie Star Crunch Bars (8 per box), 2 boxes Little Debbie Oatmeal Creme Pies (9 per box), 1 box LD Raisin Creme Pies (8 per box), 1 box LD Choc. Chip Creme pies (8 per box), 1 pkg. LD Strawberry Sugar Wafers, 1 box LD Swiss cake rolls (10 per box),1 pkg. LD peanut Butter Wafers, 2 pkgs 100 Grand bars (10 per pkg.), 2 boxes Nabisco Fig Newtons, 5 boxes Slim Jims (5 per box), 3 pkgs Keebler Snack Crackers (6 per pkg. - toast & peanut butter, cheddar), 2 pkgs Creme Cookies (10 per pkg. - choc. vanilla, strawberry, banana), 1 pkg. Keebler Fudge Stripes, 1 pkg Tootsie lollipops, 2 pkgs Chips Ahoy, 1 pkg, Oreo Double Stuff cookies, 4 boxes Post Raisin Bran cereal bars (5 bars per box), 3 Pringles chips (Cheezums, original, Bar B Q), 2 tins Creme Wafer Rolls (vanilla, cappuccino) 2 bags Tootsie Rolls, 3 pkgs gum (5 per pkg.), 5 boxes Nestle's Hot choc. mix (8 per box), 2 boxes Celestial Seasonings Tea (peppermint, strawberry), 4 Renuzit air freshners, 3 DVDs ( D-Day, Gaudalcanal, Windtalkers) 2 pkgs plastic sandwich bags.

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