CARE PACKAGES for our Troops in Iraq and Afghanistan, 2005

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1273305/posts ^ | 2-18-05 | patriciaruth

[patriciaruth]

With the help of Diamondhead and his wife and my husband, these 15 boxes were mailed today to Iraq (Mosul, Kirkuk, Baghdad) and Bagram, Afghanistan. A bunch more are going out Monday.

June ll, 2005, mailed 8 boxes to our adopted company with Stryker brigade near Mosul
Box 1, insured for $179, postage $27.55
1 Door Flag decoration
3 cutout GOD BLESS AMERICA banners with flags
2 banner strings of triangle lazer American flags
5 cotton half circle flag swags
2 pkgs of 3 cutout American flag stars
1 pkg of 3 14” stars one red, one white, one blue
1 pkg of 3 hanging stars mobiles
5 pkg of mobiles,2- 3D eagles, 2-1D eagles, and flags with stacked thingies
2 electrical strings of American flag lights, one boxed, one in bag
2 pkgs 4 3x5” flags on sticks
1 red, silver and blue Star burst table decoration
1 red, silver and blue star burst hanging decoration
Declaration of Independence mounted in clear plastic frame
2 books by Louis L’Amour
The Man from the Broken Hills
The Quick and the Dead
7 DVD and 1 VHS movies
National Treasure (Nicolas Cage)
My Cousin Vinny
White Chicks
Beverly Hills Cop (Eddie Murphy)
XXX (Vin Diesel)
Gone in 60 Seconds (remake with Nicolas Cage)
Gone in 60 Seconds (original but without original music)
VHS of Original Gone in 60 Seconds with original music
Imprimis issue on Hollywood movies
National Geographic Map of the World
Reagan bumper sticker: “America is Too Great for Small Dreams”
Pope John Paul II Commemorative Magazine
Box 5 bags Kettle Corn microwave popcorn
1 box 8 large packs Carefree sugarless spearmint gum

Box 2, value 10.34, postage 7.70
32 qt sugared Country Time pink lemonade mix
14 microwave bags ACT II butter popcorn

Box 3, value 10.34, postage 7.70
32 qt sugared CT regular lemonade mix
14 bags butter popcorn

Box 4, value 10.34, postage 7.70
32 qt regular lemonade mix
14 bags butter lover’s popcorn

Box 5, value 10.34, postage 7.70
32 qt pink lemonade mix
14 bags Kettle Corn popcorn

Box 6, value 10.34, postage 7.70
32 qt regular lemonade mix
14 bags Kettle Corn popcorn

Box 7, value 16.04, postage 7.70
14 bags Kettle Corn popcorn
box 8 bags butter popcorn
1 bag 10 oz. Kona Classic Hawaiian ground coffee
1 DVD of Laura Bush’s roast at 2005 White House Correspondence dinner

Box 8, value 16.32, postage 7.70
28 bags Kettle Corn popcorn
1 bag 10 oz. Kona Classic Hawaiian ground coffee


Mailed June 11, 2005, to MI unit at Kirkuk, Iraq
Box 1, insured $99, postage $17.95
1 red, silver and blue hanging star burst decoration
2 red/white/blue cardboard cutout banners with GOD BLESS AMERICA and flags
1 pkg with 3 mobiles red, blue silver stars
1 pkg 3 American flag stars
2 pkgs of 4 3x5” American flags on sticks
84 flag and star paper cups
2 cotton half circle American flag swags
2 pks 50 flag napkins
Uncle Sam suit and white shirt

Box 2, insured $163, postage $10.90
9 DVD movies
National Treasure (Nicolas Cage)
Red River (John Wayne)
The Professionals (Burt Lancaster)
The Man from Snowy River (Tom Burlinson)
Unforgiven (Clint Eastwood)
The Magnificent Seven (Yul Brynner, Steve McQueen)
Outland (Sean Connery)
The Violent Men (Glenn Ford)
The Quick and the Dead (Sam Elliott)
9 Books by Louis L’Amour
Comstock Lode
The Skyliners
The Quick and the Dead
Westward the Tide
The Man from the Broken Hills
Ride the Dark Trail
Silver Canyon
Fair Blows the Wind
Under the Sweetwater Rim
Baseball special opening season issue magazine
10 large packages gum Carefree sugarless 5 spearmint 5 original bubble gum flavor
2 travel packs of tissues

Box 3, value $12.82, postage $7.70
32 qt sugared Country Time pink lemonade mix
4 stacks of paper cups with red/blue stars (to complete over 100)
1 can Gold Bond Foot powder in a zipper baggie

Box 4, insured $39, postage $9.00
32 qt. size of sugared Country Time pink lemonade mix
DVD: Open Range (Kevin Cosner, Robert Duvall)
Another God Bless America banner
2 more half circle flag swags
2 more eagle mobiles (1 3D and one 1D)
small bag confetti, small page flag stickers

Mailed June 11, 2005, to PsyOps at Bagram, Afghanistan
Box 1, insured $135, postage $17.25
1,Large red, silver and blue hanging starburst decoration
1 Box electrical string of American flag lights
3 bags mobiles, 3D Eagles with stacked thingies, American flags, !D eagles
1 red, white and blue bunting paper circle fan
2 pkgs cutout colored cardboard banner with GOD BLESS AMERICA and flags
2 string banners with triangle hanging flags
1 pkg with 3 mobile hanging stars
1 flag door cover
1 pkg 3 American flag stars
3 cotton half circle flag swags (bunting)
2 pks of 50 flag napkins
8 DVD’s
National Treasure (Nicolas Cage)
Spanglish (Adam Sandler)
Troy (Brad Pitt)
White Chicks
Chronicles of Riddick (vin Disel)
Beverly Hills Cop (Eddie Murphy)
Fatal Attraction (Michael Douglas, Glenn Close)
Year of Living Dangerously (Mel Gibson, Sigourney Weaver)

Mailed June 11, 2005, to PsyOp BN in Baghdad:
Box 1, insured $66.00, postage $9.90
1 red, silver and blue Star burst table decoration
1 String banner of flag triangles
2 cutout red/white/blue banners GOD BLESS AMERICA and flags
3 bags mobiles, 3D eagles, 1D eagles, flags with stacked thingies
4 pinwheels that light up (and pack of 8 AA batteries)
2 pkg 3 flag stars
2 cotton half circle flag swags
2 bags 4 3x5” flags on sticks
2 DVD’s
National Treasure (Nicolas Cage)
Spanglish (Adam Sandler)

Box 2, value $22.47, postage $7.70
3 boxes of 12 packs of Chips Ahoy cookies
DVD: Proof of Life (Russell Crowe, Meg Ryan)

[patriciaruth]

Post above has contents of 15 boxes sent out for the 4th of July to Iraq (Mosul, Kirkuk, Baghdad) and Bagram, Afghanistan.

Thanks to Diamondhead and his wife who helped pack and my husband who helped mail. Another bunch will be going out Monday.

Next post has care packages sent to Bagram by airborne, mathluv, and Coop.

[patriciaruth]

Care packages sent to Bagram this past week in response to their request for personal care items.

Coop
-Priceless artwork from my daughter, age 4 :-)
-4 or 5 toothbrushes
-6 tubes (3 lg, 3 small) of toothpaste
-Half dozen disposable razors
-Assorted soap, lotion
-10 packs of gum
-Candy/lollipops
-6 servings of instant lemonade
-Half dozen or so Little Debbie oatmeal pies (yummy!)
-Two boxes of Poptarts
-Canned tuna, Spam, Vienna Sausages
-5 packs of Ramen soup

Mathluv
Baggies
16 bars Dial soap
1 - 4-pack of Degree deodorant
1 - Right Guard deodorant
2 Shave gels
1 - Dove Shampoo and Conditioner
3 pkg 15 Bic razors
1 pkg 500 Q Tiips
10 Chapsticks
1 pkg 90 flossers
1 pkg dental floss

Airborne
10 - 5 packs Personna Twin Blade Plus disposable razors
10 - 2-5 oz. gillette Gel shaving cream
1 - 6 pack of Dove White soap
1 - 6 pack of Dove Pink soap
6 - 10 oz. Dove shampoo
6 - 10 oz. Dove conditioner
10 - Suave 2.6 oz. stick deodorant
10 - Mennen Speed Stick deodorant

[patriciaruth]

Funny thing happened in regard to my father's military papers.

We were missing the chronology of his service and his honorable discharge.

You'll never guess where they were found a few weeks ago and who found them?

My father did a lot of genealogy research in the last 25 years. He had a room that was floor to ceiling with books and many file cabinets and boxes of files.

When I cleared out their house in the summer of 2001, I went through files and culled what I could and took as many books as feasible -- packing and sending to Texas, relatives and myself.

But for the rest there was a mountain left. I called a Mormon friend, and he trucked it away to Salt Lake.

Several weeks ago I had a call from a lovely lady at the LDS library in Salt Lake explaining that they weren't going to be keeping a number of my father's working files that contained mostly xeroxes from other sources.

I said we didn't want them, he'd published several books with that information. But if they could look through and check for papers on certain family lines and also papers pertaining to Dad himself. I explained about his hiding things in his last years when he had Alzheimer's.

She called back. She had found the military papers....not in a file folder, but squirreled in an envelop between folders in the B's.

B for Burial???

She mailed the papers to my brother, and they are just what was needed to allow Mom to be buried with Dad at DFW National Cemetery when she passes.

[MJY1288]

My deepest condolences to you my friend. My prayers are with you

[patriciaruth]

Just a quick note to let you all know that all the rest of the 4th of July packages were mailed out today.

I'll have a detailed report on line tomorrow; but from this house, with the great help of Mr. and Mrs. Diamondhead, 43 boxes were mailed out.

10 to Bagram, 3 to psyops in Baghdad, 2 to Engineers in Baghdad, 7 to MI at Kirkuk, 7 to a Battery unit at Kirkuk, and 14 to Mosul...

And 5 care packages of toiletries are on their way or soon to go to Bagram from group members.

It'll be a close call in delivery for some of the Mosul and Battery boxes. Hope they all make it on time.

[airborne]

Thanks everyone, for a great job! Hopefully, we can make the guy and gals in harms way a little more comfortable over the holiday.

[patriciaruth]

Thanks to a lot of help from expert packers, Mr. and Mrs. Diamondhead, the 4th of July care package extravaganza has all been mailed out now.

28 1/2 boxes went out Monday yesterday, 15 on Saturday. Most were flat rate 5 1/2 x 11 1/2 x 8" priority boxes. Details are in the posts above.

Total of 10 boxes went to Bagram, Afghanistan, 7 boxes each to the MI and Battery units at Kirkuk, 13 1/2 boxes to our Stryker company at Mosul, 3 boxes to a Psyops battalion at Baghdad, and 2 boxes to the new Engineers battalion at Baghdad.

Many thanks for contributions this past month from mshoponline, Pigrigger, luvyadubya, Swat Team, jtill, DrDeb, Swat Team, mass55th, jtill, SENClander.

And thanks to jtill for books, MJY1288 for the Laura Bush speech DVD's, and airborne, Coop, and mathluv for care packages sent to Bagram this past week with requested personal care items. (See posts above for details)

Thanks to everyone for past and present and future support of our troops in harm's way!

[Dante3]

Our troops are our true heroes.

[patriciaruth]

Our troops are our true heroes.

Yes, God bless and protect them!!!

This is why we do this, to try to show them that we are so proud of them and care about them.

[Dante3]

Well stated.

[SwatTeam]

Thank you for doing all the work and keeping us informed.

[CheneyChick]

Thank you so much!

[jtill]

Patty, thank you, thank you, thank you, and everyone here for all of the love, devotion and work that you do to show our troops that they are not only true heroes, but that we support and love them.

Our Youth Minister will be leaving for Iraq shortly and will be spending a year there. Sunday, before he left, I gave him a St. Michael medal that had been blessed on Palm Sunday and sent the love and prayers of the ladies of St. Michael's with him.

Just thinking about our troops and the valor with which they serve brings me to my knees in thanksgiving for their love of family, country and honor.

[patriciaruth]

I think your youth minister is going to be one of the luckier soldiers. Is he going as a chaplain?

[jtill]

Yes, he is going as a chaplain. I'm hoping he will send us his address asap so that we can begain supporting him with cards and letters. It will be a super project for the older ladies as they enjoy writing letters.

[Coop]

Patty, you truly are an angel to our armed forces personnel. God bless!

[patriciaruth]

Email from BAGRAM came in last night:

"Dear Patty

I just got a package from someone else in the Merry Band the other day with some toiletries. We're really grateful over here and these will help out the new unit when they get here cause lets face it, you'd be supprised at how fast you can run out of soap and then are hurting for some. Thanks again for everything."

****

Mailed June 18, 2005, to Bagram
1 box, value $34, postage 7.70
2 packages 10 bars of soap
12 toothbrushes
Box 40 super Playtex tampons
Box of 100 pushpins
Hotel freebie bottle citrus odor conditioner
3 magazine samples of creams/lotions

Mailed June 18, 2005, to airborne's nephew at Mosul
1 box, value $25, postage 7.70
1 box 12 pkgs Chips Ahoy
1 small pack white chocolate chip macadamia nut cookies
2 containers sugared Country Time pink lemonade mix 8 qts
1 can 16 oz. Planter’s half cashews
1 pack 8 AA coppertop batteries and free tiny flashlight
1 box 100 push pins.
8 Domino's condiment packs of crushed red pepper
3 packs Carefree spearmint gum

****
Just saw an interview on Fox with David McCullough about his new history book, 1776. Looks good. Anyone want to buy it and pass it on to the troops after you're finished reading it?

[TruthNtegrity]

I haven't gotten all the way to the end of this thread, but saw the request for funds to help mail 4 of July goodies to our guys and gals.

Will you send me your address again, as I'd like to send a donation for mailing (postage and insurance).

I miss visiting "my guys" at Walter Reed so badly - more even than I anticipated prior to this move, so I'd like to be a part of this effort.

Thanks in advance.