CARE PACKAGES for our Troops in Iraq and Afghanistan, 2005

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

[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.

[Ros42]

For Psyops in Baghdad:

2-2lb. Christmas tins of Double Chocolate Chip Cookies
2-2lb. cans of Mixed Nuts
2-2lb. cans of Cashews

[patriciaruth]

MJY1288 is mailing out the second tree requested for TAL AFAR this week. He got it at Walmart, 7 ft artificial Douglas, prelit, multicolored lights.

I bought ornaments for it and will send them out later this week.

Yesterday I mailed this box to TAL AFAR for their new "library":

1 box Mailed November 12, 2005, to Tal Afar
Insured 149.25, postage 10.90
Conagher (Louis L’Amour)
Enchantment (Scott Card)
Ender’s Game (Scott Card)
Glory Road (Robert A. Heinlein)
King Rat (James Clavell)
Last of the Breed (Louis L’Amour)
The Man from the Broken Hills (Louis L’Amour)
Tai-pan (James Clavell)
Sarum (Edward Rutherford)
Shogun (James Clavell)
Starship Troopers (Robert A. Heinlein)
Ride the Dark Trail (Louis L’Amour)
The Right Stuff (Tom Wolfe)
The Winds of War (Herman Wouk)
2 toothbrushes
4 floss (2 travel, 2 trial size)
3 stim-u-dent
2 small pumpkin pie candles

[CAluvdubya]

WOW! Outstanding! Two trees for Tal Afar and a great library.

I have a question.....when you mail things, do you e-mail the contact there to let them know what is coming?

[patriciaruth]

I generally give a heads up to the contact after I mail something. Sometimes I'm too busy.

We sent packages after Halloween that should be arriving any day now. Hope we get an email...

Cheers!
Patty

[SwatTeam]

Today I sent a box with some assorted home made tree ornaments to Baghdad. Also had 4 CDs of Christmas music and 3 DVDs.
Gunner Palace
O Brother Where Art Thou
Mr Deeds.
I will get a check in the mail to you tomorrow to help with postage or whatever you need it for. Will also get some cards out in the next couple of days. I also am expecting some more books.

[patriciaruth]

Could you detail the Christmas music CD's?

How many (approx) ornaments?

I've got a bunch of unbreakable tree ornaments and treetoppers (snowflake stars) here that I got at Walmart that are going out this week. I've just got to get some boxes of tinsel before mailing them.

MJY1288 got a 7 ft tree for the Engineers (prelit, mulitcolored lights) at Walmart yesterday and will mail soon.

Mike also is getting another 7 ft prelit multicolored lights tree with a donation from norton and sending it to Tal Afar as they had requested 2 trees for the many, many soldiers and airmen there to enjoy. Daybreakcoming sent a boatload of ornaments to Tal Afar with her tree, so I won't send them quite as many from my stash here.

Thank you for giving a less commercial look to their tree with your home made ornaments!

[SwatTeam]

One of the CDs was Manhiem Steamroller and the others were by various artists. One of them was old favorites and the other 2 were by symphonies I believe.
And the ornaments were about 2 dozen of the 2" diameter cross stitch hanging ones. And the following were made from beads and pipe stems.
20 candy canes
21 small snowflakes
4 larger snowflakes
7 little wreaths
21 icicles
3 angels
22 mice

[mathluv]

Walgreens has a coupon for solid air freshners this week.

If you send 'sausage' on your custom form, it might get pulled. Nothing is allowed with pork.

One thing I include frequently is Chapsticks. Does anyone know if this is really helpful?

[patriciaruth]

Oh, WoW!

I'm just boxing up the humdrum ornaments I'm sending plus hanger hooks and gold treetop star/snowflake and lazer cut gold tinsel.

Talk with you later!

Patty

[patriciaruth]

Email from TAL AFAR!

Patty,

I have recieved several boxes in the past few mail drops, three from you, two from [kattracks], today I recieved decorations from L plus the four foot tree [from Daybreakcoming].

*** (discussion of APO change deleted)

Please let everyone know that it is better to send individually wrapped food instead of family packs, it makes it easier for everyone to get something and also keeps the food clean for storage and delivery.

The air freshners were a blessing for the guys here, we were all so glad to get good smells from home.

The decorations look to be in good shape, I haven't dug to the bottom but I don't see or hear anything broken although it took almost 30 minutes for us to get the package open. L wrapped the decoations box so well that we were scratching our heads trying to get it opened without breaking something lol. The guys are looking forward to more packages from her, it's a redneck*'s version of a puzzle. :-)

The hot coco is begining to come in handy as we are getting down to 40F almost every night with a day time high of only 55F.

We were very surprised when I opened a package from [MJY1288] Apparently his grandsons went trick-or-treating and decided to send the troops a very large pile of candy when only keeping a little for themselves. That box is being passed out with one special requirement for every soldier that pulls something out, they are given the letter sent in the box and hear the story so they must write a letter to the kids thanking them for their generocity.

I always pass out the addresses on the boxes so th at people will write thanking ya'll for the prizes. I know personally of several soldiers that have sent ya'll letters and encourage everyone to do the same.

The library loves me do to the amount of new books that ya'll are sending so I usually get to drop off a couple of books each week.

I guess that is the latest news at the moment, I will keep you posted as often as possible.

Thanks,
***
Tall Afar, Iraq

Note: *our contact is from TX and proudly considers himself a Foxworthy redneck.

[Just mythoughts]

BUMP!!!!

[SwatTeam]

That is absolutely terrific! I can't wait to hear about MJY1288's grandsons getting letters from those guys.God bless those little boys and the people who raised them.

[MJY1288]

Thanks for the update, I'm so glad they got the candy this fast, less than 2 weeks

[Abigail Adams]

Mosul Christmas Update: kattracks has mailed the following on 11/15/05 to our Stryker Brigade in Mosul:

6 boxes Keebler fudge cookies (variety)
3 boxes candy canes
1 bag assorted chocolate Christmas candy
20 boxes Nestles Hot choc. mix (8 pkgs. per box)
2 small wooden signs (Merry Christmas, Season's greetings)
1 stuffed Santa doll
4 garlands 10' each (plastic bells and ornaments)
2 pine garlands 15' each
4 tinsel garlands 12' each (red, green, silver, gold)
4 Christmas stockings (gingerbread man, santa, reindeer, snowman)
3 sprigs, (holly, poinsettia)
1 jingle bell ornaments
2 small wreaths
3 Christmas candles (2 reg, 1 Santa)
5 CDs Christmas music
1 Santa hat
1 elf hat

Thanks kat!

[Ros42]

Sent to Camp Ramadi today:
1 box--postage--$41.20

1-6ft. Christmas Tree
1- Homemade tree skirt
1-box of 300 Multi Color Lights
1-Star Tree Topper
1 box of 150 ornament hooks
1 "We Support our Troops" fleece blanket :)

[shezza]

Y'all are so great!!! Thank you for all you're doing for our wonderful troops.

[patriciaruth]

Oooh! A Homemade tree skirt!

Sigh!

And that blanket! With it getting chilly in Iraq now, someone will enjoy that.

I've got to run off and play Scrabble with hubby to thank him for hauling the tree for MI at Kirkuk to the post office today.

But I'll be posting later what we sent out.

Thanks for this wonderful box with the tree and goodies for Camp Ramadi!!

[daybreakcoming]

Wow - way to go. That box of goodies will be fun just to open.

I sent Mosul 13 books today - paperback variety - spy/action/thrillers. But I sealed the box up before I listed the titles. Sorry.

[Ros42]

And that blanket! With it getting chilly in Iraq now, someone will enjoy that

Ya hear that Sarge?? :~}