Posted on 01/21/2006 3:06:06 PM PST by patriciaruth
Welcome to the 2006 thread of the Merry Band of Patriots!
Our grassroots, volunteer group of troop supporters has been sending care packages to servicemen and women in war zones since the summer of 2001 when we began by sending VHS movies and Snickers candy bars to the 101st Airborne and then later the 10th Mountain at Camp Bondsteel in Kosovo.
This last year we sent a couple hundred care packages to troops at Baghdad, Kirkuk, Mosul and Tal Afar in Iraq, at Bagram in Afghanistan, at Camp Bondsteel in Kosovo and to our wounded at Landstuhl Regional Hospital in Germany.
Our specialty in the past has been movies, books, snacks, holiday decorations and some appliances like DVD players and Playstations, and we have sent hundreds of movies to various bases.
This last year we had 6 main projects in addition to the usual care packages:
1. We sent over 80 state-of-the-art Petzl headlamps to our adopted company of Stryker Brigade Combat Team at Mosul and 35 to an MI unit at Kirkuk. This was probably the most appreciated item we've ever sent, thanks to a project that got off the ground due to the work of Spanaway Lori, HannaUSA , and Oatka and 3/4th of which was funded by my optometrist.
2. There was the Personal Care items "Emergency" Airlift to Bagram air base in June and July. (mathluv, nina0113, Coop, JustAmy, airborne, iceskater, Tunehead54, jtill participated.)
3. The 4th of July Party Decorations and Snacks blowout for all our adopted units. (pictures at posts 357, 358, 368 of our 2005 thread)
4. Operation Popcorn in August and September for the Engineers at Baghdad (iceskater, mathluv, SENClander, Coop, Abigail Adams, Ros42, Ican'tbelieve it, jtill and ebay's mshoponline sent over 600 bags of microwave popcorn, while omegatoo's were lost in the shuffle of her evacuating New Orleans prior to the Katrina flooding)
5. The End of Summer Luau for psyops at Baghdad in September and October (MJY1288 mailed off the party things we bought at eBay and Amazon with contributions from fanfan, kattracks, jtill, Just mythoughts, Ros42, Pig Rigger, MJY1288 and Kitty Mittens. Pictures at post 809 of the 2005 thread)
6. Halloween candy and movies for the Troops (kattracks, SENClander, Ican'tbelieveit, Abigail Adams mailed boxes in addition to the ones I sent with donations)
7. The Amazing Christmas and New Years Deluge, when it rained packages at all our adopted bases, especially at Tal Afar.
Special mentions go to Teams captains: mathluv (Engineers Baghdad), Ros42 (psyops Baghdad), CAluvdubya (Tal Afar), Abigail Adams (Stryker at Mosul), VeniVidiVici (MI at Kirkuk), nina0113 (Bagram, Afghanistan). Fairy Godmother Dept. (kattracks), Christmas Trees and Christmas Cards R Us (daybreakcoming), Shipping Dept (MJY1288), DVD Recording Dept (MJY1288), Webhosting and Photoshopping Dept (New Perspective), Daddy Warbucks Dept (my optometrist).
Among the many care packages sent by our troop supporters are these projects.
Boxes of school supplies for Iraqi children were sent by mathluv, Ican'tbelieveit, and my mother to Operation Crayon in Kirkuk.
Some members (CAluvdubya, angelsonmyside, 4integrity, ebay's susiemck) helped fill requests for Western Movies from an MI unit at Kirkuk (now home, movies still there) and Clint Eastwood and Adam Sandler movies from Fox Battery at Kirkuk (now home, movies still there).
bjcintennesse made many dozens of cooling neck scarves and sent them to pysops and Engineers at Baghdad.
DAVEY CROCKETT mailed boxesful of car magazines to a couple units.
A copy of the hardback book about the first year of the Revolutionary War (1776 by David McCullough) was sent to most of our units by DrDeb, iceskater, SwatTeam, and Just a Cowgirl.
Ros42 and mscht adopted a unit at Camp Ramadi for Christmas. (picture at 1195 of the 2005 thread).
CheneyChick and daybreakcoming saw to it that some care packages went to a remnant of our troops still in Kosovo.
Daybreakcoming's sister helped the staffers of the Louisiana legislature send about 8 boxes with around 32 bags of Christmas candy to Tal Afar.
Our many generous donors of checks, cash, money orders, Paypal, shopping cards, phone cards, etc are listed in the Accounting posts in our 2005 thread which can be linked from the post below.
We were surprised and emotional when we received back from our adopted units some of the items pictured below, and a big thank you to jkphoto for taking the pictures and webhosting them.
When I mentioned the gel packs to our contact in Ramadi he said they might be interested, (post # 987) so I sent him one flat rate box with 25 of them on July 10th.
Are those the lunch box size flexible gel packs?
I put your care package on the Masterlist. Let me know if you get any feedback about whether they like them.
I'm still twiddling my thumbs waiting to hear from Stryker near the Syrian border.
Really thought we'd have the new APO by now...
Yes, and I'll certainly let you know if I get any feedback on them.
OPERATION CRAYON
To those who want to send school supplies for Iraqi children again this year, I have secured finally the contact APO for Operation Crayon this year.
Walmart and Target have school supplies on sale now, and the school year begins in August in Iraq. So, those who want to participate will need to purchase items and mail them (in flat rate priority boxes) in the next two weeks.
FReepmail me for the APO if you want to help out this year.
The soldiers of the 101st Airborne will love taking these items to local schools in poor neighborhoods.
Items that are requested are writing paper (wide and regular ruled), construction paper, notebooks, pencils, rounded-end scissors, pencil sharpeners, pencil erasers, pens, markers, chalk, chalk board erasers, glue, metric rulers, soccer balls and jump ropes, band-aids, and of course crayons (preferably in 24 packs).
I've already got 48 boxes of 24 Crayola crayons for 20 cents each for my mother to send. As a former school teacher, mother loves this annual project, which is why I beat the bushes to find out who took over the project after the Beast Battery and Fox Battery left Kirkuk.
Also, I am awaiting an order to arrive and will be shipping another package to our Camp Ramadi guys immediately after.
bttt
Hi!
You bump all the time. THANKS!
Please tell us a little about yourself.
:-)
Ramadi
On the fourth day of operation-no-name in Al Anbar's deadly provincial capital, Ramadi, an Iraqi infantry squad moves into a dingy alley on the eastern edge of the Mu'saab district. It's quiet. As their combat boots pick a trail along the garbage-strewn street, the crunch of glass can be heard. The operation is subdued, nameless by design. After two years and dozens of urban battles in Iraq announced with catchy titles, reverberating tank engines, and even rock music, this late-June operation is a slow squeeze. And Iraqis are leading.
...
Their infantry skills aren't perfect. Iraqis carry their weapons every which way, and they enter buildings like horses out of the gate, often bumping into one another. American units drill urban movement to exhaustion; Iraqi squads may discuss it over sweet chai tea. Yet, when they search a building, they confidently rip detonation cords from under rugs and blasting caps from corners and belt-fed ammunition from hidden cupboards. Iraqis find in minutes all kinds of suspicious or incriminating items that even a polished American unit would have missed.
...
On the Ramadi battlefield, the American military is torn between using firepower to destroy enemy strong points and befriending the family asleep next door. The Iraqi army has problems, but the perception of cultural destroyer isn't one.
As one American Army officer stated, "If the Iraqis want to enter a mosque that they believe is harboring the enemy, they can just do it. A U.S. soldier would need the approval of a three-star general to do the same thing."
...
A sniper's bullet cracks. American troops working with the Iraqis begin shouting frantically. In the distance a Marine falls, mortally wounded. The announcement is an immediate emotional ratchet. The main threats in Ramadi are the sniper and the IED. Gone are the days when roving gangs of thugs had the assurance to ambush American patrols. Though demoralizing, the loss of soldiers to snipers or IEDs indicates a hit-and-run insurgency, rather than a city that will die fighting.
...
...the Iraqi army has steadily gained in proficiency to the point where their bond with American soldiers is undeniable. Says First Sergeant Victor Lopez of Alexandria, Virginia, who runs the MiTT supply for the 1st Brigade, "It's like sometimes you don't notice your kids are changing when you are around them all the time. You tend to focus on the things they aren't good at and when you get away from them . . . only then do you see how far they've come."
Excerpts from article about the operations in Ramadi posted above with link to entire article.
Mailed July 17, 2006, to Bagram air base, Afghanistan
1 box, insured 99.70 (value #107.70), postage $10.40
2 boxes 24 travel toothpaste ColgateTotal
2 boxed sets DVD TV series:
The Cisco Kid, 10 episodes (Duncan Renaldo, Leo Carrillo)
Baa Baa Black Sheep, volume 1, 12 episodes (Robert Conrad, John Larroquette)
2 DVD movies:
Tombstone (Kurt Russell, Val Kilmer)
Dodgeball (Vince Vaughn)
3 butterfly refrigerator magnets
7 tiny samples of oil, lotion, soap
3 Magazines:
Reader’s Digest July 06
Army: Band of Brothers in Ramadi
Women’s NRA issue on duck hunting
Mailed July 17, 2006, to Camp Ramadi
1 box, insured $152.85, postage $11.45
3 DVD boxed sets TV series:
Smallville, Season 3 (Tom Welling, Kristin Kreuk)
Smallville, Season 4 (Tom Welling, Kristin Kreuk)
Stargate SG-1, Season 3 (Richard Dean Anderson, Michael Shanks, Amanda Tapping)
2 DVD movies:
Superman, The Movie (Christopher Reeve, Margot Kidder, Gene Hackman)
Superman II (Christopher Reeve, Margot Kidder, Gene Hackman)
Box 12 indiv wrapped Chips Ahoy cookies
1 jar 18 oz Skippy roasted honey nut super chunk peanut butter
6 travel toothpaste, Colgate Total
6 Crest toothbrushes
4 pkgs 12 Eclipse sugarfree spearmint chicklets gum
1 magazine: Sports Illustrated Summer double issue with Golf on the cover
Mailed to SC, returned TV boxed set item not as advertised as given full refund via paypal.
postage $4.05, plus $.50 delivery confirmation
Thank you for your Every Ping, Dear Patty, for Keeping me Updated and Informed! And our Lord Bless you and All who are Ministering to our Beloved Troops!
Box #1
Box #2
Woo Hoo! Great way to get this project off the dime!
Love the goodies in your boxes!
Hey Patricia,
I have a question about care packages that you could possibly answer for me, or maybe point in the right direction.
Recently the soldier that my company "adopted" returned home and no longer needs our assistance. We'd like to "adopt" another soldier who may not be getting a lot of mail or packages, so that we can start sending him and his unit some Care!!
Who do I talk to about finding someone like that? Our last soldier fell in our lap as he is an attendee at one of my guys' church.
Much thanks if you can point me in the correct direction.
RS
You have more than one guy? Lucky you!
Series, there are a several places you can fish for soldiers to adopt.
1. the minister or pastor of local churches may know some, 2. the Marine/Army recruiters in your area may know some,
3. FReepers at the Canteen and on the Dose (linked on FR home page) may have friends/family in units that know of soldiers not getting mail,
4. kayak publishes the prayer list on the Dose, and you could contact some of those requesting prayers and ask if their family/friend knows a soldier who could use mail
5. or you can sent care package(s) to Bagram air base in Afghanistan (we have an APO) that will be taken out to the fire bases and include in the package(s) several self addressed envelops (not need stamp) with a sheet of paper in each and also put a note in the package asking for the name and APO of a soldier who would like care packages sent to him.
6. Operation First Response (Peggy Baker's group)
7. Soldiers Angels
I can get you linked to the organizations if you can't link up on your own.
Good luck!
ping.
If your son's unit needs anything, just ask for it here.
You may want to bookmark this thread in case you want to find us later.
Ramadi:
10 pkgs. Bumble Bee Tuna & crackers, 4 pkgs. Dole Fruit Cups - various (4 per), 2 plastic tubs candy - Fruit Slices, Spice Drops (1 lb. 14 oz. each), 2 boxes Little Debbie Honey Buns (4 per), 2 boxes LD Peanut Butter Wafers (12 per), 2 boxes LD Banana Twins (8 per), 2 tubs Ice Ade Drink Mix - Lemonade, Cherry (makes 6 qts, each).
Operation Crayon Box 1
9 notebooks, 1 pkg wide ruled filler paper (150 sheets).
Box 2
8 boxes crayons (64 count, but there are 4 boxes of 16 in each), 4 pkgs pencil top erasers (50 per).
Box 3
13 pkgs wide ruled filler paper (150 sheets per)
Box 4
10 jump ropes, 1 pkg filler paper.
I have another 4 boxes to go to Operation Crayon, which I'll mail and post tomorrow.
Box 1
14 boxes Jumbo crayons (12 per), 5 pkgs. pencil sharpeners (20 per), 10 children's scissors.
Box 2
20 boxes chalk (12 per), 10 boxes of pencils (20 per), 5 chalkboard erasers, 7 pkgs large erasers (3 per), 5 pkgs. blue pens (12 per).
Box 3
20 soft binders, 5 pkgs. washable markers (20 per), 5 boxes white glue (4 per), 4 pkgs. metric rulers (4 per).
Box 4
10 pads construction paper (40 sheets per), 5 pkgs pencils (10 per), 3 children's scissors, 3 chalkboard erasers.
Thanks so much, Kat, for all the great boxes for Operation Crayon. My two are still here because I've had flu and fever this week.
DAVEY CROCKETT mailed 2 boxes of car magazines, one to Bagram and one to Ramadi last week.
Hope to be back on my feet soon.
Cheers!
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