Here are some new photos of troops handing out candy and other goodies to kids near Kabul, Afghanistan.
Once again, thank you for all you do. You and the Merry Band of Patriots ROCK.
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.
bttt
Oh, you heard from the new contact for the Stryker group? That's great!
Birds of a feather get redacted together. ;-)
LOL!! We bad! :~)
Crossthreading here.
Coop, thanks for taking our care package to the residence that houses the families of our wounded at Walter Reed.
I assume it is one of the Fisher (Fischer?) Houses chain across the country. Is that right?
No. It's called the Mologne House. But there are two Fischer Houses on the Walter Reed base, and there's another (the original, as I understand it) within the District of Columbia. The Walter Reed Red Cross supports all three, plus the Mologne House.
Here are some new photos of troops handing out candy and other goodies to kids near Kabul, Afghanistan.
Once again, thank you for all you do. You and the Merry Band of Patriots ROCK.
This is the best I can format the list ... Excel spreadsheet, tab-delimited, saved to text, copied and pasted, with < Pre > formatting. Are you taking notes? ;-)
Boxes (Destination/Locations) 1, 3, & 4 are off to Tal Afar, Mosul and Bagram respectively.
The #2 boxes (3 total) are set aside for a new APO for the border area? All is set up, I just need an APO. I thought the #2 batch was the best for the guys & gals in a tough location.
Let me know if there is a better way to format these titles to fit your Master List of Books.
All the boxes had an extra space where books wouldn't fit so we filled them with individually wrapped peppermints, butterscotch, Dum-Dums, Tootsie Pops, Etc.
180 books total - if you need weights and postage costs let me know. I'm just sending them uninsured, and checked as "abandoned" in case of non-delivery. Someone will get them! ;-)
TH54
Author Title Location # 1 -------------------------------------------------------- Bradbury, Ray A Medicine For Melancholy Case, John Genesis Code, The Chandler, Raymond Killer In The Rain Clavell, James Gai-Jin De Camp, L. Sprague The Best of L. Sprague De Camp Del Ray, Lester Gods & Golems Farmer, Phillip Jose Magic Labyrinth, The Follett, Ken The Key To Rebecca Francis, Dick For Kicks Francis, Dick Smokescreen Francis, Dick Whip Hand Griffin, WEB Close Combat Grisham, John Testament, The Kidder, Tracy Soul of a new machine, The King, Stephen Cujo King, Stephen Skeleton Crew King, Stephen Talisman, The Koontz, Dean Icebound Koontz, Dean One Door Away From Heaven Koontz, Dean Phantoms Koontz, Dean Servants Of Twilight, The LeGuin, Ursula Rocannon's World LeGuin, Ursula Tombs of Atuan, The Ludlum, Robert Bourne Supremacy, The Ludlum, Robert Chancellor Manuscript, The Ludlum, Robert Cry of The Halidon, The Ludlum, Robert Scorpio Illusion, The McCullough, Colleen Ladies Of Missalonghi Michener, James A. Carribbean Michener, James A. Drifters, The Niven, Larry Protector Paretsky, Sara Killing Orders Pournelle, Jerry Birth Of Fire Pournelle, Jerry Mercenary, The Saint, H. F. Memoirs Of An Invisible Man Sanders, Lawrence Seduction Of Peter S., The Sanders, Lawrence Sullivan's Sting Shem, Samuel M.D. House Of God, The Sjowall, Maj & Wahloo, Per Cop Killer Sjowall, Maj & Wahloo, Per Locked Room, The Smith, Martin Cruz Gorky Park Tey, Josephine Daughter of Time Van Lustbader, Eric Ninja, The Van Lustbader, Eric Zero Wilford John Noble We Reach The Moon Wolfe, Tom Right Stuff, The Location # 2 -------------------------------------------------------- Chandler, Raymond Playbook Crichton, Michael Disclosure DeMille, Nelson Charm School, The Follett, Ken Pillars Of The Earth Francis, Dick Forfeit Francis, Dick Rat Race French, Marilyn Women's Room, The Gibson, William Neuromancer Grafton. Sue "I" Is For Outlaw Grisham, John Partner, The Herbert, Frank Dune Messiah Herbert, Frank Jesus Incident, The Herbert, Frank Lazurus Effect, The Herbert, Frank Soul Catcher Hiaasen, Carl Basket Case Huston, James W. Fallout James, P.D. An Unsuitable Job For A Woman James, P.D. Black Tower, The Kennedy, Douglas Job, The King, Stephen Dark Half, The King, Stephen Green Mile, The King, Stephen Stand, The Koontz, Dean Face Of Fear, The Koontz, Dean Mask, The Koontz, Dean Night Chills Koontz, Dean TickTock Koontz, Dean Winter Moon Kootnz, Dean False Memory LeGuin, Ursula Orsinian Tales Ludlum, Robert Bourne Identity, The Ludlum, Robert Matlock Paper, The Ludlum, Robert Trevayne MacLean, Allister Santorini Michener, James A. Alaska Niven, Larry A Gift From Earth Paretsky, Sara Deadlock Pohl, Frederik Syzygy Rand, Ayn We The Living Sanders, Lawrence Fourth Dealy Sin, The Sanders, Lawrence McNalley's Dilemma Sanders, Lawrence McNally's Trial Sandford, John Silent Prey Shea, Robert Shike: Last Of The Zinja Shea, Robert Shike: Time Of The Dragons Sjowall, Maj & Wahloo, Per Laughing Policeman, The Smith, Martin Cruz Red Square Turow, Scott Presumed Innocent Van Lustbader, Eric Shan Waumbaugh, Joseph Finnegan's Week Location # 3 -------------------------------------------------------- Anthony, Piers Blue Adept Bond, Larry Cauldron Brown, Sandra Exclusive Chandler, Raymond Lady In The Lake, The Chandler, Raymond Little Sister, The Clarke, Arthur C. Rama II Editor Best of Poul Anderson, The Editor - IIA Science Fiction Hall Of Fame, The Follett, Ken Eye Of The Needle Francis, Dick Trial Run Francis, Dick Twice Shy Grafton. Sue "L" Is For Lawless Grisham, John Client Grisham, John Street Lawyer, The Hawken, Paul Magic Of Findhorn, The Hiaasen, Carl Skinny Dip Hillerman, Tony Finding Moon Huston, James W. Flash Point King, Stephen Dead Zone, The King, Stephen Misery Koontz, Dean Darkfall Koontz, Dean Door To December, The Koontz, Dean Hideaway Koontz, Dean Key To Midnight, The Koontz, Dean Phantoms Koontz, Dean Strangers Koontz, Dean Whispers Ludlum, Robert Cassandra Compact Ludlum, Robert Holcroft Covenant, The Ludlum, Robert Rhinemann Exchange, The Ludlum, Robert Road To Gandolfo McCullough, Colleen Thorn Birds, The Meyer, Nicholas Seven Percent Solution, The Michener, James A. Covenant, The Michener, James A. Space Robbins, Tom Another Roadside Attraction Sagan, Carl Contact Sanders, Lawrence McNalley's Caper Sanders, Lawrence McNalley's Puzzle Sandford, John Mind Prey Sjowall, Maj & Wahloo, Per Murder At The Savoy Stout, Rex Doorbell Rang, The Thurlo, Aimee & David Enemy Way Trevanian Shibumi Van Lustbader Miko, The Wolfe, Nero Death On Deadline Location # 4 -------------------------------------------------------- Anthony, Piers Juxtaposition Bond, Larry Red Phoenix Bugliois, Vincent Helter Skelter Grafton. Sue "J" Is For Judgment Grisham, John Pelican Brief, The Hiaasen, Carl Strip Tease Hillerman, Tony Skinwalkers Koontz, Dean Funhouse, The Koontz, Dean Strange Highways Ludlum, Robert Parsifal Mosaic, The Sanford, John Night Prey Sanford, John Winter Prey Sayers, Dorothy Strong Poison Anthony, Piers Split Infinity Francis, Dick Nerve Grafton. Sue "K" Is For Killer Herbert, Frank Book Of Frank Herbert, The Hillerman, Tony Dance Hall Of the Dead Keyes, Daniel Flowers For Algernon (Charly) Koontz, Dean Shadow Fires Koontz, Dean Twilight Eyes Ludlum, Robert Matarese Circle, The Ludlum, Robert Scarlatti Inheritance, The Robbins, Tom Even Cowgirls Get The Blues Sanford, John Sudden Prey Steinbeck, John Grapes Of Wrath, The Anderson, Poul Gods Laughed, The Baldacci, David Absolute Power Crichton, Michael Five Patients Frey, Stephen Legacy, The Hiaasen, Carl Stormy Weather James, P.D. Shroud For A Nightengale King, Stephen Bag Of Bones LeGuin, Ursula Lathe Of Heaven, The Ludlum, Robert Aquitane Progression, The Maugham, Somerset W. Narrow Corner, The Paretsky, Sara Tunnel Vision Wambaugh, Joseph Floaters Wambaugh, Joseph Fugitive Nights
The Girl Scouts in my neighborhood are collecting donation orders of cookies to send to the troops. I thought this was a great idea but not all the GS organizations are doing this.
Your boxes sound like a real treat.
Great work!
What a teriffic idea. I'm sure the troops are going to really enjoy them.
Everyone loves Girl Scout cookies!
It was a little bit of a chore but not an entirely selfless one.
We needed to move a bookcase to put in a desk for our son and even though we'd given away a lot of books these were for the most part just collecting dust.
We got to move the bookcase leaving room for more books, create a study area, pass along a lot of good books and get a nice warm feeling in our hearts - not bad for a couple day's work.
I hope some troops will get a chance to read some stuff they might not normally run across. Dick Francis, Ursula Le Guin, Ayn Rand, etc.
This is really just an extended BUMP! and a hint that maybe others might want to clear off a bookshelf or two.
$8.00 a box of about 15 books each - easy way to truly say
"We're with you". I'll miss some books but like I told my daughter - we can just go to the library or Target if we want something to read - they can't.
PS: I know you're one of those Angels on Earth like Patty but don't worry - I won't tell a soul. TH54 ;-)
Here's the box of Valentine goodies that went to Tal Afar today:
Magazines: Motor Trend, ACC Basketball Handbook 2006, Sporting News Fantasy Baseball, Sporting News Fantasy Football, Race for the Cup, Dell Crossword Special
Valentine Candy: 2 boxes LifeSavers Pops 'n Cards (22 each), 10 pkgs (6 boxes each) Necco Sweethearts, 1 bag Reese's Peanut Butter Cups, 1 bag Hershey's Miniatures, 1 bag M&M's in individual packs, 1 bag Nestles Assortment (Butterfinger, Crunch, Baby Ruth),1 bag Snickers fun size, 1 bag Hershey's Kisses, 2 bags Dove dark chocolate
And, a Valentine card to all.
Great box! Wish I could find a place in town that sells such great magazines.
The candy sounds just like what the soldiers and Marines wanted.
You're a peach!
Do you have a contact at Kabul that would be willing to pass out some sweaters, socks, to needy teenagers?
Absolutely incredible!
What a lot of work! Thank you so much. These books will be very welcome.
I'll get the new APO to you as soon as I hear.
I noticed the Herbert, Piers Anthony, LeGuin, Larry Nevin among others. There's definitely some sci-fi fandom there.
I'll add these to our masterlists, and that will help me send them other titles and other genres in future care packages.
Bless your heart for all this effort!
This is the fun part I just noticed.
For the future, I'll get you redirect addresses, so that instead of abandoning the boxes of books they can be redirected to another base or another soldier on the bases.
If any haven't gone out yet, I'll give you redirect addresses now.
Probably not important as the Army will make sure these books get to the bases.
So very many people send candy and toys for the soldiers to pass out to needy children, which is wonderful, but the greater need right now (single-digit temperatures, and did you notice above the "housing" situation???) is warmth: sweaters, gloves, hats, shoes. I'll post some shoe pictures from dh.
Makes you glad for your nice warm bed, eh what?
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