Posted on 08/25/2003 10:00:16 AM PDT by Temple Owl
Air conditioner airlift delayed
By SEAN O'SULLIVAN and ROBIN BROWN
Staff reporters
08/22/2003
The cool breeze provided to U.S. troops in Iraq through the Delaware-based Operation Air Conditioner has been switched off.
Late last week, the U.S. Postal Service told Frankie Mayo of Bear - who has been sending soldiers air conditioners - that she no longer can ship them through the mail because the chemical coolant in the units is considered a hazardous substance. Tad Kelley, a spokesman for the U.S. Postal Service, said international law prohibits hazardous substances from being sent through the mail by any nation or postal service.
This has left Mayo, 41, with no way to ship her stockpile of air conditioners to the troops. On Thursday, she had 129 in her garage, 40 in her driveway and about 350 in a Middletown storage unit. Mayo, whose son is serving in Iraq, said she is particularly distressed the post office problem arose within days of reports that a soldier there died of heatstroke.
However, there may be another way of getting the units to the troops.
The office of Sen. Joe Biden, D-Del., said Thursday that Pentagon officials have agreed to accept the units directly and will take over shipping duties, probably through Dover Air Force Base.
"They assured us there are no problems," said Margaret Aitken, spokeswoman for Biden.
"They are just working out the logistics internally."
She said details on the first shipment should be worked out within a few weeks. "Right now their top priorities are medical supplies, food, water, ammunition and replacement parts, but they have assured us and they are actively working with us ... on how to do it most expeditiously."
Mayo said she won't be happy until she knows the units are on their way.
Mayo began sending units early this summer after her 21-year-old son, Army Cpl. Christopher Tomlinson, said he was fine except for the 145-degree heat in his tent. He joked that it would be nice if he had an air conditioner.
After checking with his commander, Mayo mailed her son an air conditioner and started collecting donations to send more to others in his company.
Her efforts received national attention, and donations of air conditioners and money began pouring in through www.operationac.com, a Web site Mayo set up. She said she gets about 25 donations a day.
To date, Mayo said, she has collected more than $70,000 and received more than 1,000 air conditioners.
She had mailed 502 before the postal service brought the practice to a halt.
Soldiers have contacted Mayo through the Internet, and in response to their requests she recently began shipping medical supplies such as sheets, hospital scrubs and needles. Those shipments will continue through the post office, she said.
Postal officials said Operation Air Conditioner was, in part, a victim of its own success.
At first, Mayo was mailing a small number of units, six or eight at a time, through the Bear post office without incident. But as donations grew, so did her shipments. Recently, shipments included hundreds of units, and required more assistance, involving the distribution center at Hares Corner and prompting someone to check the regulations, Kelley said.
He said it was a mistake for local postal officials to have mailed air conditioners to Iraq.
"I just want to make it very clear we are behind Ms. Mayo and we are supportive of her efforts," he said.
Mayo said she is worried about how long it is taking the Department of Defense to work out details. Biden's office has been working for nearly a month with the office of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, his staff said.
Mayo said she won't give up and will find a way to get the units to the troops.
"Failure is not an option," she said. "I just want to get them over there. I consider myself a soldier advocate."
I did a search on this BTW and nothing came up.
Stay Safe Owl !
But, I think that reposting it is a good idea. I'll repeat the URLs that I posted then:
Purchase and Donate A/C directly from Home Depot
There are two models in the last link: one for $130 and another for $150.
It would be great if we could get Frankie to run against Biden. Right now, I think she'd have a chance to win.
Morons in action. The EPA declares HCFC refrigerants hazardous on the flimsiest evidence thus giving the Postal Service another excuse to pass the buck. Leave it to American ingenuity exercised by average citizens like Ms. Mayo to get the job done. Screw Uncle Sam.
How do you know she's not? ;-)
I've got absolutely ZERO tolerance for this kind of BS. Talk is cheap. If he is as supportive as he would like for us to believe, then he would get off his a$$ and find a way to work around this rule. If this guy reported to me, he would be gone before lunchtime.
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