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.
Hooray!
Welcome back Patty!
(((Patty)))
Terrific! I hope you never have to go through that again. In fact, I hope none of us do.
Amazon notified me that they were mailing the DVD I ordered for Ramadi today. I thought it wouldn't be available until the 12 of Sept, but evidently not. So maybe he will get it before he goes home for leave.
FreeRepublic's finest supporting America's finest BUMP!
Mailed September 5, 2006, to Bagram air base, Afghanistan, 2 boxes
Box 1, value $56.47, postage $8.60 with delivery confirmation
23 individual packages of Wet Ones citrus (donated by my optometrist)
9 boxes of Vitamin World’s brand of ‘airborne’ (10 tablets each)
1 pair Banana Republic boxer shorts, grey cotton blend, Large
Box 2, value $54.09, postage $8.60 with delivery confirmation
23 individual packages of Wet Ones citrus (donated by my optometrist)
6 boxes of generic “airborne” (10 tablets each)
2 pair Banana Republic boxer shorts, grey cotton blend, L and XL
LOL!
Special request?
What state do you live in and have you already bought the microwave?
No, I happened to be in Banana Republic while we were at the discount retailers outlet shopping mall getting my 2 for 1 glucosamine chondroitin and the "airborne" cold remedy requested by Bagam. My hubby was buying himself a T-shirt to mow the lawn in. I remembered they needed underwear for the wounded sometimes and the larger sizes were the most needed.
Of course they can use them for the soldiers if they want something to sleep in. They felt very soft and thick and comfortable and winter will be coming. It was an impulse buy.
That was very sweet of you Patty.
:-)
Try buying it online and have the company ship it for you.
I didn't think they would ship to an APO
Here's another, cheaper (as far as shipping) option, if the unit has access to an Army/Air Force exchange.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/6435603/
Friends and family of military overseas also can send a gift certificate from the Army and Air Force Exchange Service (AAFES), one-shop shops for military personnel worldwide that stock all sort of goods, from licorice sticks to digital cameras to “bug-out” bags. A “bug out” bag is a backpack that service members pack in anticipation of having to change locations at a moment’s notice, explains Judd Anstey, an AAFES public affairs specialist. Soldiers can buy anything they want with the gift certificate but CDs and DVDs have been the most popular, she says.
Sold in denominations of $10 and $20, gift certificates can be redeemed at any AAFES PX (Postage Exchange) or BX (Base Exchange) throughout the world. The AAFES currently operates 51 stores in the “SW Asian theater” or the countries involved in Operations Iraqi and Enduring Freedom (OEF/OIF), including 29 in Iraq, 10 in Kuwait, five in Afghanistan, four in Qatar/UAE/Djibouti, one in Pakistan, one in Kyrgyzstan and one in Uzbekistan.
Whatever you decide, thanks for caring! :-)
"with delivery confirmation"
I didn't think delivery confirmation services were available to either Iraq or Afghanistan. Have you been successful or is this a ploy to keep potential thieves away from the boxes?
It's a new service the post office is offering. They will track the package now until it reaches the Army Post Office destination in the U.S. (cost 50 cents)
From then on the mail is in the hands of the APO carrier.
Yes, some companies will ship to APO, but because you live in Tennessee, the shipping charges won't be too awfully bad for you to do it yourself as the APO (Army Post Office) isn't really far from you.
Just send it in the box it comes in. Get insurance and delivery confirmation at the post office, so it will be tracked and not stolen. It has to go USPS only, priority mail. Whose the lucky soldier?
Be sure not to purchase one that isn't already packed in a box. The dimensions will fit the post office rules on maximum size, so don't worry about that.
If you don't know how to fill out a customs forms, check posts 31 and 32 on this thread. Some more information is at post 49.
Too cool!
Cheers!
Patty
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