SOOO, are you some god who decides where the soldiers go when they died?

Question

This is a reply to the first person who anseared my question.

Answer 1

I am totally against the war in Iraq, but I have spent a lot of time over the last couple of years packaging up care packages for the holidays to send to them.

Don't worry too much about lunatics that make those kinds of remarks. We can all feel what we feel about the war itself, but the fact is that many of our soldiers are over there actually making life better for some of the Iraqis.

What I did was I scoured the paper for articles about local family members with loved ones overseas. At this time of year, there are a lot of personal interest stories, since many of these families will be spending their 3rd or more Christmas without their loved one. I'd then go to the phone book or 411 and get the phone number for the family. I'd introduce myself and tell them what I wanted to do. They would give me the name and address of their soldier and I'd send a care package.

You could also call a military base near you and ask if they have a "clearinghouse" for holiday cards. They may have something set up where you can take the card/package there and then they'll forward it.

I also asked around at my church. Many many people there either had family or knew people who had family overseas. They're a great wealth of knowledge.

In Tampa we have a group that does shoeboxes - people take a shoebox, fill it with everything from toothbrushes to Visine and take it to the Shoebox headquarters. Those shoeboxes are then sent over to the troops.

If you're interested, a great shoebox would have:

Diaper rash ointment
Visine
Hard candy
Crystal Light
Magazine(s)
Something from your hometown (a city guide brochure, postcard, whatever)
A picture of you and your family
Moisturizer
Gum
A restaurant gift certificate for when they come home
CDs
A handwritten message
Baby powder
Soap
Toothpaste
Toothbrush

Use your imagination! Imagine yourself stranded in an awful, hot, sandy place with nothing to do - what would you like to get?

Just remember, cookies will be shattered to pieces by the time they get there and chocolate will have melted. Try to keep any treats to hard candys, Twizzlers, gum and stuff like that.

Good for you. Regardless of your feelings about the war, many of the men and women over there are good, kind and decent human beings. It means the world to them to get something - even just a card - to let them know they're remembered.

It was really cool - I sent this HUGE care package to a young man who was a platoon leader - I wrote him a note saying that he was to "play Santa" with the box and hand the stuff out to his buddies. I had gotten his name from the paper, contacted his mom and gotten the address (I stood up at church one day and asked people to bring stuff for the box - and BOY DID THEY!!). Anyway, several months later, I got a phone call from a local reporter. This young man's mom had called him when I did the package and told the reporter about me.

It turns out that the young man was coming home, LOL, and the reporter wanted to arrange a meeting between us :) So, we met at my church and they did a little 60-second segment on the meeting. It was very cool :) It was nice to meet the young man and know that the stuff that was sent was needed and appreciated.

It does make a difference :)

Answer 2

you really need to learn some "Englaise".

And if you really think that those troops are out there protecting you, then i feel sorry for you.