<p>Snowball, </p>
<p>From my own experiences, here are the things the folks “in theater” appreciate the most:</p>
<ul>
<li>Baby wipes. Yep, baby wipes. Comes in VERY handy when you’re on patrol or unable to shower for a few days. The Whole dang part of that world seems so DIRTY and dusty–Baby wipes are a must!</li>
<li>Powder drink mix, single serving (if you can find it), preferably GatorAid or some other sports drink. You live your life carrying bottles of water over there, flavoring them is a real boost to morale.</li>
<li>Hard candy. Doesn’t get crushed in the mail delivery, won’t melt into the rest of the goodies in the package. Pima sent me a box of Blow-Pops when I was there. Brought back some great memories of my favorite candy from my youth, plenty in the box to make all the troops I commanded love seeing me because I gave the majority of them out to them.<br></li>
<li>Beef jerky. Troops can’t enough of it. And it will survive the shipping.</li>
<li>Sunscreen. Almost as important as the baby wipes. Plain, ordinary sun-screen, not the foo-fooey suntan lotion that will make them smell like a coconut for blocks around and get curious looks from the natives.</li>
<li>Pre-paid Phone cards. THE MOST IMPORTANT THING YOU COULD SEND! I can’t tell you all enough about this, if any of you are ever interested in sending something to the troops, it ain’t the size of the package thats important, as long as there is a phone card in it. Find out what kind of access they have to phone lines, and start sending 'em. And then send some more. NOTHING (and I mean NOTHING) lifts the spirits up while deployed like hearing the voices of your loved ones. The only thing that kept me sane while I was there.</li>
<li>Something that will remind them of home. A photo of your daughter for her friend, hanging out at the places they used to hang out at. A ticket stub from a concert they both wanted to go to. Anything that reminds them that someone here misses them while they are there.</li>
<li>Something to look forward to when they get back. An itinerary of a road trip they plan to take when he returns. McDonalds gift certificates (with a promise for a trip to Mickey-Ds the day after he returns), tickets to the ball game. ANYTHING, as long as it gives him something to look forward to that his life will return to normal when he returns.</li>
<li>Something to kill the time. A deck of playing cards (no pictures of naked ladies allowed on them!); a good book, a DVD (someone there ALWAYS has a portable DVD player he can borrow if he doesn’t have one. Better yet, if he doesn’t have that or a laptop that plays DVDs, get a bunch of you to chip in and get him a portable player.), a frisbee, or a hacky-sack, or a football. Something he can do with his buds to pass the time. (Story time. While I was in Baghdad, in one of the packages Pima sent was a toy Superball (the kind that bounces really high). She thought it was a great gag gift. To me, it became my security blanket and way to relieve stress. Tough day, long night, there I would be, sitting in one of Saddam’s former palaces in an office with 25 foot ceilings, marble and gold trim covering every wall and floor, bathroom with gold plated fixtures,the works. Well, I would be sitting there, or pacing while on the radio or phone, throwing that Dang Ball across the room, off of three walls, and catch it when it got back. My own private game of “catch”, and something that became something of a joke as this Dang Ball would sometimes come flying out of my office and the down the hall, down the marble steps and bounce off of everything and everybody! Showed the troops the old man was sometimes a “bit-off”, but always human. Showed me how again how the little pleasures in life or reminders of childhood and home were there to help me keep my sanity.)</li>
<li>I’ll say it again, something that reminds him that someone home is thinking of him.</li>
</ul>
<p>Things to avoid:
- Alcohol, or anything with alcohol (like brandy filled chocolates). Big No-No over there, directly against General Order #1 (No alcohol allowed).
- Pornography. Not that I think your daughter would send him anything like that, but she has to remember to the folks over there living in that country, mags like Maxim, FHM, and the Swimsuit Edition of Sports Illustrated is considered porn. Another bad No-No.
-Anything that would get crushed, or melt, or damaged during shipping. Love your cookies, Mom. But they don’t just taste the same when all I have is one big pile of crumbs (true story, repeated a million times by almost everyone over there). And the Hershey bar you sent? Let’s just say the rest of the stuff in the box arrived a little “messy”. Smelled great, but a little “messy”.
- News about something that isn’t really that important to them over there, but is more frustrating that they can’t be with you to help you handle it. Nothing worse than constant reminders that they aren’t there to help out when life’s minor emergencies happen (and they ALWAYS do). Washing machine on the fritz? What can he do about it over there except be miserable thinking no one back home can handle it, and he is remiss in his duty to his family because of his duty to his country. There’s a phone book, find the repair man on your own and stop adding to HIS worries. (Thank you Pima for always doing this. I can’t tell you the number of troops I’ve had to counsel, listen to, hug, and just be there for as they needed someone to vent to because they thought their home life was being detroyed in their absence. Thank goodness for that Dang Ball!)</p>
<p>Just remember, he’ll be there for a year (I’m guessing). It may be getting DAAANNNNG HOT real soon over there, so something for that (like the sunscreen and baby wipes) is appropriate now. But Winter? It gets DAAANNNG COLD! Nothing better than hot cocoa mix and a good sweatshirt or “blankey from home”. </p>
<p>Shipping usually takes a week or two to get to him, depending on just how “forward” his location is from the main hubs of Bahgram and Kandahar. Plan you holiday treats early enough so they arrive there on time. Nothing stinks more than getting Halloween stuff in mid-December, and your Xmas gifts on President’s Day. </p>
<p>PM me (or better yet Pima (goes by BulletandPima), who lived through this for 20+ years, about 5+ total of me gone if you add all the deployment time together) if you want more ideas.</p>
<p>Bottom Line: send ANYTHING, and OFTEN. This is the perfect example of “it’s the thought that counts”. Nothing can kill a person’s morale over there more than a bunch of days in a row of “Mail call! Nothing for you.” Let them know they are missed, and loved.</p>