About two years ago while sitting at dinner with my then 7 and 8 year old kids, my son asked about the war in Iraq and said he "Supported the Troops". It seem his teacher had a son who was in Iraq and they were talking about this in school. I asked him what it meant to "support the troops" and he said it meant that we would think of them and remember that they were fighting for us here at home. I asked if either of them had thought of writing a letter to a soldier thanking him or her for the service that they provided and they thought that that would be a great idea.
I spent the next several nights trying to find a way to get a letter to a soldier in harms way. It seems, due to all the Anthrax and other scares, you can't just send a letter to "Any soldier in Harms Way" like you could in the past. But I did come across a website,
www.anysoldier.com, that allows soldiers to sign up to receive care packages from others. They post their address and what they and the men and women of their unit would like. Then they sit and hope someone sends them a little taste of home. Once they receive the packages they distribute them to the folks in their units and usually (time permitting) post a thank you on the website and even send a personal thank you back via US Mail.
Well we sent the letters and two packages, then the next day we decided to send another, and another and then I started collecting from people at work. Then i got a local business involved to pass out flyers, the we send more. All told I think we sent over 750 pounds of cookies, magazines, razors, coffee, popcon and the like. I got a dentist to donate 500 toothbrushes and 250 tubes of toothpaste.
Then the letter came rolling in. I have a binder full of letters and photos of the troops from Iraq and Afghanistan. And one day, a package arrived at my office from Afghanistan. Inside was a letter from a US Army Captian thanking me for all of the packages that were sent. Inside, I found a US Flag with another letter stating that it was flown in my honor over their base in Kandahar Afghanistan on the Day of the first National Elections. I was truly humbled to think that someone appreciated what we had done so much to take the time to do that. I hold that flag as one of my most honored treasures.
Why do i tell you this? Well, as I watch the middle east events unfold, I realize again that there are people that are fighting in Iraq and elsewhere that are no different than you and I. I have not sent a package in 12 months and I also realize that I have many blessings and take for granted like the money that I spend on this hobby. So instead of purchasing that cool new
skimmer or that great coral I saw last week, I think I will take that money and fill a few boxes and make someones day.
I don't care if you are for the war, or against the war, that doesn't matter. I just wanted to share the site and my story with you so that if you wanted too, you could put a smile on someones face, a half a world away. The site is totally legit, and you send the stuff direct to the unit, no middle man. You also only pay shipping from here to NY, then it is free from there to the destination. Thanks for letting me share this with all of you!
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