Hate the War, Love the Warrior

Summary paragraph: In which Menin shares a lesson he's learned about paying it forward.

Of late, one of my favorite political blogs, The Daily Kos, has been taking a lot of heat.

It leans left, admittedly, but it's a pretty good way to put a little fair and balanced in the whole news cycle, if that be your desire. Sometimes the bloggers go way overboard, but on the whole, postings are pretty thoughtful.

Especially this one, by a Kossack named Kath25.

It is relatively bad form to cut and paste large segments of a posting, so I ask Kath25 in advance to forgive me. Somehow, I don't think she'll mind it.

"It has been several months since we last organized a DailyKos box drive. CPT Matt Larson is a friend of DailyKos over in Iraq, and he will distribute these care packages to other soldiers who are not receiving mail, or anyone who needs some cheering up. Plus, there are hundreds of other soldiers who could use a surprise from those of us who are stateside.

When you’ve been deployed away from your family and friends for months, even a year, any little bright spot can make a difference. Let’s show our troops how much we still support them by sending over care packages to help them get through these next few weeks and months. It’s easy!

Send Packages To:

CPT Matt Larson
ATTN: Anysoldier
C CO 15BSB
2BCT 1CD
FOB Prosperity
APO AE 09348

I have permission from Matt to post this address, to expedite the process. If you’d like to send additional boxes to other troops, please do so. You can request soldiers’ addresses at AnySolder.com, and even look for specific branches of the military, home base locations, female soldiers, whomever you most want to help out with a care package. Many of the soldiers will have a specific wish-list that you can fill.

Shipping isn’t that expensive. The U.S. Postal Office offers a "flat rate priority envelope" that goes for $4.60 postage. There are TWO "flat rate priority boxes" that need $8.95. Weight and distance don’t matter with these packages – just fill it up as much as you can. Heavy magazines or books? PowerBars? Gatorade Mix? The flat-rate box cares not what it carries to our troops overseas, you just pay the flat rate. You can get a surprising amount of stuff in, even in the flat rate envelope. N.B.: Make sure to get the boxes with the red stamped "FLAT RATE" on them. You will have to fill out a customs form, but these are available at the PO and only require minimal information. Because the boxes are sent to an APO or FPO, the "flat rate postage" applies, and the boxes get there relatively fast – ten days to two weeks. Not sure what to send?

Here’s a list of commonly-requested items from soldiers currently registered on AnySoldier.com.

Commonly Requested Items:

Cotton Socks, Magazines, Women’s Cotton Underwear, CD’s, Men’s Cotton Underwear, DVD’s, Tampons, Crossword/Puzzle/ Sudoku Books, Sanitary Napkins, Paperback Books, Shampoo, Sketchbooks and Pencils, Conditioner, Paper and Envelopes, Tissues, Individually-Packaged Sports Drink Mixes (Gatorade, Propel) Body Wash, Microwave Popcorn, Lotion, Licorice, Lip Balm/Chapstick, Gum and Mints, Disposable Razors, Gummy Candies, Foot Powder, Packaged Cookies, Q-Tips, Meat Jerky.

If you don’t want to put together a box of your own but still want to make a contribution, head on over to Treat Any Soldier, which has pre-fab boxes all set to go. Just donate the cost, and the box is on its way. Treat Any Soldier was started by an Army Mom, based on what her son and his fellow soldiers most wanted to receive.

If you don’t want to spend much money on the contents of your box, here’s a few more ideas:

Empty out your collection of hotel soaps and shampoos and send ‘em off.
Burn a few mix CD’s from your fantastic music collection.
Involved with a group? Ask everyone to write a short letter and drop them in the box.
Teach a class? Ask your students to contribute a short note or drawing. Heck, that could even be worth extra credit.
Still reading those old magazines? Send them over. Even an old magazine is better than no magazine.

Don’t forget to add "DK" to the corner so Matt knows where the box came from. Include a note of thanks to the soldier who will receive your box. You may even get a thank you note. I sent a box back at Christmas, and received a nice note from CPT Larson and the person who received the box. Not sure what to say? Thank the troops for their service, tell them you support them and that you’re thinking about them. Heck, throw in a picture of your cat. I know how you people are about your pictures of your cats!

A Few More Do’s and Don’ts:

Don’t send pork products, pornography, or alcohol.
Don’t send homemade food, as the soldiers are required to throw it away.
Avoid anything that will melt, particularly in terms of food products.
It is hot in Iraq. T-Shirts must be Brown for Army (Tan for the new digital uniform, the 'ACU') and Navy, Green for Marines, Black or Brown for Air Force.
Marine boot socks are black. White athletic socks are for PT and sometimes under the boot socks.
If sending a liquid, put it in a zip-lock bag, then double-bag it upside-down from the first one. If an item can leak, it will.

Here's that address, one more time, send packages to:

CPT Matt Larson
ATTN: Anysoldier
C CO 15BSB
2BCT 1CD
FOB Prosperity
APO AE 09348

Thanks so much in advance for all of your participation on this! CPT Larson is looking forward to receiving all of these packages to give to his fellow soldiers, and I’m sure they’ll all be really happy to see so much support coming from those of us stateside."

Thanks to Kath 25, and thanks to the readers of Daily Kos, who do this several times a year. This a great family activity, also terrific for classrooms.

Pay it forward, folks. These are our brothers and sisters, sons and daughters. This is not about politics, it's about community.

Back to education next post.