Welcome aboard, Mike!

I too, have a special spot in my heart for vets.  Perhaps this comes in part from what happened with Viet Nam vets.  Anyway, wish I could walk with you, but please know I'll be with you in spirit.  We appreciate your joining us.

Take care.

Debbie

Welcome Sharon,

Just jump in with both feet and hope you can swim!  Read some of the posts on "Where to Send" tab above, and pick one to start.  You will be amazed at how rewarding it will be.  We're here to help you if you need it.  Good luck and thanks for your support!

Debbie

Welcome to the new kids on the block!    Mike, I too have a soft spot for veterans; I'm grateful to all of you for your service.  I'm from NYC and used to work on Wall Street; I'll never forget the big ticker tape parade our Vietnam Vets finally got - better late than never, I guess.   I'm one of those people who tears up at patriotic parades and stuff; I'm doing so just remembering!

 I stopped at Walmart on my way home from school tonight - I needed "just" a package of wasabi peas, as I'm making up a package for a unit from Hawaii, where I lived for five years.   They're running a hospital (or what passes for one) and requested pencils and candy for the local kids.   As they put it, "That puts a big smile on their faces and that in turn puts a smile on ours."  Well of course I couldn't let our troops go without something for them, so I decided to make up a "tropical treats" package and those peas are very popular in Hawaii.   Well, you all know how it goes - of course I couldn't pass up the coconut candy, then I saw some hamburger & cheese Pringles for the next box......   I also ended up getting a dozen boxes of crayons to send to them in my next box for the kids, as they were only 17 cents a box.   It was almost 11 p.m. and there was a guy on line in front of me.  He said, "Planning on doing some coloring tonight?"   When I told him what the things were for he grinned broadly and told me he was a chaplain with the National Guard!   I thanked him, he thanked me, and I feel really good tonight!  

 Way to go Tennessee Yankee!! I just get a warm, fuzzy feeling reading your post. Keep up the good work.                              K in Nebraska

I work at Penney's PT, and tonight a nurse came in.   I asked her where she got her scrub top, and explained that I'd like to get some affordable ones to send to a critical care nurse in Iraq.   Well, guess what???   She got really excited, and is going to send a bunch that she bought and never wore or only wore a few times, because she put on weight!!!! 

Hi, my name is Carol but known to my family as "Support Granny or Supply Sgt".  I have marked my 3rd year as a supporter this last July.  I am 68 years young and have been married for 50 years.  My husband and I live in the San Gabriel Mountains of Southern California, in the small village of Wrightwood.  We sit right on top of the San Andres Fault.  It is worth the risk....it is so beautiful here and it reminds us of the way neighborhoods of the 50's used to be.

IF YOU ARE LUCKY ENOUGH TO LIVE IN THE MOUNTAINS.......YOU ARE LUCKY ENOUGH!

My husband lately has urged more shipping and less shopping.  Writers block seems to be my problem at the moment.

I hate to send out a box without a letter.

Hello Caro(Support Granny)

Welcome and it is great to see someone from my home state of Southern California~We are so happy to have you join us and help support these great Troops abroad~ I am Candygirl and I live in St. Louis originally from Orange County, California~We are always happy to see more and more of you join in~ look forward to getting to know you and thanks again for helping us in any soldier~Take care and God Bless~

Candy 

Hey, Support Granny - If you are suffering from writer's block, just copy a photo of you and your family (extended or otherwise) and tell your contacts about them.  Maybe tell some of the funny little stories families share.  Personally, I take lots of digital photos of whatever activity we are currently doing and copy some into each letter.  My contacts love the photos and hearing about the day to day stuff.  What we might consider boring, they consider a taste of home.

 I have been swamped with church and family activities for the past few weeks (daughter's wedding, directing a play at church, etc.....) and it has taken me all afternoon just to catch up on reading this one thread!  It's so exciting to see all the new supporters logging on to join the forum.  Hurray!  Welcome to all of you.

 Welcome to the forum Sharon and Carmela. So glad that more people are willing to support America's heroes. Some are surprised that people do care! Most of these troops are barely out of high school and need to know that we are behind them. Thank You.   Diane

 Just wanted to drop by and say hello to everyone~~I hope everyone is doing great wherever you are~Working on cards for card swap and I know their is 1 spot left if anyone is interested in helping in card swap # 4~It is a lot of fun and we know all the soldiers and troops love to receive mail and cards~Take care everyone and have a great day and weekend~~Hoping to go boating at the lake this weekend~

God Bless, Candygirl

Greetings everyone from Central Florida! I use the name Bobbie because it's what my family calls me. A local newspaper referenced this site and that's how I found it. When I first came in to find out more, I was a bit confused at some of the links. I'm sure I'll get used to it after a while. Let's see...well, first off my husband served as a Marine in Viet Nam. His Father was in the Army during WWII. His Brother was in the Navy. Three of his brother's sons are in the Navy. My Mothers' brother is a POW (not likely still living) who served in the Air Force during WWII. My Grandfather on my Dad's side (now deceased) was in the Army and also served in WWII. My X-Father-in-Law (now deceased) was in the Army's 82nd Airborne and served in WWII.and I have other relatives (Navy, Army, Air Force and Marines) as well as friends now serving or whom had served. Out of high school I almost (but doesn't count) joined the Army (but didn't). However, my best friend did join the Army and served as a Medical Specialist during the first tour "war" in Kawait back in the early 1990s. Her husband now serves with the Army in Afganistan. My daughter will be enlisting with the Marines in the very near future!!

When Saddam first invaded Kawait in the early 1990's I wanted to show support for the USA and began to organize a rally. I was successful in getting others to support the effort. There was a radio station, banner company, print shop, flag company, newspaper writer, high school football stadium, bumper sticker/printer, police officers for crowd control ready to unite to show the troops we supported them! The only issue standing in our way was that the high school required insurance... (the cost for the evening's event was somewhere in the $1,200.00 range). I went to the VFW to ask for help but they couldn't because of their own budget concerns. Unfortunately I wasn't in the position to pay that cost by myself. Independently though each was able to do what they could on their own. My point in bringing this up now is that I still feel that in some way my enthusiasm helped to get them involved. It wasn't just a local rally, it became bigger and better. I know that the cost to them each far exceeded what I, alone, could not do myself.

Having said that, now here online I can see the offering of support for our troops. I am excited at the opportunity to offer my assistance in whatever way I can!  Always, Bobbie   

Welcome aboard Bobbie! Glad to have another Floridian involved! You are going to love this site. The folks here have this support thing down to a science, ask questions-there is someone (or many) who can give answers, advice and anything else you need!  You will get the hang of it all in no time!

Heidi   ~from North Florida

 Welcome aboard Bobbi~Glad to have you join this great forum~I know the troops will love having another person to bring a smile with a letter or card etc~Once you are in you will be a junkie like the rest of us in supporting all our troops~

Candygirl 

I'm Ashlee, out of Springfield, Missouri. Really all I do is write soldiers. I currently have 6 soldiers I write (though a while back I had 25!) and they are all awesome folks.

 Ashlee, never say you "just" write letters---lots of our heroes love to "just" get letters, they mean so very very much to them!

I'm off to write to a few of my guys right now. :)