blix....as we have the same contact  so this won't suprise you but I also received a flag today!!.I just logged on to post about it and found your post!.  Aren't these guys amazing?!!....My maillady pulled up in the driveway just as I was carrying in groceries...my dogs bark near scared her to death!...but that's another story....she handed me this box and I near about flipped! I left my groceries to sit and opened that box and OHG! what a surprise!  I know exactly the feelings you were having!!....I'm going to have mine put in a frame or memory box along side the certificate. I believe Hobby Lobby can do that for me as I have had them frame other things for me...I am taking it to work tomorrow as some of my co-workers had contributed to boxes sent and I may just keep it at work..after framing.   Our soldiers are THE BEST!!.....

Well, I wanted to share that I got Free Mail today.  It was my second letter; I've mostly had emails when contacted.  What a great surprise.  Actually, this is not an anysoldier contact.  He is deployed in Afghan and I found out about his troop, who are pretty much without goods while they build up their area, from an aquaintance.  I told them about anysoldier, so hope they will sign up soon.  I had sent a package of hygiene and magazines, and I'm just glad to know they got it!  

Got free mail today from a contact I've received a number of letters from since March.  I was so excited to read that my fun box and snack box arrived at a perfect time since they've had a couple of long hard weeks.  The contact said everyone found something in the boxes that cheared them up.  Made me smile to know that my little boxes brightened their day. 

The one odd thing about the letter was that the envelope was so clean and there wasn't a post mark on it....just a little bar code.  Didn't look like it had been through the postal service at all.  Saw an earlier post that someone else had gotten one like this, but just thought it was odd.

Anna

 I got an email today from my second contact through AnySoldier! So glad to hear from him and his unit...glad the mail is getting to them!

 I got FREE MAIL today from one of my "repeaters" that I supported through his last deployment as well. He wrote a thank-you letter for a care package I mailed in mid-May which he finally got on July 20th. His letter was postmarked July 22, so it took its time getting here, too. We have a running joke about which snail must have been on duty at the time I posted something to him - this time there is absolutely no doubt; it had to be Cletus the slack-jawed snail. His cousin Zippy the super snail travels much faster than Cletus does...LOL!

 I received a thank you note from Iraq from a group that will be leaving soon....I had sent 800 water balloons and assorted water guns.   They were going to fill them with water and put them in the refridgerator for a cold balloon fight!

Some of the comments:

Thank you soooo much!!:-) CPL M.

Pat thanks for all the balloons.  It was worth it.  Thanks, M.

Pat!!! Thank you for bringing the fun to Iraq.  PFC S.

Thank you for everything you have done all deployment!  You are a great friend! SGT. W.

Pat, Thank you very much for all the water balloons-SSG C.

Pat, Thanks for making so many soldiers WET!!  SSG D.

Thanks for your support!  SGT L.

To Pat:  Thanks for everything.  SPC. S.

Pat, Thanks for the "wet-n-wild" times, it has made our final days here interesting. SPC. P.

Pat, thanks for all the water balloons and water guns!

Pat Thanks for all the water balloons.  I enjoyed them most.  I was the main target.  Thanks again.  T.

To Pat:  Thank you so much for letting me soak TOP(sp?) !!!  SPC. J.

Pat, Thank you so much for the balloons.  SPC. M.

......Thanks go to YOU, soldiers,....from Pat  

I checked my email this morning and there was an email with the subject line "care packages"!  I got an instant smile before I even read the email and actually yelled "it's from iraq, my packages made it!".    I didnt send the things out expecting a response but I'll admit, getting that email  made me smile REAL big!!  I have another FRB ready to mail out either today or Monday. 

My daughters 2nd grade class will be drawing pictures/writing letters from time to time to include with the packages.  My kids are gonna be doing flips when they get home from school and hear about the email.

amelia

I have been Very Lucky- I have been doing this for years and all my "KIDS" came from AS- My first Marine called me when he came home to Pendleton and invited me to his Welcome Home Party-  Another Marine invited me to his wedding with a formal printed invite- I have received many free mails as well as emails--Tee shirts and military patches, but the best was flowers that I received twice from my group in Mosul last year for Christmas and my birthday- Our Military "KIds" are  Awesome!!!  I send many themed pkgs- water guns and hula hoops slinkys- halloween & thanksgiving decorations-- Oriental Trading is a great place to get unusual stuff for cheap. One pkg was musical themed, harmonicas- tamborines- and a keyboard I purchased on ebay for cheap-- the troops LOVED IT.I have a story to tell that I think is sooo funny-- I had a group in Iraq- they were MWD handlers- @ Christmas I sent them pewter keychains in the shape of dog bones with the name of their dogs & various dog toys in Christmas stockings-- a do it yourself Gingerbread house and a shoe inserts and foot creams and a foot massage by Conair as they complained their feet hurt-- But alas I could not fit it all into any of the FRB so I sent DH to UPS to purchase a box big enough for the foot bath and GB House-- BUT it was TOO Big- Everything would have shifted -- so I padded it all with rolls of Charmin toilet paper---so that everything wouldn't get damaged...... Ten days later I received an email from the Kennel Master--His name was Matt who said that they drew straws to see who used the Conair first but that they wanted me to know that they LOVED the Charmin-- they thought their "BUTTS" Died and WENT TO HEAVEN! They even signed the email-THE CHARMIN CREW! Matt is back at Lackland and we still keep in touch!

FGM - thanks for telling the story, and the big smiles it gave to me.

I was happy to see that one of our AS postcards made it back to us today that was mailed in A'stan on Aug. 8 from one of our groups - took less than 2 wks. to get here.  It wasn't from the KOP guys, though.

Reading through most of these posts... I feel very privileged to have received three email responses from recipients of my care packages and one free mail thank you card from Chaplain Assistant Meagan Young.

I don't ask for or expect any kind of reply or acknowledgment.  Some of the contacts ask you include an email so I have.

Besides the letting me know that the package got there, I appreciate knowing if the items arrived in usable condition and if the items met their needs and wants.  I  stick mostly to their request list, but I do sometimes improvise a little and I can't always get a specific name brand of something requested.  So I really appreciate knowing if the items are well received.

It's like positive reinforcement.  I find that it definitely influences me and makes me more likely to send to that contact again if there is still need.  Honestly, to have a contact say that the stuff was great, or amazing or will go quickly makes me feel really good.  Like I did a good job and hopefully it made someone's day a little easier on the other end.

Hugs to all you supporters.

Got my first hand written letter today!!!

I was so excited when I saw that free mail in the mailbox.  fist, I was just happy the package I sent got through, then it was a double bonus that I recieved a letter from the young man who opened it and invited me to write him back!!

What a rare treat it was.  That nice young man took such precious time to write ME a letter.  I keep thinking, I am supposed to be supporting him... 

fireftnchick Hello!

Over the years many of us have received our first free letter. Some have had mailboxes out by the road and when they realized that the letter said Free where the stamp should be, they got so excited that they started jumping up and down or dancing in circles. How ever one decides to dance "The Happy Dance" we can be quite a sight to see by those close by us.

Happy dances are the best. Especially your first one.

For military personel, just knowing that someone cared enough to think of you with a care package is what you got a taste of, in that letter back to you. 

To everyone who has not received a letter or email back, hang in there. Some are shy, and you may never hear from them, but they do appreciate you. I have received thanks a year and a half later.

Once my daughter Liz was in the Triangle of Death in Iraq and received a beautiful package from a young boy. She said you could tell a female family member had helped him pick out the best of everything for a gal. The newest of everything. 

According to regulations she was to destroy all return addresses off the box so she had wrote the address down on a slip of paper, and later, could not find it, when she sat down to write a thank you letter. She thought that it might of been dropped in the rain. She felt so sad, that he would never know, how much it meant to her.

That little boy may never know, but all of you who read this, now you know.

It can make a big difference in their lives even if you never hear back. So keep on keeping on.

Blessings, door

Yay! Got my first letter from my "new" group today! Yippee!! Can't wait to hear more from him.  Since he sent it, the group should be recieving the next box soon. Sent it out last week. Anyway, just had to share, it has been a while since I got a letter.

Heidi

got an e-mail today from yet another new contact, woohoo!!  Another package got through.  Well one of two to him anyway.  Not too bad.  The letter got through too, so I am pretty happy, happy, happy!!  It was even his birthday the day after the e-mail, so it was a double bonus.  Now I have to get a birthday package together for the unit.  I think a pinata is in order!!  Happy birthday SSGT!!  Gotta get my kids to work making a pinata...LOL.