A request from a long time AT member Grunt03

[DainBrammage]

I received this e-mail from a long time friend of mine,who is a Master Sergeant of infantry with the US Marines. He is also a long time member here at Anadtech a.k.a. Grunt03. Guys, if you can help him help them out, please do so. Please put aside whatever personal feelings you may have about Iraq and anything political in nature and help this man to help some well deserved young men and women with some of the basic necessities and items we all take for granted.

Mods if I can get a sticky and a cross-post to the other forums I would appreciate it.

Hey big guy, whats going on? Well I just though of something and I wanted to see if you can help me out. As you know, I have been and continue to travel around the entire country of Iraq. Some of these places are in very remote locations and the service members are always in need of the most basic items, and yes a long list of wants. I have several organizations that send boxes to me and I forward them out to the locations but there is never enough to go around. I have started receiving emails from all kinds of people requesting all kinds of items. I have written to several companies and vendors but not to much luck.

So I was wondering if you could create a post for me on AnandTech to see if anyone there would be willing to help me out.

The service members here all continue to do what needs to be done to support the mission at hand, irrespective of their personal feeleings. The weather seems to be constantly changing. The hot weather has arrived; we have had several sand storms, which are no fun at all. Just think of it as a very bad thunder storm, now replace the rain with an abrasive dust that gets into any and everthing. The average temp has been reaching into the high 90's and it cools down rapidly late in the evening.

Every Saturaday night is our movie night and it seems that the crowd continues to grow in numbers despite the limited selection. If it gets much larger we will move it outside. Toby Keith was touring around visiting several units and we had a concert. It was nice and everyone seemed to really enjoy the event. It's funny because even he was subject to the sand storms and his departue was delayed.

Male item - Exercise shorts(green or black all sizes)
Male Item - Boxers men's (size med/lrg)
Female item - Exercise shorts for female (all sizes)
Female item - Always Maxi's with wings and Panty liners(regular,super, overnight)
Female item - Tampons (super)
Female item - Sports bras, size range from (34B-C, 36B-C, 38B-C OR S-M-L-XL)
Female item - (underwear) bikini, boy shorts, boy leg, all sizes, all type, dark color (conditions are very hard on clothing, lack of PX or selection limited)
Female item - Nail Polish (Opi, Avon, or any other brand)
Female item - Nail Care Products (Anti-Fungus Treatment, Nail Hardner,etc)
Female item - Sleeping attire, pajama's
Female item - Hair Care (Shampoo, Conditioner, Hair Dress)
Deodorant - For men and women
Body wash (male and female)
Facial Wash (Neutrogena Cleansers & Astringents)
GNC - Health Products
CD's - used or new, good or bad, old or new, all are welcome
DVDs - used or new, good or bad, old or new, all are welcome
Mederma - for Scars
Reading Material - any and all types are welcome, if you can think of it, someone here likes it.
Sporting equipment - we have a very limited supply on the base and any type of sporting equipment would be put to use over and over.
Tobacco - we have smokers and dippers, it seems that Copenhagen Snuff is the most requested.
Snack foods - Beef Jerky, Candy, nuts, Health bars, gum, anything chocolate, little Debbie cakes, chips, tuna, candy, protein bars, energy drinks, starburst, gushers, fruit rollups, skittles, and gummy bears.

Mailing Address -
MSgt Covey, Bedford, M
1 MHG / MEF G9 S&T
Unit 42540
FPO-AP 96426-2540

UPDATES AND CLARIFICATIONS

Shipping Info:

This is a link to USPS, it discusses the flat rate boxes. Point being that they would only be required to pay postage to US point of departure, usually San Francisco, normally $9.80 .

USPS Shipping Info

Keep in mind that anything you send may be several weeks in transit, so things (food stuffs) need to be properly packaged or it will arrive in poor condition.

Use heavy packing tape on all corners of the box, and wrap the tape so it goes all the way around every direction of the box. DO NOT use string to wrap a box! A good box example is one Wal-Mart (and I'm told Target) sells for 95 cents that are 11 3/4 x 8 x 4 3/4 inches (#CB-12). These are easy to pack, won't weigh too much and are easy to handle. Packages must weigh less than 70lbs and be smaller than 130 inches in total length and girth. D not use duct tape or string. Be sure your boxes are clear of all markings except for those needed for mailing. It is strongly suggest you tape ALL box seams openings completely around each direction of the box.

Food items - care should be taken concerning any type of food. We are currently entering the summer months and the temperature is reaching 111 degrees. Any items that would melt should not be sent.

Clothing items - always dark colored items, location, climate and conditions are really hard on clothing. Though you are able to do your laundry, the conditions are very hard on clothing.

Please be sure to include a "From Anandtech" somwhere on the box

Thank you in advance.


Moved to OT and stickied.
minendo
Forum Administrator

 

[killster1]

basic necessities = tobacco and junk food!////////////////////// bump great idea but few odd necessities.. (nail polish and pajamas) like a onezee pajama? ill try and dig out my old dvds and music cds

 

[honkee]

Ill be able to donate some nail polish/beauty stuff from my salon.
"Probably be able to drop it off sometime next week"
Dont laugh killster

 

[winr]

I just sent out the list to my friends and will start getting some things to send.

I might have to make a muscle to get some of them onboard.....





Thanks OP.

 

[Fullmetal Chocobo]

Originally posted by: killster1
basic necessities = tobacco and junk food!////////////////////// bump great idea but few odd necessities.. (nail polish and pajamas) like a onezee pajama? ill try and dig out my old dvds and music cds

You'd be surprised. On ship underway for a while (different situation but same concept), you start missing all kinds of things that are at any given convenience store in the states. I'll definitely keep this thread in mind and see what I can do.

 

[DainBrammage]

I have never been a much of a smoker but when you are out on a listening post or observation post after having been on on a long nerve jolting patrol. you would be suprised what you would do to stay awake and alert. Even smoking or pinch between the cheek and gumline.

Thanks to all you for your support.

 

[DainBrammage]

Guys Grunt03 says thanks read below:

Dain

Thanks for the assist. I did get a few boxes in the mail today and have just returned from delivering all of it to several locations around the AO. I looked at the post and have read all of the comments thus far. Thanks for your comments on personal feelings. You are right on, I didn't think about all of the negative responses we might get but hey it's one of our rights,"freedom of speech". Hopefully one day this part of the world will share the same freedoms. I have tried to log onto the website but we are blocked. If you could just let everyone know I said thanks, but if they send anything please make sure they put from AnAndtech somewhere on the package. I'll try to answer every letter and at least say thank you.

Thanks.....

MSgt Covey, Bedford M
OPS Chief / G9 Science & Technology
Camp Fallujah, Iraq

 

[RaiderJ]

Forwarded this message on... definitely a good way to help out!

 

[DainBrammage]

bump

 

[JWade]

Having deployed multiple times myself, you would be amazed at things that we take for granted that they could use over there. I have been places where it was hard to get things like cigarettes, and stuff like that in the mail was greatly apprecaited by people. I am constantly sending stuff to units over there. I try and returnthe generosity that others have done.

 

[vo]

Let put to use the old DVDs ...

 

[DainBrammage]

Thanks to all who can help out.

 

[Blitzkreig75]

Keepin' this up front.

 

[Azndude51]

I think I might have some items around the house that are on the list. What would be a good way to ship these? Should I just get a Priority Mail flat rate box and just fill it up or would I be able to save some money by using Media Mail?

 

[Feldenak]

Originally posted by: Azndude51
I think I might have some items around the house that are on the list. What would be a good way to ship these? Should I just get a Priority Mail flat rate box and just fill it up or would I be able to save some money by using Media Mail?

When I was sending stuff to my brother over there, the Priority Mail flat rate box was the best. You'd be surprised what you can jam in there...one time I think I managed (don't remember exactly) to jam 4-5 lbs of coffee beans, 2-3 CDs with photos from home, razor blades, several magazines, & some other misc odds & ends. All for the low-low price of $8

OP, I'll pass this around and see what I can do for y'all. Kinda tight right now b/c we're on a single income.

 

[SaoFeng]

sweet. i have tons of my magazines that i was going to throw away (maxim, fhm, etc) but ill mail them out...its gonna cost lots of $$ to mail em!

 

[Q]

Originally posted by: SaoFeng
sweet. i have tons of my magazines that i was going to throw away (maxim, fhm, etc) but ill mail them out...its gonna cost lots of $$ to mail em!

Flat rate? Or is that only domestic? I think it's only domestic...

 

[Feldenak]

Originally posted by: Quintox

Originally posted by: SaoFeng
sweet. i have tons of my magazines that i was going to throw away (maxim, fhm, etc) but ill mail them out...its gonna cost lots of $$ to mail em!

Flat rate? Or is that only domestic? I think it's only domestic...

Overseas military bases are considered domestic.

 

[woodie1]

I've got magazines out the kazoo here. I'll get some of them out ASAP.

 

[AgaBoogaBoo]

Don't mean to be lazy, but can we setup a site with a "registry" type of thing where they will mail out all the products together to save on shipping? Or maybe just someone's paypal address that will accept donations and order it for us and post a picture of the order completion?

 

[DainBrammage]

You guys are awsome. Thanks for anything and everything. I'll check into the paypal thing.

My experiance with any mail going to base and units forward deployed is to use the cheapest rate available. The reason being is once it hits San Fran, DC or wherever the staging area is it goes out via Military transport so if you send it priority mail odds are it will get to the staging point in the 3-5 days but then it will sit waiting its turn to go out.

 

[DonaldC]

I'll get my daughter to buy some of the female items (she knows more about this than me) and we'll get a package out to the troops.

 

[BoomerD]

When our son was deployed, we sent stuff, not only to him, but to his entire squadron both times they were in "Hadji-land." In addition to the kinds of stuff listed above, we got many requests for dog flea collars. Apparently they help keep the sand fleas off. Whoda thunk it?
Keep in mind that anything you send will be several weeks in transit, so things (food stuffs) need to be properly packaged or it will arrive in poor condition.

They got a large box every other week. Wrapped in grocery bags with American flags on them.

When they got home, his squadron commander sought us out and thanked us personally for our support. Apparently, my son was pretty popular when mail call came around...he always had home made goodies for sale.

 

[DanTMWTMP]

Originally posted by: BoomerD
When our son was deployed, we sent stuff, not only to him, but to his entire squadron both times they were in "Hadji-land." In addition to the kinds of stuff listed above, we got many requests for dog flea collars. Apparently they help keep the sand fleas off. Whoda thunk it?
Keep in mind that anything you send will be several weeks in transit, so things (food stuffs) need to be properly packaged or it will arrive in poor condition.

They got a large box every other week. Wrapped in grocery bags with American flags on them.

When they got home, his squadron commander sought us out and thanked us personally for our support. Apparently, my son was pretty popular when mail call came around...he always had home made goodies for sale.

:thumbsup:

(bolded part) Sounds pretty damn important to me. That information should be in the OP.

 

[cubeless]

being a hot deals kind of guy, would on sale at target hello kitty pj's... be too goofy? it just seems a pretty good deal for what are probably disposable clothes... they have them in white, too... and i can afford a bunch more at this price... and what distribution of sizes? it always seems that a larger size can be worn by a smaller person but not the reverse...

and i'm checking on sending astringent... the site that i found (hocks.com) with the best price on neutrogena astringent seems to say they can't ship flamables to apo's...