Gratitude & Prayers: Santa Rides a Chinook to Eastern Afghanistan

Friday, December 26, 2008

Santa Rides a Chinook to Eastern Afghanistan

A US Army Apache helicopter flies past snow covered mountains during a re-supply mission in eastern Afghanistan's Kunar province December 23, 2008. REUTERS/Bob Strong (AFGHANISTAN)

A U.S. Army Chinook helicopter prepares to drop supplies during a resupply mission in eastern Afghanistan December 25, 2008. REUTERS/Bob Strong (AFGHANISTAN)

U.S. Army soldiers with 6-4 Cavalry keep watch from a lookout tower at Observation Post Hatchet near the Pakistan border in eastern Afghanistan December 25, 2008. REUTERS/Bob Strong (AFGHANISTAN)

U.S. Army Staff Sergeant Lemuel Leach with the 6-4 Cavalry stands next to boxes of Christmas mail at the Observation Post Hatchet near the Pakistan border in eastern Afghanistan December 25, 2008. REUTERS/Bob Strong (AFGHANISTAN)

US Army personnel hold candles during a Christmas Eve church service on Forward Operating Base Bostick in eastern Afghanistan December 24, 2008. REUTERS/Bob Strong (AFGHANISTAN)

Soldiers with the US Army's 6-4 Cavalry stand around a bonfire and sing Christmas carols at Forward Operating Base Bostick, near the Pakistan border, December 25, 2008. REUTERS/Bob Strong (AFGHANISTAN)

5 comments:

Anonymous said...: This is beautiful! Making the best of being deployed for the holidays. THANK YOU FOR YOUR SERVICE!!!; 28 December, 2008 09:01
fallenfalcon said...: The candle lit photo made me feel as though I were with them.Just like Linus's monologue in a Charlie Brown Christmas "and that's what Christmas is all about Charlie Brown". God Bless our Troops. May their hearts be filled with the assurance our prayers and support remains with them.
Cheryl
Mother of SSG Patrick Lee Lybert
KIA 21 June 2006, Afghanistan; 28 December, 2008 13:25
mom said...: one of the drs. pictured here, is my little girl mandy, a true lover of charlie brown and his christmas'!; 08 January, 2009 00:14
Anonymous said...: That little girl, Mandy, is our granddaughter. It's hard to imagine her there, but our prayers are always with her and all the troops. Next year they will have Christmas services with their families here at home.; 08 January, 2009 20:40
Grandma Weezie said...: We're praying here in Sioux City, Iowa for all the soldiers bravely serving there and for a special doctor Mandy. May you all be safe and make a big impact for good. Grandma Weezie; 11 January, 2009 14:07

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Socks and LongJohns for Soldiers

Like we've said, How cold is it out there?

We need to push some cold weather gear out to the 6-4CAV and their brother battallions in the 3-1 ID.

Leta, Haole, and the 1SG's have set for our goals:

Balaclavas 874 About 350 shipped

Winter Wool
Hiking/trekking Socks XL -- 3000 Pairs

About 1000 pair will meet this goal, now

L -- 2000 Pairs 6-4 Family sent 33 pair to Keating
Thanks to a donor in Florida 168 Pair
L -- 1799 Pair now needed

M -- 1000 Pairs Thanks to a donor in Florida 82 Pair
M -- 918 Pair now needed

University of NC Group has sent a large amount of socks.

Thermal Underwear XL -- 675 sets Now needed about 300
sent about 375 sets
L -- 500 sets
M -- 175 sets

Hand warmers 5000 sent 1200
Now needed 3800
Feet warmers 5000 sent 480
Now needed 4620
Fleece blankets 544 Now needed about 400

So many groups have had drives for winter wear for these warriors, and just packed them up and sent them on. Their totals are not included in these numbers.

Thanks to all of you.

Requests to Date

This list will be updated:
(Be sure to include a note, so the troopers can thank you.)

The mixer has received in time for the October birthdays. Thank you MaryEllen
Needed SOON - - - The kitchen is elemental at best. WE NEED A Kitchenmaid Mixer or a Hobart restaurant mixer. If anyone has a 5 quart or larger one THEY NEED IT. contact us by email at HWahine2008@aol.com, and we will discuss shipping.

Oster Clippers, Yes the cheaper ones break quickly.

Individual drink mixes
unscented baby wipes

Small paint brushes 1” and 3"
-in Hutto HomeDepot has the best price
-get the cheapest, wear out quickly, no matter the quality

Bed Sheets (flat twin/dark colors)

Shower Curtains (solid colors)
WalMart has black/dk blue, and Tan solid colors

Razors (not the disposible ones)
Refill Razor blades
Non-Aersol Shaving Cream

*****Thank you ADAMS Flavors, Foods, and Ingredients

They will be supporting the 6-4 CAV with their products, during the deployment

Adams sent a HUGE amount of spices. It's still in the process of being repackaged and sent out. Have you EVER seen a gallon container of Thyme or Basil?

They will SPICE up the lives (or at least the food) for the 6-4 CAV

Troop Supporters ROUND TABLE

Be sure to send in your latest $$$ finds, or just cute ideas for care packages:

Troopers In Afghanistan/Iraq do not have to apply postage to outgoing mail.

They write Free Mail where the stamp would go.

WalMart has the Schick Quattro Midnight Razors for about $7. Keep track of the brand of razors you send, because you want to send refill blades through out the deployment. (it's like your user name and passwords --- write it down somewhere)

Murphy's Law for Troop Support:

If it can cause a mess/leak/smell other things up

IT WILL ! ! ! !

ALWAYs double bag liquids

*Put container inside a zip loc bag, then put the zipped bag inside another zip loc bag with the zipper in first.

*This way the zipper of the first bag is at the bottom of the second bag, and not as likely to pop open if the outside bag comes open.

*Do Not put Smelly lotions, shampoos, etc. in with any food items. No matter how well you wrap it, the food will absorb the odor.

*I don't care how good it smells, lavendar scented cheez-its are just BAD.

*Foot or Baby powder will explode, and cover every one and everything within 20 miles of the box. BAG IT ! ! !

*There is no such thing as too many zip loc bags. The troopers will re-use every last zip loc bag and ask for more. Did I mention the freezer bags really are a hit?

The troopers patroling Afghanistan don't travel on their stomachs, they travel on zip loc bags, baby wipes, individual drink mixes, hand santizer, and LETTERS FROM HOME.

At least until the winter HOWLS IN ! ! !

OPSEC

I found this on a public forum, and it is very good--precise and understandable.

OPSEC (Operational Security)
OPSEC, also known as Operational Security, is the principle that we, as Army wives and Army family members, should all abide by when talking about our soldiers. If you’ve been on any military related message board on the internet, you have more than likely seen a warning to be sure to practice OPSEC. This means protecting the information you know about your soldier and his unit.

Generally, it means that you should not give out the following:
- Your soldier’s exact location overseas
- Any information on troop movements
– this includes any movement while they are deployed and in transit to/from
theater (including R&R). Do not ever give dates or times.
- Any information on weapons systems, how they train or numbers – for this reason, many pictures from overseas can easily violate OPSEC

If your soldier is in a special operations unit, the OPSEC guidelines can be stricter. You may not be able to say he is deployed at all much less where he is. His unit and/or FRG should provide the OPSEC guidelines for these situations.
Always abide by the rules set forth by his unit. Just because it is on the news does not mean that you can talk about the issue. By talking about it, you are only verifying the information.

CORRECT:
My soldier is deployed in support of Iraqi Freedom or Enduring Freedom
INCORRECT:
My soldier is in XYZ Unit and is stationed at ABC Camp in XXX city in Iraq.
Give only general locations IF his unit allows it. The above incorrect statement is entirely too much information.

INCORRECT: My soldier’s unit is returning from deployment and flying into XYZ Airport at 8pm next Thursday.
Never give dates or times for troop movements. Keep in mind that “next Thursday” is a date. This includes R&R dates as well as deployment and redeployment dates. Planes have been delayed for days or weeks because an excited family member made this information public.

INCORRECT: Please pray for my soldier. He called today and told me he is going out on a very dangerous mission tonight. They will be gone for three days and I’m very worried about him.

When our soldiers are in dangerous situations, it is natural to want to reach out to others. But the above statement puts your soldier and his unit in danger. You could have very well just alerted the enemy about their mission.
It is important to realize that putting together the bits and pieces needed to create the larger picture can be amazingly simple on the internet. Many mistakenly believe that if they don’t talk about it all at once, the information is safe. This is wrong and dangerous to assume. The internet is a wonderful tool but in regards to our military, it is a very dangerous one as well. It takes only minutes of searching online to find enough pieces of information that could potentially endanger our soldiers.

DEPLOYMENT TICKERS
Many family members like to use deployment tickers to count down their soldier’s deployment. Never have a ticker that shows XX days until he returns. If you must have a ticker, then have one with the amount of time he has been gone. Although it is best to not have this type of ticker at all.
Finally, for your own personal safety, be very aware of what you are putting on the internet or saying in conversations in public. With the internet, it is not difficult to track down an address and phone number. Do not make yourself a target by letting the world know that your husband is deployed.

PERSEC
PERSEC is also known as personal security. Like OPSEC, this involves guarding the information that you know. Do not give out your soldier’s name along with rank. This includes blacking out his name tape and rank in pictures. If he is in a special operations unit, you should also black out any unit affiliation.
Be vague about your personal information as an Army wife or Army family member on the internet. This is plain common sense in just every day life – regardless of if your family member is in the military.

The old saying loose lips sink ships still holds true today. Keep your soldier, your family and his unit safe by keeping the information you know to yourself. You never know who is lurking and gathering information on message boards, myspace pages and profiles. Better safe than sorry!

Gratitude & Prayers

Friday, December 26, 2008

Santa Rides a Chinook to Eastern Afghanistan

5 comments:

Socks and LongJohns for Soldiers

Raider Family Tributes

6-4 CAV, 3-1 INF

6-4 CAV

ENOUGH SAID

Just how cold did you say it gets out there?

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