How to Send Gifts to American Soldiers in Iraq

Imagine that you are far from home for an extended length of time. Imagine also that you have limited opportunities to speak on the phone with your mother, father, siblings, spouse, sweetheart or children. While you ’re at it, imagine you walk daily in harm’s way as you try to do what you believe in your heart is the right thing to do.

You have now placed yourself in the boots of an American Soldier. Not a pleasant fit is it? I know their being absent from loved ones is a stressful thing. And I know too, they carry this stress in their hearts as well as their minds. All the while trying to stay alive and concentrate on their mission. But they do it everyday, and they do it for us: those far away on American soil.

It’s never easy leaving small children for any length of time. But soldiers must do it and so they miss many of the first things their children do. The first word, first step, first tooth, first home-run, first recital and report cards each year. A Soldier gives up this and much more to serve his or her country.

They are not there for bonding and for sharing in the daily triumphs and failures of their child. Children grow so quickly that the mom’s and dad’s on deployment miss much that the rest of us take for granted.

Many Soldiers are not there when their children are born. How hard to know that half a world away the woman you love is giving birth to the child you helped to create and she is alone. The child is often several months old before the dad ever holds them for the first time. Can you imagine what it must be like, how it must feel, to hold your own child and them not know you? To see no hint of recognition in their eyes must hurt.

Can you imagine how lonely our Soldiers can be? Can you imagine holidays with no loved ones present?Do you know how grateful they are for any news from home: a letter, a card, a box of cookies? These things are a connection with home. And we can provide this for so little money and effort.

The Soldiers share the gifts they receive with each other. They are brothers and sisters in a way that we as civilians will never know or understand. They share the danger, the fear, the disappointments and they share the good stuff too.

I know these things because my son is in Iraq and he writes to me about his Solders. I send packages of love to him and to them and the feeling it gives to me is no less wonderful that what they feel when they receive one.

If you have never thought of sending a package to a Soldier or if you have, but don’t know how, now is your chance to make a Soldier smile. There are many sites online that will do it for you at a small cost. However, it is actually fun to shop for treats and package them yourself. It isn’t the item so much as the thought to the Soldiers.

There are also sites that will give you the name and address of a Soldier you can correspond with. Try this one, which gives you the opportunity to adopt a Soldier.

http://soldiersangels.org/

At the following site, you will find an article I wrote about sending gifts to our Soldiers in Iraq. It list items that can be sent and the few that are restricted as well as what is most requested by the Soldiers.

http://www.helium.com/items/826080

It doesn’t matter whether you support the war in Iraq or not. Sending a package says you support them: the men and women who serve this country everyday of their lives. It doesn’t cost a lot. Just a card saying you pray for them will be welcomed. Little snacks will be too.Take the time to give back a little something to the men and women who are giving their all for us as a country. You won’t regret it; in fact, it will make you feel good all over. I know, because I do it.

Explore posts in the same categories: harms way, Soldiers

Tags: gifts for soldiers, Iraq

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