20 Practical Ways You Can Support the Troops in Iraq and Elsewhere

20 Practical Ways You Can Support the Troops in Iraq and Elsewhere
by Sandy Doell

There are things we can all do to support the troops:

1. Since you can no longer send mail addressed to “Any Soldier” (the post office won’t accept it), you can instead:

Network among your friends and family. Ask if anyone knows a soldier who is deployed. Write a letter expressing your thanks to that person. Ask if there’s anything he needs and offer to help out.

If you do have a soldier in your circle of acquaintance, ask if he or she knows of another soldier in his outfit who doesn’t get mail. Ask for permission to send that person packages and letters.

Contact church groups and community organizations to see if anyone in your area has organized a project for supporting the deployed soldiers.

If you live near a military base, go talk to a chaplain to find out what you can do to support soldiers on the base who are far from home. Maybe you could even invite a lonely soldier to dinner.

2. You can show your support through some great online organizations:

Fisherhouse.org
Heromiles, org
Adoptasoldier.org
Booksforsoldiers.com
Supportasoldier.org
Defendamerica.mil
Americasupportsyou.com

3. Find a soldier’s family in your community and find out what they need. It might be as simple as cutting wood for the fireplace or providing some transportation or babysitting, or it might be help with tax forms.

4. Just pay attention to the news. Know what’s happening in the war. Visit icasualties.org/oif. It’s easy to concentrate on the politics behind the war and forget the guy out there patrolling a dangerous street. It’s easier still to ignore the whole thing and care only about soap operas and football games, but our children are living and dying in a hostile place, and we owe it to them to at least pay attention.

5. When you do find a soldier to send packages to, be aware of their needs. They need and want things like:

Eye drops
Throat lozenges
Skin moisturizer
Nose drops
Wraparound sunglasses
They also need:
Gold Bond foot powder
Loofah sponges
Nail clippers
Lotions and creams especially made for foot care (peppermint-scented is good)
Foot soaks

6. The soldiers are far from home but still need some entertainment. Some good items that are appreciated and help alleviate the boredom are:

Board games
Gameboys
Books
CDs and DVDs
Crossword puzzle books, sudoku, word search

7. And to supplement their menu, you can send some food items such as:

Salsa
Tuna salad kits
Aerosol cheese
Cookies, cupcakes, and candy (avoid chocolate during the hotter months)
Gatorade, Kool-Aid, powdered drink mixes—they need to drink a lot of water and this helps

8. Many soldiers tell stories of strangers coming up to them in airports, shaking their hands, offering to buy them a drink, a meal, or even pressing money into their hands. Here’s another suggestion:

Next time you are standing in line at the post office and you see someone juggling a box and a customs form, about to send that box to a war zone—offer to pay the postage for them. Postage is a big expense when someone is deployed, and the more help families can get paying for it, the more packages they can send.

9. Go to letssaythanks.com and just fill out the form and hit Send. A soldier will receive a personalized greeting from you with your name and hometown on it.

10. Get creative. Use your talent. Write letters, burn CDs, make DVDs. Take pictures. Soldiers especially love hearing from children. Make sending packages to soldiers a family project. Your children will learn something about caring for those who care for them.

11. And, sure, put those bumper stickers on your car, tie ribbons around trees, fly the flag.

12. Pray.

More tips just for families:

13. Letters from home are the item most requested by soldiers, so write often.

14. Allow plenty of time for packages to arrive for holidays. Normal shipping time to the Middle East is about two weeks for a priority box.

15. Family members should invest in a detailed map of the Middle East. When you hear news reports, you’ll be able to identify the exact location of activity.

16. Keep a list of discussion topics near the phone. When your loved one calls at 4 a.m., you won’t waste time collecting your thoughts.

17. You can live on “Iraqi time” with the click of a computer mouse. Go to worldtimeserver.com and know for sure what time it is in Anbar Province. Go to weather.cnn.com to know what the weather is like.

18. Make sure you have as much communication technology as you can afford—computers, Blackberrys, cell phones, call waiting, call forwarding, web cams, instant messaging. Use as much as you can figure out. The more often you communicate, the better you will both feel.

19. The Red Cross will help you make arrangements for your soldier to come home for certain emergencies, such as a death in the family.

20. Most important thing you can do for yourself: Find a support group of other people with deployed loved ones. If you can’t find a support group, start one.

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About the Author
Sandy Doell is the mother of a soldier who was deployed to Iraq in 2004 and from this experience she wrote Mom’s Field Guide: What You Need to Know to Make It Through Your Loved One’s Military Deployment. You can find information about the book at http://www.momsfieldguide.com. Sandy also has a website called While Our Children Serve (http://www.whileourchildrenserve.com) which offers information and support to military families and others who wish to support our troops.
—————-
Copyright © 2007 Sandy Doell
Notice: Article may be reproduced in it’s entirely as long as the author resource box is kept intact.

Technorati Tags: Mom's Field Guide, Support the Troops

Missing from the Home Front

Families share ways to stay connected with U.S. troops in the Middle East
By T.J. Banes
tj.banes@indystar.com
October 26, 2006

The yellow car magnets saying “Support Our Troops” are nice.

So are the little flag pins worn by TV anchors.

But Eastside resident Nancy Goodin, 62, depends on prayer while her son Robert is serving his second tour of duty in Iraq.

“He’s the middle of eight children and the only one to join the service,” Goodin said. “It’s been hard, because we’re all very close. When we’re together, we know he’s missing. Having faith that everything would be OK and believing in the power of positive thinking keeps me going.”

Families of soldiers stationed in the Middle East cope in different ways. Those left behind say they are most content when they are doing something for their loved ones.

That’s what spurred Indianapolis resident Sandy Doell to write “Mom’s Field Guide — What You Need to Know to Make It Through Your Loved One’s Military Deployment” (Warrior Angel Press, $19.95 paperback, $14.95 ebook download). The book is available online at www.momsfieldguide.com.

“You can either bury your head in the sand or you can become involved,” said Doell, 60.

Her son, David Boshears, 35, enlisted in the Army shortly after Sept. 11, 2001. She spent the next 12 months researching ways to support her son and other soldiers.

She consulted a large map of Iraq and learned the geography so that when she heard news reports, she would know exactly where the event occurred. She found different news-gathering agencies around the world and Web sites that offer information about Middle Eastern culture.

Doell became familiar with soldiers’ most needed items and how to send care packages. She put all of this information into her book, which also includes recipes, useful tips (such as normal shipping time to the Middle East) and serious concerns (how loved ones are notified of casualties).

Gifts and letters are the best way to help soldiers stay in touch back home and to boost morale, Doell said. Sending mail also gives loved ones at home a purpose.

Goodin recently loaded up a care package to ship to her son. It included snacks (summer sausage, crackers, chocolate-chip cookies) and a hand-held sweeper to help clear sand from his living quarters.

Family members show ongoing support by flying the U.S. flag and calling Robert — when they can — with encouraging words.

Anything families do to stay connected is appreciated, said soldier John Bossingham, 27.

He enjoyed the family photographs, magazines and newspapers sent to him by his family in Morristown. For his wife, Amy, also in the military, it was mandolin “duets” that kept her family closer to her.

Two years ago, Amy and John spent Thanksgiving dining on pressed turkey and all the trimmings at a table in a steamy airport hangar in eastern Iraq.

“They made it as nice as possible for us, but it still wasn’t home,” said Amy, 29.

“What I missed the most was time with family and a home-cooked meal,” said John.

Their family members missed them, too.

Back home, John’s mother set two places at her table with pictures of her son and his wife. The family talked about their absent loved ones and how they might be spending the holiday.

Amy and John had been married two years when they were deployed. Though they were in different battalions, they were able to come together for Thanksgiving. It helped a little, but it wasn’t the same as being home, said Amy.

John’s mom, Carol Bossingham, spent the holidays organizing family members for Web cam appearances sent to Iraq.

She also planned ahead for the holidays.
“Almost before they deployed, I had Christmas presents bought, wrapped and shipped so they’d be there on time,” she said.

Amy’s family saved up all the holidays to celebrate in one long weekend when she returned. In the meantime, though, the packages her family sent helped her cope.

“My dad played guitar, and would send me tape recordings. I’d put on my headset, play my mandolin, and we’d jam together, and then I’d make a tape and send back home,” said Amy. “I wasn’t home with my family, and they weren’t with me, but it was the next best thing.

Tips for supporting your loved one during deployment

• Letters from home are the item most requested by soldiers, so write often.
• Allow plenty of time for packages to arrive for holidays. Normal shipping time to the Middle East is about two weeks for a priority box.
• Military food has come a long way since the C-rations of World War II, but tuna, salsa and cheese are popular mealtime supplements.
• Soldiers need entertainment, too. Books, crosswords, Frisbees and board games break the boredom.
• Family members should invest in a detailed map of the Middle East. When you hear news reports, you’ll be able to identify the exact location of activity.
• Keep a list of discussion topics near the phone. When your loved one calls at 4 a.m., you won’t waste time collecting your thoughts.
• You can live on “Iraqi time” with the click of a computer mouse.
• The Red Cross will help you make arrangements for your soldier to come home for certain emergencies, such as a death in the family.
• If you can’t find a support group, start one.

Source: “Mom’s Field Guide,” by Sandy Doell

Reprinted by permission from IndyStar.com

Technorati Tags: families left behind, Iraq, Middle East, Military Deployment, Support the Troops, tour of duty Iraq, U.S. troops