24 December: "Whence Came The U.S. Tradition To Give and Give?", OpinionJournal from The Wall Street Journal (PDF version, local copy)

24 December: "The USO’s handshake squad", MSNBC.com and Washington Post (I'm sure the USO is proud to share news space with us! :)(PDF version, local copy)

22 December: "Szeretetcsomag a frontra", Népszabadság, Hungary (Népszabadság is Hungary's leading nationwide political daily newspaper, its daily circulation is about 170.000.)(If anyone wishes to translate this to English, I'd appreciate it.) (PDF version, local copy)
Translated by supporter Peggy and husband in England, the above story reads:

Package of love to the front lines
Népszabadság – December 22, 2004

"Portable wash-machine of only 2,5 kg weight, uniform-coloured toilet-case with personal hygienic stocks, special knee pads, vacuum-packed steak – few examples for patriotic Americans how to surprise soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan. The offer is originated from the web site of AnySoldier.com, in this way the sender can support any of the soldiers on the distant front lines.

The idea of movement "Help the unknown soldier!" came from Marty Horn, a retired sergeant. The soldier's family living in La Plata, Maryland wished originally to give help for their son, Sergeant Brian Horn serving in the 173th Aiorborne Brigade. He begun to hand out "care packages" to those fellow soldiers who never or rarely received mails from home. Horn – who has already visited Hungary few years ago when attending a parachute manoeuvre – and his almost 1,000-head-parachute force were dropped near to Kirkuk, the Northern part of the Arabesque country at the beginning of the Iraqi war.

Marty Horn asked first his friends and neighbours in Maryland for compiling packages. Then came the web site, that has been proven to be very successful: while at the beginnings they had only 9 contacts in the Army, today this number exceeds 900. Some 43,000 soldiers are getting packages through these contacts. Around Christmas the different candies are the most popular, but the 220V transformer is always needed, as the – even if it sounds very bizarre if talking about presents – vermicides and rat exterminators as well."

17 December: "The Point Commentary, Any Soldier", News Central "The Point", MD (PDF version, local copy)

16 December: "Red, white and blue Christmas colors at Liberty Luncheon", Mohave Daily News, CO (PDF version, local copy)

14 December: "Remembering Our Troops During The Holidays", Charles County Sherrif, MD (PDF version, local copy)

14 December: "Afghanistan kids are learning Christmas love from heart", HometownSource.com, Coon Rapids, MN (PDF version, local copy)

10 December: "Any soldier needs you", Del Mar Times, CA (Article taken from full page HERE.)

09 December: "HOW TO HELP ''BUILD'' MORALE OF OUR TROOPS THIS HOLIDAY SEASON", Building Online (PDF version, local copy)

07 December: "Strangers share hearts with soldiers", The Courier, Russellville, AR (PDF version, local copy)

03 December: "U.S. soldiers greet overseas packages with open arms", Lansing State Journal, MI (PDF version, local copy)

02 December: "Beach Balls, Puzzles, Letters and Such Keep Laboratory, Local Community and Soldiers in Touch", REDCOM Magazine, U.S. Army Research, Development and Engineering Command (PDF version, local copy)

02 December: "Students collecting items for soldiers. ", South Brunswick Post, South Brunswick, NJ (PDF version, local copy)

01 December: "Reaching out - Want to give something special this holiday? Write a soldier stationed overseas", Cincinnati.com (PDF version, local copy)

01 December: "Couple pulls together package of care for troops", The Lompoc Record, Lompoc, CA (PDF version, local copy)

01 December: "Neighbors Digest, Packages for soldiers", Juneau Empire, Junuea, AK (PDF version, local copy)

01 December: "Last day for soldiers' holiday packages approaching", Times-Standard, Eureka, CA (PDF version, local copy)

30 November: "Holidays Are Difficult Time For Soldiers And Their Families", MedfordNews.com, Medford, OR (PDF version, local copy)

29 November: "Duo seeking community help in mailing gifts to soldiers", Journal Review, Crawfordsville, IN (PDF version, local copy)

27 November: "Many ways to thank our military personnel", TheReporter, Vacaville, CA (PDF version, local copy)

24 November: "Consider sending gifts to soldiers abroad ", FloridaToday, Melbourne, FL (PDF version, local copy)

23 November: "The (sports) Gospel According to Mark: A Moment of Gratitude", SportsFan Magazine (PDF version, local copy)

22 November: "Organizations Help Send Holiday Packages to Troops", TheLedger, FL (PDF version, local copy)

19 November: "It's crucial to have the right address", The Patriot-News, PA (PDF version, local copy)

19 November: "Mother's mission is to send a little comfort to lot of troops", Chicago Tribune (PDF version, local copy)

17 November: "Shipped with care", Marshfield Mariner, Boston, MA (PDF version, local copy)

16 November: "Bring Holiday Cheer To Our Military Troops", TheDay.com, New London, CT (PDF version, local copy)

15 November: "Pentagon faces flood of gifts for troops overseas", HometownAnnapolis.com, Top Stories (PDF version, local copy)

12 November: "Link Of The Week", MichaelMoore.com. No, he is NOT trying to turn us into a political statement.

12 November: "Tri-state Company Fulfills Troops Wish For Chocolate", WCPO-9 News, Cincinnati.

12 November: "Adopt an Afghanistan Daycare", KARE11 News featured link, Minneapolis.

11 November: "Contacting Troops With AnySoldier.com", KXAN-TV 36 Austin, Texas.

11 November: "Public's support of troops trumps military mail policy", Gazette.Net, by K Kaufmann, Capital News Service.

08 November: Our thanks to WTOP Radio for their air time in the D.C. area about AnySoldier.com!

03 November: APP.COM, "APP.COM - Comedy: Make 'em laugh"

26 October: "Web Site Keeps Soldiers at Arms Length", WLTX-TV Columbia, SC.

19 October: "When yellow ribbons aren't enough", The Baltimore Guide Online.

18 October: FOX TV News (Video here).

19 August: "Any Soldier Inc. shows support for deployed troops", The Dolphin, Connecticut.

27 July: Radio station MIX985, Boston, interviewed us on the "John Lander in the Morning" show. The folks on the show; Kelly Malone, Neal White, Mike Ellis, Amy Doyle, Wendy Filosi, and of course, John Lander were extremely supportive of Any Soldier Inc. We appreciate them giving us air time and really enjoyed talking to them. Thanks to supporter "Mike" for making this happen! An MP3 copy of the interview will be posted here soon.

16 July: USA Today Hot Sites here.

14 July: DefenseLink (Armed Forces Information Service) article, 2004 here.

Any Soldier Inc. supporter and songwriter, Sharon Longworth, wrote The Battle of Tora Bora (a parody of The Battle of New Orleans)© when the soldier in her life was deployed to Afghanistan. She's offered to share this song with all troops and those who support the efforts of our military and the great USA. You can listen to the MP3 copy here. More of Sharon's work is here.

Any Soldier Inc. supporters, songwriters and musicians, "The Shy" is a Detroit-based acoustic rock trio featuring Larry Decker, lead vocals, acoustic and electric guitars, and piano; Mike Sackey, drums and backing vocals; and Bob Livernois, bass guitar and backing vocals. In July 2004, The Shy released a tribute CD in honor of all people who have ever served our country in the military. The two song CD featuring "Thank You Jo(e)" and "Get Through Another Day" has been met with rave reviews across the country and is available for free to any U.S. Serviceman or U.S. Servicewoman who is currently serving or has served our country.
You can listen to a short MP3 clip of their song, "Thank You Jo(e)" here. The Shy's web site is here.

Awards

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