22 Dec 2004:
to take me off your website. This is great news because it means we are going home soon...several months early.
If there is ANYTHING that I can ever do to repay you, please let me know. I will be back again in 6-7 months...and I will be on the list again.....thank you for everything your site provided us with...blankets, food, toiletries, entertainment....hope.
Ray Stone
USMC
09 Dec 2004
Hello Everyone!
Just a quick update. So I left this base for 10 days and was not able to recieve mail. So a small pile of 60 boxes and 100 letters was built in our mail room. I dont have much to say except WOW! I was able to give stuff to every Marine in the Unit. And some to the Army guys. The support I have recieved from everyone has been more then expected. We have enough black socks to resupply the Army :o) and enough snacks to last..well...a week...but thats because we eat a lot :o)
You are all amazing people. If you send something and dont get a letter or some sort of response I appologize. We send as many letters back to the US as possible, but every once in awhile someone slips through. Please do not take it to heart, we really appreciate everything you have given us, even if its just a little Christmas card.
Someday, if Sgt. Summerfield ever finished decorating the Comm Shop I will post a picture up! With the holiday approaching, I notice that hanging decorations seems to be the biggest release for her. She gets very happy when I hand her a stack of cards :o) Silverstein just had his first day of Hanakkahu...out of the 60 boxes I told him he was only allowed to open one, just like his religion says...then he threatened my life.... so I gave in and let him open a few more.
Holloman got some "ghetto booty" magazines and I cant seem to get his attention away from the magazines to get anyhting out of him. Rolle is from the Bahama's and I still cant understand anything because of his thick accent...I know he says "yah mann" a lot, but other then that I just nodd my head and say "yeah, yeah." Jones, the male one, has headed out on R&R. Hopefully he will have a great time and come back ready to work. Klingel, while I was gone, ran everything quite well for me. I am having some large network issues today, but I am sure they will taken care of shortly. Everyone else is busy as can be running around and doing the "Comm" thing.
Also, lol, I am a LCPL, I am NOT a Lt Col. Looks like I am getting a pretty big promotion from some of you :o)
Anyway, I just wanted to thank you again and keep you updated. I wish I was able to give more info, but that whole operational security thing is in the way. Thanks!
25 Nov 2004
Just one more day, just like thes rest, to us. Today was Thanksgiving. One of my favorite holidays. Family from all over the country comes together at one house for one giant feast, I missed that this year. My mom asked me who was going to test the Lemon Marange Pie (one of my favorites). It was pretty depressing.
All in all, today was as good as it can get. Officers served us N/A wine and food (very unususal), got us drinks and tried to liven everyone up. It worked for a short time, until the guy sitting across from me realized that although I was his brother in spirit, I wasnt in blood. I dont think there is really a way to make a Marine happy on this one day. I think Christmas will be bad too.
Holidays are really hard on Marines. It's in our heads that on this particuliar day, everything stops...its not like that here. The only thing that really brought a smile to my face was a few packages I recieved to pass onto everyone. One for the girls with all kinds of chocolates, pretty smelling stuff, and girls "special" things. They were very happy and greatful! On a horrible day, you people back home made most of us smile a little. Sgt. Summerfield is thrilled, there was a christmas stocking in one of the boxes and she cant wait to hang it up tomorrow. I will take pictures of our wall(s) tomorrow as well....so you can see the display we have going dedicated to all the people who took the time to send a letter or box.
Many people have written letters and asked what we want and wish for, so I asked everyone and here it is:
It's starting to get really cold out, so if anyone has any sweatshirts of sweat pants, we dont even care if they are hand me downs :o) It would be greatly appreciated. Most of the guys are a size L-XXL, the females are all in the Large range. Boxer shorts, M-L.
white ankle socks
DVD's and music. Anykind! There are 160 guys, nothing will go to waste. We dont care if its a bunch of burned MP3's, music is an amazing thing, the right kind can bring a smile upon anyones face.
We are also in search of a Playstation 2 or Xbox. If anyone has one laying around that isnt being used, there are tons of guys here that would make good use of it! I know this probably isnt something a lot of people have "laying around," but I thought maybe someone has a kid they just sent off to college or something.
Alrighty, so I think that is everything, if not I will just update it a little later. Once again, THANK YOU! Now that I am involv, Ied with anysoldier.com, and many of you personally cant even remember what it was like without you. Many of you have become my personal penpals, honestly, I cant imagine what I did with my free time before I wrote emails to all of you. Thanks again, I wish you could see these guys when they open a box!
19 Nov 2004
The support we have recieved over the past few days has been wonderful. 6 boxes packed with goodies, gameboys, a football (which we've alredy put to good use), christmas decorations, Sgt Summerfield went crazy for the christmas mug that was sent, music, movies, and books. WOW! I filled out a form 2 weeks ago and expected maybe a box or two. I NEVER would have guessed that I would be able to pass stuff out to so many people.
So everyday, I get the mail, I open the boxes you nice people send, I watch everyone jump for joy when then see their favorite candy..... its awesome. There are 160 people in unit, I have been able to pass stuff onto about one third of them, even if it was just a candy bar or something small. If I continue to get boxes I will continue to pass the stuff along to everyone possible. If I pass stuff out to everyone in my unit, then I will happily bring boxes to our Comm Squadron who hooks me up with great internet access.
There is a rumor that I will be leaving before everyone else (unconfirmed), if it turns out to be true, I will be passing my duties onto Sgt. Summerfield who happily writes every person who writes us or sends a box. I try to write a lot too, but it is a bit overhelming.
I recieved a card from someone in Canada, I just thought I would mention that because thats crazy. I never thought we would recieve a card from Canada!
Just a little update on the Iraq situation: We were flying in support of the Operation Phantom Fury (the big Fallujah take over) we have just been released and are now flying in other areas as well. It is good to hear they dont need us 24/7 like before, It means that most likely they have a very good hand on what is going on. As I am sure you have read in the news, there were injuries and Marines lost there lives, please pray for them and their families, they chose to fight for you, for me, for America, and have now paid the ultimate price.
On a better note; our little trailer is quickly being filled with cards and letters which we post on the wall for morale (i will send a picture of that shortly). Your support means sooo much, most of us thought only our families cared, but were we wrong. Thank you so much for your support and prayers. Hopefully we will all be home soon.
18 Nov 2004
We have recieved numerous letters containg pictures from schools, cards, all kinds of things. We decided to post them all up on the wall of our coomunications shack. They really brighten up the place!
Yesterday, we also recieved some boxes. The Marines were so happy to recieve the snacks and everything. We recieved enough that we were able to pass some of the stuff onto other sections, there are 160 Marines in my whole unit, so i tried to spread the wealth to a bunch of the other guys who didnt get boxes.
Sgt. Summerfield (my alternate) is content on trying to write back to every card, letter and package, and I am trying to email the people who give email addresses. The support has been awesome. The letters and cards really brighten up out area. Thank you all so much for the support.
Now that Fallujah is slowing down, things will hopefully be a little easier for everyone. Only time will tell...
07 Nov 2004
My name is LCpl Stone. I am an active duty Marine with a home station located in 29 Palms, California. Our unit does aerial recon in support of ground and air troops.
I am writing to represent VMU-1, Comm Platoon. There are about 15 Marines who do not recieve packages on a regular basis. I wish I recieved enough snacks to support everyone, but I dont. Right now a lot of the troops are working 12+ hours a day, just to wake up the next day and do it all again. They work without question or complaints, nonstop, just because.
We are living in old Iraqi squadbays with 220 electricity. We have an Iraqi laundry service that comes twice a week. We all have plenty of hygene items, along with working showers.
I am hoping to possibly recieve some snacks(snacks are good!) for the troops here, maybe power converters, black boot socks, and any little things that might make these guys smile, maybe some music. Anything that can get these guys to smile would be great.
The females would like loofa's, hair conditioner, hand lotions, platex feminine wipes, face wash stuff and hair spray. They also seem to LOVE chocolate :o)
Anyway, thank you for taking the time to set this website up, I am sure many troops are very appreciative. Any help towards my troops would be awesome. Thank you!