TOON: Sunday's Doonesbury - "Do Americans Still Support The Mission...?"

[Hissyspit]

http://www.imgred.com/

[n2doc]

1. k n r, pretty much says it all about modern American warfare.

[CRK7376]

2. I love Doonsebury....

I received a few care packages and lots on letters from schools, ARC, Scout troops etc early in the Afghan War. THey were well received by me and my fellow soldiers. I always responded to the letters and packages with a thank you note and description of what it was like in my slice of Afghanistan. I'm curious how many care packages and letters are showing up for "Any Service-member" these days. Fortunately I haven't been back to the war zone, but that first year....it was great getting letters and packages for family and all the others who took time, money and effort to send out a little slice of home....Thanks to all who did. I know several DU folks contacted me about how, where and what to send. GI's don't care! They just appreciate the effort.

[tblue37]

3. I accidentally ended up with a pen pal ffrom early in this war.

In 2004 a young man stationed in Tikrit found my 10 websites while stuck at a desk with nothing to do for hours. Over a couple of weeks he read all 450 of my articles and then sent me a very long fan email. I responded, and we ended up emailing regularly over the year he was there.

Soon after that first email exchange, I started staying up into the ugly morning hours to IM with him, since he spent his mornings stuck at that desk, before going out on other kinds of jobs. With the time differential, that meant I had to stay up past midnight to IM with him.

I sent him books, too. He really loved those packages.

He is back in San Diego now, and going to college, but we still keep in touch.

My nephew was in Mosul at that same time. (He is back in Baghdad now--his second Iraq tour.) Although my nephew and I are not really close, I made sure he got a snail-mail letter every week, and I also emailed him long, letter-length emails at least three times a week. He was very grateful for those contacts. He doesn’t need as many letters from me now, though, because he has a wife and an almost 1-year-old baby, so his mail is filled with letters and pictures from people he really is close to. Back then, though, all he had writing to him was his parents, siblings, grandparents, and me.

While he was there the first time, though, his high school English teacher had her class write a bunch of letters to him. He said he kept those letters and read and reread them the whole time he was there, even though they were from people he didn't even know!

When they are not sweating bullets while out on patrol, these soldiers are often bored and lonely for a touch from home. Mail-call breaks up the day and gives them something to look forward to. Isn’t it true that even those of us here at home look forward to when the mail arrives? And that we are disappointed when nothing interesting comes in the mail? Imagine that feeling multiplied by about a zillion for those stuck in the middle of a war zone far from home.

When a friend of mine was in the first war in Iraq, I used to write to him every week (no email back then). He told me that it was a huge thrill to come in from guard duty and find a letter on his bed waiting for him. Mail service was a bit iffy during that war, so the letters would come in erratically. Sometimes as letter sent out later would arrive before one sent out earlier. Sometimes none would arrive for a couple of weeks, but then several would arrive at once.

About a year after he got back from Iraq, he called to tell me that another of my letters had just arrived! He was back here, but the letter had been forwarded all over the place for a year before it found its way to him. He got a big kick out of the fact that my letters were still arriving.

Even cards help. When Ann Landers used to encourage people to send Valentine's day cards to soldiers in Vet hospitals, they would write back to her and tell her how grateful they were to receive an outpouring of cards, especially the homemade ones from kids.

I can’t stress this enough. Care packages are fantastic, and we all need to send what we can when we can. But even something as simple as a card can brighten the day for someone who has little to look forward to each day.

[TygrBright]

4. Y'know, I got as far as requesting an APO address for a pen pal...

...and then sat down at the keyboard to write a letter. I wrote:

"Dear Soldier--

I want to thank you for your commitment to our country and our Constitution, and for putting yourself in harm's way on behalf of me and my neighbors."

And then I stuck. I thought "What the hell do I know that would be interesting or relevant to someone up to their ass in sand and IEDs and 110-degree weather and shitty food? They don't know from me. Whatthehell will they care about the day-to-day trivia of my life? Whatthehell will my silly opinions mean to someone living through what they're living through? How can my naive assumptions about what's going on over there be anything other than frustrating or laughable or even obnoxious to them?"

And then I thought, "What if the things I could write about that are beautiful and peaceful and homelike just make them feel worse?!?"

And I ended up practically crying in frustration. I don't follow sports, I'm not young so I don't know about the latest cool stuff on TV or music or pop culture, I know nothing about cars or fishing or suchlike stuff, what could I write about that would be anything but irrelevant to them?

So I never finished it. I feel bad about it, but it was honestly the worst case of writer's block I've ever had.

So help me out here, and maybe I'll try again. What do they want to read about? What does an old lady who knows diddlysquat about what they're going through, or the stuff they like, or any thing like that, have to tell them about that will make them feel good?

Suggestions?

discouragedly,
Bright

[comtec]

5. Thank you and im sorry Soldier

I did not work harder to prevent this atrocious war from beginning.
Don't worry about any of the politics back home, it's all rot anyway.
Take care of your fellow soldiers, and try to retain your humanity,
and all of us back home will continue to do our damnedest to bring
you home, to raise your pay and make sure then when you do come back
(god willing in one piece physically) you are tell taken care of
medically for the rest of you (hopefully long) life. I will do my
damnedest to bring you home. I pray to god that you come home, alive,
unharmed and still loving your country and fellow humans. Thank you
for putting your life on the line and fighting for the American Ideal.
I can't begin to be able to understand your angst every day, but I do
pray you can retain your soul.

Please come back to us alive.

-A grateful Citizen

[tblue37]

7. Some of them "believe in the mission," so unless you know for sure how the soldier

feels about it, it is best not to slam the war or get all political. My young friend in Tikrit happens to be liberal and very much against this war and the whole Republican con game, but I didn't mention anything like that until I found out, from his own comments, that he felt that way.

A much beloved cousin of mine, a man in his 30s with two young daughters, did a year in Iraq a couple of years ago. He is not there now, but he is very much a believer in the mission. That whole side of my family is Republican and have drunk the BushCo Kool-Aid--but they are otherwise wonderful, decent, loving people. I know he would have enjoyed getting friendly mail from strangers, but I also know he would NOT have enjoyed reading criticism of that sort.

I keep my letters and emails to Iraq-bound people light. They don't need to be brought down.

[comtec]

8. True enough

I didn't mean to be so dark. I've had a rough month (not comparing to them of course) and my feeling towards the war and our government made it come out as a rant, and not as a letter letting them know we support them, and we want to make sure they are taken care of.

[tblue37]

6. I am an "old lady," too!

When I couldn't think of anything to say,I used to send jokes, cartoons and comic strips, interesting articles from newspapers or magazines. Ask the soldier where he/she is from. Ask about the family, the hometown, etc. Then you can find ineresting articles about their hometown, or write to them or send them articles about subjects that interest them.

I sometimes email pictures and videos that I found online thatare just fun, cute or cool. I like the site cuteoverload.com for cute pics that bring a smile to peope's faces. Sometimes I browse YouTube to find neat videos.

I have sent pics of the work of a man who does three-dimensional siewalk art.

I send stories and poems they might enjoy reading.

Just keep in mind that when they are not in danger they are often just plain bored and lonely. Anything that breaks up the tedium is welcome.

After you have exchanged letters or emails for a while, you will know the person well enough to have all kinds of things to write to each other about.

My young friend in Tikrit told me about his fiancee--and even sometimes asked for advice, because a woman in her 50s (i.e., me) has life experience a young person can draw on, and sometimes they are not comfortable asking their own mothers.

And of course they really love when you send them books or magazines. Find out what sorts of books they like and send them along with other care package items, like chapstick, sunblock, packets of powdered soft-drink mix, etc. Or ask what little items they would like to get in care packages.

SOme have fewfriends or family members sending stuff, but even those who do have friendsa nd family sending stuff are glad for more contact.

As I said above, when my nephew got a packet of letters that his high school English teacher had her class write to him, he saved them and read them repeatedly the whole time he was there. He didn't know any of the kids who had written to him, but he really enjoyed the letters, and treasured the opportunity to read and reread them.