The contents of many Care Packages laid out in our mini mess hall - gone in two days! |
One of the main purposes of this
blog is to be an open letter to my family (i.e. my Mom) to keep them posted
(pun intended) on how I am doing while deployed. And since my Mom posted on FaceBook she
hasn't seen anything lately on Corbinistan.com, I thought I better get to it.
You see, I have always felt an accompanying
picture/graphic was important to highlight an entry and for the past little bit
it has been not so picturesque; quite dreary with overcast skies, cold rain
with corresponding mud - nothing really worth writing home about.
But those at home, who send letters, cards
and Care Packages, have not been remiss in supporting deployed Soldiers and I
thought it appropriate to dedicate an entry highlighting those
individuals.
So, on behalf of all the grateful
Soldiers to whom I have distributed treats and snacks, here are the individuals
and groups I would like thank for their fantastic support and generosity - I
will still try to send a snail-mail thanks to everyone, and hopefully some
readers have received the card and token of appreciation I mailed in the past
weeks, but until then, please accept my sincere thanks and gratitude in these
S H O U T O U T S ! ! !
@ Helen C. and the great Virgin Angels in SF, CA: Dola, Doreen, Andrew, Joe, Nina, Grace, Tiera, Ashley, Rob, Andre, Dustin and Kristin (I hope I got you all). Your letters are greatly appreciated and the snacks you send I tend to keep mostly to myself but I shared the great DVDs - our USO is going to have a "Mad Men" marathon thanks to you all. I just got a letter today from Damian; best wishes for a Merry Miami Holiday!
@ Logan G. of London (very close to Corbin!), KY: Thank you for your letter; you have good hand writing for an 11 year old. I am not married and do not have any children but I do get to spend some time with children on Sundays at the Cat in the Hat Language Arts Center here at Bagram; there are kids about your age who are learning English. Unfortunately, I do not know how to play Xbox 360 so when I get bored I tend to read a book on my Kindle. The type of gun I have is called an M-249; I understand you are very curious about whether I have been shot at or if I have shot someone - it seems that is a common question from guys your age (and all ages) - but it isn't something most Soldiers like to talk about. I can promise you it is nothing like TV or the movies. It is getting cold here; yucky and muddy but sometimes we get some clear skies with the sun glistening on the surrounding mountains for a beautiful view. The Afghanistan money is called Afghanis with one US Dollar equaling about 50 Afghanis; I will see about mailing you some real Afghanis.
@ Soldiers' Angel Lori W. of Katy, TX: Tell your 76 year old Dad his card did make me smile. I haven't seen the Gangnam Style dance yet but I am sure it is good exercise and hope your lupus does not keep you from practicing. Thank you for your efforts in writing to deployed Soldiers.
@ Operation Buckeye and Susan, Kathleen H., Maria S., David, Mary and Daniel J., Robin and Dan S., and Stephen G.: The Care Packages you sent were great; the picture above is where I sorted the snacks into different boxes in our mini-mess hall where a couple hundred Soldiers eat lunch each day - everything was gone in less than two days!
@ Soldiers' Angel Leslie S. of Mill Hall, PA: Thank you for being a troop-supporter since 2006! It is great you take time from being a full-time college student and Mom to write to Soldiers; as a member of a large military family I know you know how much it means to Soldiers to receive mail.
@ American Legion Auxiliary, San Anselmo Unit 179 of San Anselmo, CA: Thank you Jan, Edna, Debra, Lauren, Ellen and Girl Scouts of Northern California (Troops 32053 and 30729) for the fantastic Holiday Stockings (and very nice home-made snowy holiday cards)! My favorites were the almonds and beef jerky but the shaving gel was greatly appreciated as our PX here in Bagram ran out some time ago. Also, the hand/feet warmers were just on time, too; with the weather getting pretty chilly in the evenings, the Soldiers on gate guard duty were very grateful.
@ Estes Family of League City, TX: The home-made cross necklaces were given to Soldiers who were happy to wear them and the Christmas decorations were used to decorate the "Rats Nest" a small Morale Welfare and Recreation building where Soldiers go to shoot pool, play ping-pong and relax. Thank you very much for sending so much holiday cheer.
@ Karen D. of Simi Valley, CA: Thank you and the kids for the great drawings; if you look at the picture above, you can just make out one of the drawings where they are decorating the walls of our mini mess hall. The books were taken to the Cat in the Hat and the snacks were quickly gobbled-up.
@ Desert Angels
of Auburn Hills, MI: The gate guards
greatly appreciated the snacks and candy from your packages while the books,
magazines and socks went to the USO where they were snatched up by Soldiers
from all over Bagram. Thank you very
much for your continuing support.
@ Si (Sonny) Tenenberg (former Marine - ongoing supporter
of Troops) of www.troopcarepacks.org and Janet, Silvana, Kathy, and Alyssa of First
Baptist Church of San Luis Obispo: The
green socks were a big hit and a pair went to several grateful Soldiers. The candy and snacks went into the boxes in
the picture above and were enjoyed by hungry Soldiers who were very happy to
get something special with their Army chow (well, maybe some of the beef jerky
and Slim Jims got stuck with me).
@ Soldiers' Angels Valerie and Chaplain Bill K. of Bronx,
NY!: Thank you for the nice card as well
as your thoughts and prayers.
@ Soldiers' Angel Patti McD. of Ravenna, OH: You are right about the weather changing
here; from hot and dusty to cold, rainy and muddy; not many trees changing
colors but Soldiers are changing into beige fleece jackets. My Dad was a Navy guy like your husband but
all of his sons went into the Army.
Thank you for writing to deployed Soldiers and sharing your thoughts.
@ Soldiers' Angel Melissa M. of Las Cruces, NM: One of my brothers was born in Las Cruces but
it seems we only lived there long enough for him to come into the world and for
me to get tubes in my ears. Thank you
for the "Forget me Not" flower and for clearly caring so much about
Soldiers.
@ Julie B. of Salem, MA:
Your Care Package with Pringles, PB crackers, Swedish Fish and candy was
a big hit with all the Soldiers I shared the goodies although I kept the
oatmeal for myself - I get teased by some of my coworkers because I use hot
coffee to make the oatmeal but it sure gets me going in the morning! I also enjoy running, and like you, have done
a marathon but once is enough. I am a
big fan of the movies and one of the things I miss most is going to
Friday/weekend matinees of opening films; it's a bummer to miss
"Lincoln", "Hobbit", etc.
Thank you and your friends and family for supporting deployed Soldiers.
@ Operation Gratitude of
Encino, CA: Thank you to everyone in
your organization for the great support of deployed Soldiers. The Care Packages you sent were distributed
to Soldiers working at our warehouse where they have 24-hour operations. The snacks and goodies were a great treat and
greatly appreciated.
@ Karen M. of Belmont, MA: Thank you for the healthy nuts and dried
fruit - I kept those for myself while giving the "donations" from Sir
Peter and Butterfly Kate's Halloween baskets to co-workers. I am not much of country music guy, but I
like the title "Two Days in November."
@ Sharon G. of Woburn, MA: Please tell Julie her efforts in coordinating
the TLC Packages are greatly appreciated.
I enjoyed the pictures of your furry "children" - particularly
Shelby's cool sunglasses. We do have a Green
Beans Coffee shop here on Bagram but I am not familiar with the Cup of Joe for
a Joe program - although I am all for coffee!
My co workers sweeten theirs with sugar and cream but I take mine black. Thank you for your support, thoughts and
prayers.
@ Soldiers' Angel Gale R. of Cherryville, NC: Thank you for your nice card - when I saw it
I thought the pottery was some sort of Mesopotamian artifact but it turned out
to be traditional Armenian. Your
support, well-wishes and kind words are greatly appreciated.
@ Danielle, Cora and Daniel H. of Portland, OR: The jerky and almonds stayed with me but the
Pringles, M&Ms and Pringles went to Soldiers on gate guard duty; thank you
very much for the great Care Package and nice Christmas card - it took me a while
to figure out the "25" on Santa's train was for the 25th of December.
@ Pat and Mac McCoy of Yellow Ribbon Support Group in Palatine,
IL: Your generous Care Packages
contributed to the boxes in the picture above as well as to Soldiers on gate
guard duty. I took the stuffed animals
to the little girls at the Cat in the Hat where they brought bright
smiles. Thank you very much to your
great support to deployed Soldiers.
@ Holli G B. of Owensboro, KY(!): Thank you for the yummy snacks; I usually
keep Slim Jim type of things for myself but shared them along with the other
items. We have made good use of the
Chess game and play almost every day; your support of Soldiers, as well as The
Humane Society, is greatly appreciated.
@ Soldiers' Angels Dave and Daisy J. of Canal Winchester,
OH: Thank you for taking time away from
babysitting David and Sarah to send the nice card and letter; I hope Dave's
cane has a slip-proof tip to handle your ice and snow.
@ Operation Shoebox of
Belleview, FL: The great variety of snacks
was distributed to numerous Soldiers and the toiletry items went to the USO
where they were grabbed up by needful Soldiers; thank you very much for your
ongoing support of deployed troops.
@ Katrina M. of Las Vegas, NV: There is a certain Sergeant First Class whose
favorite treat is peanut M&Ms so she was very happy to get the ones you
sent. The soups and granola bars were
shared amongst Soldier's in my unit; thank you for your generosity.
@ St Hugo Second Grade Brownie Troops 70874 and 70883 as
well as Desert Angels
of Bloomfield Hills, MI: It was very
nice to see the picture of all the smiling Brownies but the best part of the
great packages you sent was the great hand-drawn Christmas card with the
decorated tree and Brownie waving hello under the American Flag; I taped the
card to my wall where it brings me a smile every day. All the great goodies went to our mini mess
hall and were enjoyed by hungry Soldiers.
@ Joyce M. K. and Hibernia United Methodist Church of
Coatesville, PA: Nothing says Christmas
like a colorful stocking stuffed with goodies!
I am sure your son shared with you what is like for us here at Bagram
and your are 100% right it means very much to Soldiers to know that folks back
home are thinking of us; the prayers well wishes definitely help keep our
spirits up and make the days a bit brighter.
Thank you very much for your concern and care.
@ The Military Support Group of Rhinelander, WI: The snacks, treats, and movies you sent were
shared amongst the troops and were greatly appreciated. Thank you very much for your care and efforts;
I know as Veterans you understand how important mail call can be and much
expressed appreciation means to a Soldier.
@ Kelli C. of Seobu-Myeon, South Korea(!): It was very nice and quite a surprise to
receive your package from Korea! I was
in Seoul many years ago and your note had me thinking about some yummy
yakimandu and bimbimbop. The strawberry
Oreos are still on my desk because the package makes me laugh. I hope you enjoy your adventure in Korea and thank
you for the nice letter.
@ Gilda and Tom M. and Maureen Corbin(!!) C. of The Dataw
Island Community in St Helena, SC: Thank
you for the great package; I will take the gliders to the Cat in the Hat for
the boys - we just had a field trip to the air strip where they got to go
inside a C-130
so it will be fun for them to put together and fly the gliders. @ Maureen - there are not too many Corbin's
around so we must be kin somehow!
@ Amanda C. Morrow J. of Amherst, NH: I wanted to be a complete Scrooge and keep
the bag of homemade holiday cookies you sent all for myself but I have shared
them with co-workers to enjoy with our morning coffee. Thank you also for the decorations; we used
them to bring cheer to a new Sergeant's work area.
@ Anyone I missed and did not address specifically: Thank
you very much for your support of deployed Soldiers; people here like to tease
me about the mail I receive but Soldiers like the ones who spend long hours on
guard duty in the cold and/or dark are extremely grateful. Soldiers can be rough and gruff but they really
are very appreciative of the thought, care and efforts made by those who show
support with letters, cards and packages.