OH MY GOD
SHARON!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! If I was there I would hug
and kiss everyone. You just don't know what you have
done for the morale of me and all my soldiers. We
have been going through a real rough time and a week
ago we had to watch as they put a
couple of our friends in some body bags. But the
care packages that you have sent really put a smile
on all the soldiers faces and gave them a piece of
home. Some of them broke down and cried and some
just sat on the desert floor and ate the goodies. We
are all trying to send a picture to the local
newspaper thanking you and the church personally. I
don't know if it will happen but I want to
personally say I thank God for you and all those who
gave. I passed out the cards and letters to all the
soldiers and it was kind of hard to watch some of
them read the cards because with some of them, their
own families don't even write them and it is hard
for me to understand how can complete strangers care
more about us than our families. How can I ever
thank you, what can I say or do for you and the kind
people of your church. Some of the soldiers and
myself feel kind of guilty cause we really don't
have much to give in return. But even as I am
emailing you, my soldiers are constantly coming up
with ideas of what we can do to show our gratitude.
Thank you all, God bless you all.
PS. Please convey this email to the church members
and let them know how grateful we all are.
SSG Arthur L.
Good
evening! Wanted to drop a quick line to make sure
you knew I was fine
and doing well. I've been away from the computer
for a bit plus I'm in the
process of getting ready to go home on leave. Yes,
after being in Iraq
since November 2006 I am finally getting the chance
to head home for 2 weeks
of R&R. The good news about my return is that our
team will be leaving Iraq
towards the end of October 2007. Needless to say we
are all very excited.
I'd like to request if you have any more care
packages to send please send
them now. And I'd also like to ask that these care
packages be the last you
send to us. You have supported us more than we ever
expected. I warn you
not to send anymore mail because I'm not sure if
other Americans will be
here when we leave. I'd hate to see your stuff go
to waste. :-)
I am grateful that we have so many Americans willing
to give up their time
& effort for guys like me. Thanks to your fine
example I plan to adopt
someone too once I get back to the States.
Life in Iraq continues along a steady beat. We're
busy with 'Operation
Arrowhead Ripper' as we rid the city of Baqubah of
Al-Qaeda and other types
of 'bad guys.' The weather is super-hot with
average daily temps nearing
130F! Thankfully, we were able to find a generator
that we use to power our
building's a/c so we're lucky. We only have power
for 5 hours during the
day so we need to make our own energy. :-) I
received word of my follow-on
assignment after Iraq. I'm going to go to Fort
Benning to learn how to jump
out of planes and than move to Italy with my wife
and dog (no kids...yet).
;-) We'll be there for 3-4 years which is a great
assignment.
I'll be sure to keep everyone informed as we prepare
to leave Iraq. I'm
sure I'll be able to send a memorable photo of our
team boarding the plane
that'll take us out of here. I smile just thinking
about it. :-) I hope
you, your family and friends are well. Thanks again
for all your messages,
care packages, thoughts and prayers. They have
helped more than you think.
Ryan :-)
Comments
Here: HI, IM JASON. WELL, HOW DO I START? SOME OF THE
GUYS WERE TALKING ABOUT THEIR ADOPTIVE SUPPORTERS. AND I
WANT TO BE ADOPTED TOO.. I REALLY LOVE THE FACT THAT
THEIR ARE PEOPLE LIKE YOU EVEN DOING THIS. I THOUGHT WE
WERE ON OUR OWN.
FORGOTTEN... YOUR INTEREST WARMS MY SOUL. THANKS.
YOURS SINCERELY JASON
"No requests, just don't want to be forgotten." - LCPL
OJT III Marin
"I want to than you from the bottom of my heart for your
support of us soldiers. It means a lot when we know that
people back home support us. It helps us get through the
hard days and nights." - Jason P, Iraq
"Sorry I haven't been in touch too much. As you can imagine
things have been very busy here the past few weeks.
The missing soldiers belong to the unit I currently work
with and there is a lot of focus, as you can imagine, on
finding them. Please keep them and their families in
your thoughts and prayers, along with the rest of our
military serving here in Iraq as well as those in
Afghanistan.
I know I have told you before, but I wanted to tell you
again, thank you for supporting the men and women of the
United States Armed Forces. It amazes me the amount of
support, regardless of your personal opinion of the war. It
is more appreciated than perhaps you understand." - Sean B,
Iraq
"Thank you so much for your support. It just feels
great to know that you guys have our back. I love my
country, I love the people more. I am in charge of the mail
clerks and I have noticed some folks like myself, never get
anything. I will compile a list and send the info. Thanks
again, God bless and keep us both." - RJA SSG Supply NCO,
Iraq
"I
really want to thank you for what you do for us. It helps
out so much with the things you send us and every I have
talked to is so willing to give support with their e-mails
and letters I get. Thanks again for all your support for me
and my guys here. It helps so much!" - M.S., Iraq
"I only wish
that I knew the words to express how much you all impact our
lives over here. To all who sacrifice their time and money
to this cause, I would like to also extend my most sincere
thanks to each and every one of them. No matter how
much or how little their contribution may be, every one of
you all seems to me to be focused on the same goal, which is
rarely seen these days. Things for me have most
definitely been better. The holidays are by far the
worst time of the year when away from home and friends.
However, knowing that there are amazing people like you and
your friends taking time from your days to make ours that
much better makes me know I'm not alone, ever. Thank you all
once again for everything!
Sincerely, M.D, Iraq"
"Ms. Kelly -
Yes, I have heard from a couple of your supporters and want
to say "Thank You" for your service! I am corresponding with
them over email and anticipate receiving their generosity in
the upcoming weeks. What a blessing it is to know how much
we (soldiers) are cared for by the people in America. Many
of our soldiers are benefiting from your organization's
efforts.
Again, thank you and Merry Christmas (belated)!"
Chaplain 12-26-08
Ma'am
I'm not sure who has put
me in for it but you'll be happy to know that I have
already been on your site and have been adopted by
multiable families back state side. Since I got your
attention if only while you read my email I wanted to
send a heart fill thanks for what you do. The lives of
many soldiers would be a lot more depressing with out
you and those like you.
Thanks for Every Thing
SSgt Ben
Hi Ann, my name is Spc. Remson
( Animal Doc!!) ,
I'm a medic as i
see your son is too from the picture, and i must say
medics really do lead the way out here. I recently
signed up for your program and just wanted to thank
you and congrat you on your accomplishments and
success with this program you started. It's truley a
wonderful heart warming feeling when you get a
letter from someone you dont even know thanking you
for what your doing out here. My battle buddy and
also my best friend recieved a outstanding package
from one of his families the other night on our day
off, and he was so excited about it you should've
seen his face, i couldn't help but join in on the
excitement this package was causing him, so i guess
you should've seen OUR faces! lol . we were like two
kids sitting outside in the dark with a flashlight
opening this package like it was gifts on christmas
day and saying oooh ooh ooh as we stuffed our faces
with chocolate and peanut butter cookies, reading
the senders letter. At that point we looked at each
other and realized how happy that made us and could
only imagine the thousands of other troops feeling
the same exact thing. Two days later I recieved a
letter from a 10 year boy telling me about himself
and asking me questions and telling me jokes,
it made me feel really good and i cant wait to reply
to him. My unit is also currently deployed to Iraq
tackling the daily struggles, I too have a lot to
deal with, being the medic I cover lots of different
missions from convoys to air trans to other things.
So we all know what it feels like to be away from
home. So in all i wanted to salute you and your
family for supporting us and taking up the challenge
to get our troops taken care of while we're over
here. Thank you so much Ann !!!!
*Please
note we do not correct grammar or spelling when posting comments,
quotes or letters from our soldiers. We type them exactly as we
receive them.
couple of our friends in some body bags. But the
care packages that you have sent really put a smile
on all the soldiers faces and gave them a piece of
home. Some of them broke down and cried and some
just sat on the desert floor and ate the goodies. We
are all trying to send a picture to the local
newspaper thanking you and the church personally. I
don't know if it will happen but I want to
personally say I thank God for you and all those who
gave. I passed out the cards and letters to all the
soldiers and it was kind of hard to watch some of
them read the cards because with some of them, their
own families don't even write them and it is hard
for me to understand how can complete strangers care
more about us than our families. How can I ever
thank you, what can I say or do for you and the kind
people of your church. Some of the soldiers and
myself feel kind of guilty cause we really don't
have much to give in return. But even as I am
emailing you, my soldiers are constantly coming up
with ideas of what we can do to show our gratitude.
Thank you all, God bless you all.