SPC S."  "Wow...your dedication to these soldiers will not go unnoticed. I will pray over your organization and also let these soldiers know what a sacrifice you've made just to get the letters and cards to them. I honestly cant say this enough: THANK YOU!"

06/16/09 From one of the wives of National Guard we sent cards to in 08:

06/08/09 We might finally get help with shipping Thank you Aaron:

"Denise:

it is critical you contact me to initiate the logistics of your project. I also accept your offer to be your military advisor!
I am in kabul and need you to respond to me. our company is deeply interested in your cause. and, like i said - we DO AIR SERVICE IN IRAQ/AFGHANISTAN/AFRICA.

so, as a resident of Salt Lake (but living in kabul presently) I urge you to contact me to get this rolling."
 

06/15/09 From  Air Force in Iraq:

06/03/09 Thank you JP of milblogging.com with your 1000s of milbloggers and tweeters: "Just tweeted letters to soldiers and i'll regularly tweet at least once a week now to get the word out."

From our milblogger Bouhammer in Afghanistan about a hero:

05/29/09"

04/27/09 "

The Sack Lunches

 I put my carry-on in the luggage compartment and sat down in my assigned

seat. It was going to be a long flight. 'I'm glad I have a good book to

read Perhaps I will get a short nap,' I thought.

 Just before take-off, a line of soldiers came down the ais le and filled

all the vacant seats, totally surrounding me. I decided to start a

conversation.  'Where are you headed?' I asked the soldier seated nearest to

me.'Petawawa. We'll be there for two weeks for special training, and then

we're being deployed to Afghanistan

 After flying for about an hour, an announcement was made that sack

lunches were available for five dollars. It would be several hours

before we reached the east, and I quickly decided a lunch would help

pass the time..

 As I reached for my wallet, I overheard a soldier ask his buddy if he

planned to buy lunch. 'No, that seems like a lot of money for just a

sack lunch. Probably wouldn't be worth five bucks. I'll wait till we get to

base '

 His friend agreed...

 I looked around at the other soldiers. None were buyin g lunch. I walked

to the back of the plane and handed the flight attendant a fifty dollar

bill. 'Take a lunch to all those soldiers.' She grabbed my arms and squeezed

tightly. Her eyes wet with tears, she thanked me. 'My son was a soldier

in Iraq; it's almost like you are doing it for him.'

 Picking up ten sacks, she headed up the aisle to where the soldiers were

seated. She stopped at my seat and asked, 'Which do you like best - beef

or chicken?'

 'Chicken,' I replied, wondering why she asked. She turned and went to

th e front of plane, returning a minute later with a dinner plate from

first class. 'This is your thanks.'

 After we finished eating, I went again to the back of the plane, heading

for the rest room. A man stopped me. 'I saw what you did. I want to be

part of it. Here, take this..' He handed me twenty-five dollars.

 Soon after I returned to my seat, I saw the Flight Captain coming down

the aisle, looking at the aisle numbers as he walked, I hoped he was not

looking for me, but noticed he was looking at the numbers only on my

side of the plane. When he got to my row he stopped, smiled, held out

his hand, an said, 'I want to shake your hand.'

 Quickly unfastening my seatbelt I stood and took the Captain's hand.

With a booming voice he said, 'I was a soldier and I was a military

pilot. Once, someone bought me a lunch.. It was an ac t of kindness I

never forgot.' I was embarrassed when applause was heard from all of the

passengers.

 Later I walked to the front of the plane so I could stretch my legs. A

man who was seated about six rows in front of me reached out his hand,

wanting to shake mine. He left another twenty-five dollars in my palm.

 When we landed I gathered my belongings and started to deplane. Waiting

just inside the airplane door was a man who stopped me, put something in

my shirt pocket, turned, and walked away without saying a word. Another

twenty-five dollars!

 Upon entering the terminal, I saw the soldiers gathering for their trip

to the base. I walked over to them and handed them seventy-five dollars.

'It will take you some time to reach the base. It will be about time for

a sandwich. God Bless You.'

 Ten young men left that flight feeling the love and respect of their

fellow travelers. As I walked briskly to my car, I whispered a prayer

for their safe return. These soldiers were giving their all for our

country. I could only give them a couple of meals.

 It seemed so little...

 A veteran is someone who, at one point in his life, wrote a blank check

made payable to 'America for an amount of 'up to and including my life.'

That is Honor, and there are way too many people in this country who no

longer understand it.'"

04/15/09 Just got back from setting up/tearing  and running down our booth for 4 hours for the troops where we collected 20 volunteers' contact info, our director spoke on stage about supporting our troops and "protecting our freedoms at home while our military sacrifice their lives overseas,"

04/13/09 From our Medical team we ship packages to in Iraq:

April 13, 2009 at 1:29pm

The remains of five army soldiers killed in a suicide bombing in Iraq arrived at D. base Sunday evening as families looked on.  The five soldiers were killed Friday when a suicide bomber driving a truck detonated a ton of explosives near a police headquarters in the northern city of Mosul.  The attack was the deadliest against U.S. troops in more than a year. ( Doc's MRAP with his medical team was scheduled to drive there off base at 10am and was postponed or he could have been in the Mrap that was blown up. Read in  my friend, Doc's own words Sunday to his family and I: "..  a few days ago, as another group of US soldiers lost their lives defending freedom in this land. We were scheduled to go out on mission at 1000, but had to postpone it to 1100 because of projects that needed finished. Just after 1000, as I was walking back from the Hospital where I was working on a project of my own, there was a very large and loud explosion just to the north of us.
Reports said that a dump truck had made it onto one of the roads we use to exit the Base and drove into a wall
around some Iraqi barracks. The explosion destroyed several buildings and vehicles nearby as well as a MRAP
that was headed out on a mission. If we had not postponed our mission, that could very well have been our MRAP's
that were rolling by at the wrong time. Many on the team have begun to get spooked as the insurgents have
increased the power of their attacks." Help me send them our support and prayers for their safety!!

 04/09/09 From a soldier and milblogger in Afghanistan:

"The words below are from the Song Home Again, off of the new Queensryche album, American Soldier. Every time I hear this song I get a lump in my throat and have to fight back the tears. It truly speaks to my soul and reminds me of the way I felt many times."

 

It’s harder than I thought,
to be so far away.
So I thought I’d write this letter to you and explain.
For me it wasn’t easy to raise the flag and leave.
But I thought that you should know how
much you mean to me.

I won’t be there to see you dance and hear
you sing the songs we love.
So please be strong and it won’t be long till
I’m home again.
You know you make me proud
because you’re the one that I depend upon.
And when I return, I promise,
I’ll never leave you alone again.

It’s harder than I thought and you’re so far away.
so I thought I’d write this letter to you and explain.
It was only a moment.
I turned my head to wipe my eyes and
when I looked again I saw your smile that
said goodbye.

Mama says don’t worry,
because Daddy’s brave and he’s coming
home. But if I could change one thing,
I’d never let you go.

I want you here to see me dance and sing
along to the songs we love.
So I’ll be strong. It won’t be long till you’re
home again with me.

When it feels too much to take,
I want you to know that I’m thinking about
you, making plans for when I’m home.

Why aren’t you here?
I wake up every night.
I check the front porch light,
making sure it’s shining bright.

And I’ll be there to shine the light
So you can find your way to me.
I’m feeling strong, but don’t take too long.
Please come home to me.

I’ll be there to see you dance and hear you
sing the songs I love.
It won’t be long.
It won’t be long till I’m home again!

Why aren’t you here?
I’m coming home!

From: Milblogging.com Webmaster [mailto:milblogging@gmail.com]
Sent: Tuesday, March 24, 2009 6:27 AM
To: Letters To Soldiers
Subject: Re: Honoring a Fallen Soldier and Avid Writer and Military Blogger, Sgt. Christopher P. Abeyta

 "Hi Denise

How can I help?"

JP

"Hey Denise

I'll get something posted late this week...

(Will put it) on Milblogging.com (and) hopefully other influencers will pick up your story.

I'll also send it out via my Newsletter of 5,000 strong subscribers and I'll tweet about it to nearly 3,000.

Thanks for all the kind words and more importantly thanks for everything you're doing.

Cheers!"
JP

In loving memory for our Honorable Heroes:

On Mon, Mar 23, 2009 at 11:04 PM, Letters to Soldiers <info@letterstosoldiers.net> wrote:

From: Milblogging.com Webmaster [mailto:milblogging@gmail.com]
Sent: Monday, March 23, 2009 6:10 PM
To: info@letterstosoldiers.org
Subject: Honoring a Fallen Soldier and Avid Writer and Military Blogger,
Sgt. C.

March 23rd, 2009

"Sgt. C. 23, of Midlothian, Illinois, was killed last
week while serving in Afghanistan.  Sgt. A. and two other soldiers who
were with him, Sgt. R. and Spc. N., were also
killed when the vehicle they were riding in was struck by an IED.

Sgt. A. ran a military blog from Afghanistan called The Chronicles of
Butters! <http://ironmansplace.blogspot.com/>   and according to a news
story Sgt. Ab. had kept a journal since he was 11-years old..."

Jacob Poehls overcoming learning disability by writing to Marine in Iraq

By Mike Celizic

"TODAYShow.com contributor

updated 9:05 a.m. MT, Thurs., Feb. 12, 2009

The 8-year-old boy had never been to New York City before, and he looked as if he wasn’t sure why he was sitting in a television studio with his mom talking to a nice lady who wanted to know about his Marine pen pal in Iraq.

So Jacob Poehls let his mom, Nora Hall, do the talking while he sat quietly wearing the camo hat and scarf Sgt. Balthazar Pineda had sent him from Iraq. Hall was telling TODAY’s Meredith Vieira that her special needs son had slept with the scarf and hat for a week after he got them, and described how little use for reading and writing Jacob had had before his correspondence with Pineda began.

But once Jacob, who loves all things military, had Pineda in his life, he leaped into the world of the written word, because that was the only way he could communicate with the gunnery sergeant who was serving his country in Iraq. Changing his life
Having a Marine pen pal changed Jacob’s life “in more ways than I could ever have expected,” Hall told Vieira. “It gave him confidence besides a reason to want to write and read.”

In a few months, Pineda, who lives in California and has two girls of his own, will be returning to the states. In their correspondence he had promised to come to Colorado to meet Jacob.

Vieira asked Jacob when he expected to meet Pineda. “A couple months,” Jacob said.

“How about today?” Vieira said.

Jacob said nothing, but nodded his head to indicate that would be fine with him. And then, as if by magic, there was Pineda on the studio TV monitor talking to Jacob via satellite from Al Asad Airfield in Iraq.

“I’d just like to tell Jacob, I’ve heard about all his hard work from his mom, and [to] tell him I’m really proud of everything he’s been doing,” Pineda said as Jacob watched in fascination.

Vieira asked Jacob if he’d like to say something to the sergeant. The boy hesitated and finally said, “I really, really, really love him.”

“I love you too, buddy,” Pineda replied with a big grin."

Getting mail from home is a major morale boost for troops serving overseas. Vieira said that some 25 percent of soldiers don’t get any mail. A Web site, www.adoptaussoldier.org, has been established to connect Americans to soldiers as pen pals.

A new world opens
Last August, at her wit’s end over how to get Jacob interested in his schoolwork, Hall had called a recruiting office in Fort Carson, near their home in Colorado. She told the officer about her son’s deep love of the military, and the officer suggested she go the Web site and get Jacob a pen pal.

Excited at the thought of having a real Marine as a friend, Jacob worked hard to compose a letter talking about his interests in gym, lunch and recess. Pineda sent Jacob the camo hat and scarf and told the boy in a letter that gym and recess were fun, but reading and math were important, especially for a Marine.

Hall said that Jacob literally ripped the package open when it arrived. From that moment on, reading and writing were no longer chores to be avoided. They were a gateway to his friend.

Jacob took the scarf and hat to school, and soon his entire class — and then all of Summit Elementary School — began adopting soldiers as pen pals. The school collected stuffed animals and sent them to soldiers to give to Iraqi children, and when a TODAY show camera crew visited the school earlier this week, the school was busy making valentines to send to the troops.

“For us Marines out here, it means a lot,” Pineda said. “It means that there’s people in the United States who still care about their Marines and are thinking about us during this whole Iraq and Afghanistan war.”

Jacob was too shocked at actually seeing and hearing Pineda to say anything else. But his mother had one more thing to tell Pineda.
“I want to thank you, sir,” she said, her eyes tearing up. “I’m honored to be able to tell you how much you mean to us and my son.”

A new world opens
Last August, at her wit’s end over how to get Jacob interested in his schoolwork, Hall had called a recruiting office in Fort Carson, near their home in Colorado. She told the officer about her son’s deep love of the military, and the officer suggested she go the Web site and get Jacob a pen pal.

Excited at the thought of having a real Marine as a friend, Jacob worked hard to compose a letter talking about his interests in gym, lunch and recess. Pineda sent Jacob the camo hat and scarf and told the boy in a letter that gym and recess were fun, but reading and math were important, especially for a Marine.

Hall said that Jacob literally ripped the package open when it arrived. From that moment on, reading and writing were no longer chores to be avoided. They were a gateway to his friend.

Jacob took the scarf and hat to school, and soon his entire class — and then all of Summit Elementary School — began adopting soldiers as pen pals. The school collected stuffed animals and sent them to soldiers to give to Iraqi children, and when a TODAY show camera crew visited the school earlier this week, the school was busy making valentines to send to the troops.

“For us Marines out here, it means a lot,” Pineda said. “It means that there’s people in the United States who still care about their Marines and are thinking about us during this whole Iraq and Afghanistan war.”

Jacob was too shocked at actually seeing and hearing Pineda to say anything else. But his mother had one more thing to tell Pineda.
“I want to thank you, sir,” she said, her eyes tearing up. “I’m honored to be able to tell you how much you mean to us and my son.”

_____________________________

"January 11, 2009

 Dear Denise,

 We are writing you to thank you for your offering of support to us while we are here in Afghanistan serving in the military. Thank you for all of your long hours and many efforts to make this holiday special for us.  Thank you to all the supporters of your efforts.  Soldiers have thanked me for your kindness.  There were a number of soldiers whose only package for the holidays was the one you sent to them.  Because of you no one was forgotten.  Thank you for your support. Thank you for caring enough to do such a nice thing for us.  Thank you especially for your prayers.  We have been blessed by your faithfulness and we thank you.

 We were able to get a few pictures that we will send to you through e-mail.  The soldiers were very appreciative of the support from home and I was glad to be able to distribute the things out to them. It means so much to get something in the mail (Most of us are blessed to have e-mail, but nothing beats receiving something in the mail). Many of our soldiers are in remote locations without the possibility of going to the store or having many of the luxuries of home, so your kindness was especially significant to them.

 We should be returning home soon to our family and loved-ones, but we wanted to make sure that you know how grateful we are for you and how much your kindness helped us get through this experience. We are honored to serve wonderful patriots like you. It makes our sacrifice so much more meaningful.  Thank you again. May God’s blessings always smile upon you.

 Sincerely,

 Chaplain M. and The members of the National Guard Battalion

Task Force W.

I am trying to get the photos from our photographer to send to you.  You

are awesome!  Thank you so much for your support.  May you have many

great success in this new year.

 Sincerely,"

 Chaplain M.

12/28/08 From NG Public Affairs Unit in Iraq: Letters mailed to us:  Click their picture to see all the pictures they took with disposable cameras WalMart donated

Dear Denise                                                                                          Dec. 9, 2008

You don’t know me but I have been blessed at your hand as a Soldier in Iraq.  My name is Sgt. W.  I know, I know, it looks like a fraud, but that is really my name and I am a 26 yr old male originally from P..  I’m really good friends with your buddy D. and he gave me one of the many care packages you sent just recently.  So I had a little time to stop and say thank you, because that care package was the best care package I’ve received.  You could just tell that everything was well thought out and carefully prepared for someone you didn’t even know, so thank you for your thoughts, your time, your heart and not to mention the money and effort that went into these care packages.  I have told my parents not to send me anything because I have everything I need, I even went as far as to not give them my address, but you know, it’s good to get something every once in a while.  So thanks for making me feel special and that there are people back who actually take the time to think of us out here, it’s actually quite gratifying.  This Christmas ill be the first I’ve spent away from wife and kids and every little bit helps, but you gve a “big” bit, holy cow!!!  As I was going through the box, I couldn’t believe the stuff I was pulling out!!!  That A Capella CD is freaken awesome!  I haven’t listened to the other CDs yet as I just got the package last night.  Thanks Again!  Things here are steadily progressing and elections are coming up in January.  Iraq is slowly gaining the ability to become a sovereign nation and is taking the necessary “slow” steps.  We’ve been kept safe out here and I believe it will continue.  Thanks again and Merry Christmas to you and your loved ones.

Sincerely,

W.SPC Ni.  National Guard

                                                                                               December 8, 2008

Dear Denise,  What a wonderful care package!  SC Y. shared the boxes you sent and I absolutely loved the one I got – cute stocking, wonderful music, a copy of The Christmas Box (love that story), adorable handmade cads from elementary school kids and plenty more.  Although, I have to confess my favorite was the package of Thin Mint Girl Scout cookies.  I didn’t like the change to the recipe from the last year so I was excited to see the old style again.

 We’re getting close to the end of this deployment, but I’s a strange feeling.  It’s close enough now to start planning for it; but, still far enough away to be unreal sometimes.  Friendly care packages from home are the best way to keep our spirits up and remind us what’s waiting for us when we get back.  Not just family and loves, but a whole community of people with open arms and hearts.  Thank you from the bottom of mine.

Sincerely,

                                                                        Ni.

Letters to Soldiers

Attn:  Denise D...9 December 2008

Dear Ms. D... (reponse to your Christmas care packages dated 2008,12 01).

First off let me convey my utmost and heartfelt thanks to you and everyone else who participates in “Letters to Soldiers” for your efforts in putting the care packages together for me an dmy crew; they are wonderful and the kids who made the cards are artists in bloom! J

As you may or may not know I have been in the military for nearly 8 years now and am serving my second tour here in Iraq.  I am currently serving with the  and we are attached to the Public Affairs  and Multi-National Division  ( out of Fort Hood, Texas and Carson, Colorado).

We are military journalists who tell the Army’s Story, be it in print, photograph or video.  Our job is to cover our troops and paint the ‘real’ picture, which sadly most of the media back home seems afraid to convey.  In any case, we enjoy this job; covering our fellow servicemembers, especially because of those who’ve laid down their lives in defense of our nation and its liberties.

Well my friend I surmise that this is satisfactory for now.  I wish I could type an infinite amount of meaningful lines, but even as a journalist; I don’t always know what to say.  Christmas is not far off now and after that there are only 2 major holidays left until I am back home! J

In the meantime, please take this as an open invitation for you and any “Letters to Soldiers” participants and friends to write to me.  I will always write you in return.  While it is very faint, the light at the end of this tunnel has finally come into view.  Here’s to hoping it keeps on coming quickly.

My Thanks and God Bless you all,

Spc. D.

PS Although you live in Orem are you still going to cheer for my beloved Utes against Alabama? GO UTES!  The Concert DVD

 was Great!

Our 1,000 packages for the Marines arrived and Chaplain Harding drove them all over: Click pictures below to see

rest of pictures:

From an ARMY wife:

"I AM SIGNING UP ON THE BEHALF OF MY SQUAD. FOR 6 OF MY SOLDIERS THIS IS THERE FIRST DEPLOYMENT FOR ME IT IS MY 2ND. I AM JUST TRYING TO MAKE THEM FEEL AT EASE AND LET THEM KNOW PEOPLE DO CARE ABOUT WHAT WE DO. BASICALLY JUST LOOKING FOR A LITTLE HELP TO MAKE THIS 15 MONTHS EASIER ON THEM. WE ARE FROM FT. HOOD TX. WE ARE SERVING IN IRAQ. ALL YOUR HELP WILL BE GREATLY APPRECIATED THANK YOU FOR YOUR SUPPORT AND DEDICATION... SGT B."

A soldier in Iraq can't see your ribbon,
Or the flag at your front door.
But a letter they hold in their hands,
To them means so much more.
 

10/05/08"

OH I am so thrilled. Please have them write to info@letterstosoldiers.org and we will forward to those who wrote them.  I also have a SSG friend Jeffrey P. in Active Duty Army in San Diego working at a wounded warrior hospital who has asked me to come down to meet his commanders and the soldiers to share my program with them and get them lots of letters too.  I am so honored to do anything I can to help Americans show their love and appreciation to all these heroes. I will send you more as I receive them.  Thank you so much for writing back. I know this work is very important. I also plan on sending some special packages for Christmas around Dec. 1st if you can tell me how many wounded warrior heroes you have then. Thank you for allowing me to do this.

 DD Letters to Soldiers

-----Original Message-----
From: logan.
Sent: Sunday, October 05, 2008 2:41 PM
To: Letters to Soldiers
Subject: RE: CASF

 Got your package today, and we're distributing the letters now. We also

have a guy here who's been giving the contact info for the emails so

some of the people will receive responses to the letters =)

 Thanks again!

-Logan

-----Original Message-----

From: Letters to Soldiers Sent: Friday, September 26, 2008 11:38 PM

To: L.

Subject: RE:  CASF

 I will get a package out asap for the wounded in your facility too, I

love sending them the special cards we get from children.  This is very

exciting for us to help in this effort. Also remember when you do move,

to pass on the batton to the next unit in charge so all injured get our

cards and letters nonstop. 

 Thanks for looking into the military shipping if possible. My friend is

a Navy doctor in MD and he can help too. T hansk D. -----Original

Message-----

From: l.r

Sent: Friday, September 26, 2008 1:14 PM

To: info@letterstosoldiers.org

Subject:  CASF

 "To whom it may concern:

 I was wondering if I could register the facility I'm working at to

receive letters and other support items. We are the  Contingency

Aeromedical Staging Facility located at Ali Al Salem Air Base, Kuwait.

We receive patients that have been medically evacuated from different

parts of Iraq, some battle injuries, but lots of other issues too. I

used to work at the CASF in Germany, which had a USO in the facility.

The USO provided lots of support type letters, posters, artwork, etc.

The CASF here in Kuwait doesn't have much of that, and I am in contact

with the USO and other organizations to help boost the morale of the

sick and injured troops on their way home. Is there a way we can

register the entire facility? Thanks for your time and support.

 Respectfully,"

 -A1C L.

09/25/08  "I was wondering if I could register the facility I'm working at to receive letters and other support items. We are the  Contingency Aeromedical Staging Facility located at Ali Al Salem Air Base, Kuwait.