Gifts for U.S. Soldiers: What to Send Our Deployed Soldiers
Why? Well, the Big Red is something those of us from a Certain Region of the Country will jones for badly if we're cut off from the supply. But the other two things were for the kids near where he's stationed.
Pencils and candy, he says, are like gold to the kids. And one of the favorite things for soldiers to do out there is make the kids happy. It brings them a little bit of home, whether they're fathers or big brothers or just remember the neighborhood kids. But they also just love to see these kids smile.
With this in mind, I came up with my own short list of things we can send our soldiers -- and a few things never to send them.
1. Retired Beanie Babies and other small stuffed animals. If you have clean, fluffy stuffed animals or dolls just taking up space, toss them all in a box, put in a couple of mothballs, and ship them to your deployed friend. You have never seen need til you've seen the kids in Afghanistan and Iraq and other places our soldiers are boots-on-the-ground; your old, unwanted toys will be cherished treasures for many of these kids.
2. Wooden pencils with hard, durable lead, plastic pencil sharpeners, and other small drawing and school supplies. Just cheap stuff from a dollar store is fine. Do make sure that it's not all girly or boyish. Also, never send anything with a religious theme, and try not to send anything that has English writing on it. This isn't always an option, but big splashy pictures will make up for a lot.
3. Hard candies - but no chocolate or chewing gum. Even the cheapest hard, individually-wrapped candies will delight the children these guys see every day. Never send anything that might melt, and avoid candies that might draw insects.
4. Keep it cheap, but -- electronic solar-powered calculators and other similar items. You don't want to spend too much, or another child or an adult is likely to take it away. But can you imagine what a child who has nothing could do with a calculator? Again, don't send anything with English on it -- math and mathematical symbols are fine.
5. Always, always, for the soldiers themselves, phone cards are the most cherished of gifts. You can contact the American Red Cross for the best way to get those phone cards to our soldiers; they know what kind to purchase and often can get them there for free.
The three things to never, ever send our soldiers in the Middle East include:
1. Anything pornographic in any way -- and that includes anything that would have been considered racy in World War II. These items are often confiscated on arrival anyway. Due to treaties we have with allied and neutral nations in the Middle East, all pornography is against the rules for our deployed military. Imagination will have to suffice, I'm afraid.
2. Anything alcoholic. Again, we have treaties that prohibit alcohol from being distributed to our troops in any way.
3. Chocolate. This isn't because it's illegal; it's because chocolate will melt in transit and draw bugs. It does you no good to send perishable candies to our troops, anyway. Stick with the salt-water taffy and Dum-Dum pops.
Published by Jamie K. Wilson
Jamie K. Wilson is the wife of a US sailor and mother of two teen boys, one Marine, and two beautiful baby girls. The family hails from Louisville, Kentucky originally. View profile
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12 Comments
Post a CommentWith naughtier stuff, you still want to be careful. Whether it's digital or print, it's illegal in certain countries, and it can get guys in trouble if the wrong person opens the wrong file, or happens to look over someone's shoulder, etc. And if he's in a place where he gets email at a .mil account, there's a good chance every bit of it is screened. Even your own generic account, if you're receiving email through a military server, may get screened.
IF THEY HAVE EMAIL, why send a picture in the mail?? If you have computer access you can send as naughty as pics or VIDEOS of yourself as you want! Thats what my husband and I do:) He then saves it to his memory card, and there ya go!! I guess it does also depend on where you are stationed. Mine is in Iraq, by the border..I send him packages and we dont need to worry about people opening them to search for things, but someone might steal the box and take everything, but they dont get checked is what Im saying.
I just wanted to add that you are actually allowed to send semi-racy photos as long as they are done with taste and nothing is showing. I am a photographer myself and did an endless amount of research on this because I did a boudoir session for my husband, who wanted some fun and sexy photos of me. So I contacted a few photographers who do boudoir shoots strictly for soldiers, as well as confirming with my husband what is and isn't tolerated. He said men get sexy photos of their ladies all the time, but if there are nude ones, they will get taken away. So ladies, feel free to have a little fun, just as long as nothing is showing! My pictures included me with just a tank top and underwear, a very sexy shirt that showed cleavage and a few lingerie pictures. He got them with no problems.
I would like to send a package to any soldier. I read above what to send and what they want. Besides those ideas, do they still want CD's; any toiletries? I collect all the toiletries when I stay in a hotel and usually give a bag to our church which houses homeless monthly, or to another facility that feeds the less fortunate. They are small bottles of shampoo, soap and such. In order to be assured these will reach a soldier, what is the best address to send to?
to help support out troops we have designed a back scratcher in there honor. it is red white and blue in color and we call it the patriot. and for every one we sell we donate 10% to the wounded veterans. so if you would like to contribute and get your name on a back scratcher going to the troops. you can find us on e-bay key word the patriot or iwoohoo.net keyword patriot or omg back scratcher. or google omg back scratcher ... we appreciate your help and so will they
Chocolate is not always bad if you take precautions. For our anniversary, I sent my husband 2 caramel apples and individually wrapped bite size chocolate and m&m's in a basket. I placed 2 cold packs in the box and it got there in 5 days without a glitch. He was so happy for them. You simply have to think smart.
Thank you for a wonderful article and thank you for your wonderful tips you posted on my article "Interview with military wife" Very helpful!
JA -- chocolate _is_ a terrible idea, but Peeps are surprisingly popular, from what I've heard.
Very good tips.
Great suggestions. My Mom worked at a chocolate shop for Easter this year and people were coming in to buy Easter chocolate to send to Iraq - bad idea!