Wednesday, December 03, 2008

I love our Soldiers!

http://i305.photobucket.com/albums/nn233/ianyeoh/13c2fe37pw5.jpg

As a military wife there are NO words to describe the pride I have for my husband and the other military members, guys and gals alike.

There's this immense sense of love and respect for these amazing people who go out there everyday and put their lives at risk for us, for this country, for our children. So when I sit back and think about our troops, it's with a lump in my throat and tears in my eyes.

This morning I want to shift our attention to them and if you're a military wife, mother, father, sister, brother, daughter or son or friend, or just know someone serving right now, I want you to take a minute and thank them for everything they've done for us. Even if you're a lurker, come on out and leave a little comment for the troops.

I'm starting this post with a video of a marine in Iraq, singing "The Dance" by Garth Brooks. It gave me goosebumps and brought tears to my eyes, beautifully sang.



And another amazing one by the same Marine..."Tonight I want to cry"



I can't listen to these songs without my mind being filled with images of the soldiers in Iraq fighting every day, constantly in dangerous situations but still keeping the spirits high and having fun. So I'm going to share a few videos with you, I've cried but I've laughed so hard with some of these. These poor guys are so stressed and bored at times, that they have to do things to keep their mind on happy thoughts.

Marines get bored at work and do the Cha, Cha LOL The funniest part to me is watching the bosses come in and then join in the fun LOL



Dancing before a mission LOL



Marine Thriller Dance LOL



Soldiers dancing to "Move It"



Combat dancing in Baghdad LOL


It just makes me love them more and personally want to reach out and hug them all. But it also makes me sad knowing that another Christmas is upon us and a lot of these soldiers will be spending it overseas away from their families. I've been through that before and it's heartbreaking when your loved one is not home for Christmas, so with that said, I thought I would leave some links for you on ways to spread the cheer and support the troops.

If you're thinking of doing care packages:

The items on the list below have been specifically requested by the troops.

  • phone cards (#1 most requested item; so they can phone their loved ones)
  • VISA and M/C gift cards (#2 most requested item; gives them maximum flexibility
  • personal hygiene items (American made for safety of course)
  • wet wipes, individually wrapped in foil packs (not gel bottles)
  • body wipes in plastic pull-out canisters
  • disposable razors – men's and women'sholly.jpg
  • chap sticks
  • floss
  • toothbrushes
  • foot powder
  • and the like
  • iTunes cards
  • Magazines (clean content)
  • books (clean content)
  • fun posters and calendars for dressing the place up
  • AA batteries
  • AAA batteries
  • movie DVD's (clean content)
  • music CDs (clean content)
  • iPODs (empty)
  • small earphones
  • 1 GB and 2 GB USB memory sticks (external hard drives) (blank)
  • beef jerky and sticks
  • peanuts and nuts in cans with lids
  • tins and packets of flavored coffee and cappuccino
  • candy
  • gum
  • breath mints
Go here to find a soldier to send the care packages to, that is if you don't have anyone in particular to mail.

I already have a whole unit to send packages too and I can't wait to do my part this holiday season :)

20 comments:

Anonymous said...

I participate in Operation Baking Gals every month, and your list has given me some ideas to include with the cookies and I'll bake and send for this month.

Thanks!

http://www.bakinggals.com

Mari said...

Great videos and great list. My son is scheduled to be deployed next fall and I know these kinds of posts mean a lot to me - and even more to our guys!

Jennifer said...

Beautiful!

Being a grand daughter, daughter (mom and dad), niece, cousin, and wife to a family who has all served in the wars. Everything to do with military is touching.

We go to Balboa where there are service members who have lost legs and arms, have to walk in wheel chairs, my daughter asks what happen.

The only thing that come out is " They are brave and fighting for our freedom, making our country safe, just like daddy" She smiles and says hello and walks on.

Very touching....

Cheri said...

I've always had so much respect for our military, but it brought it even more to home for me when Andy enlisted.
Thanks for this post!

Stacy at Exceedingly Mundane said...

Wonderful post, Sandra! I especially loved the videos at the beginning, of the Marine playing his guitar and singing those country songs. He's awesome -when he gets back, he needs to be on American Idol or Nashville Star :)

Have a wonderful day!

Mike Golch said...

Sandra,Great post.thank you!

Lara said...

O meu irmão e a minha cunhada são ambos militares (aliás, conheceram-se o ano passado no Líbano). Para além do Líbano, o meu irmão passou também um ano em Timor, por isso entendo bem estas situações. Eu contactei aquele site Adopt a Soldier e já envio coisas para dois militares americanos que estão no Iraque.

Melanie said...

I enjoyed watching a couple of these and will come back to see the rest!
Great idea to post these.

Anonymous said...

Sandra, I wanted to let you and your readers know about Operation Phone Card. Via the website military and civilian support personnel can create and send 20% or 10% Off phone card coupons to themselves, family or friends via email. This can be done as often as they want (unlimited) and the discounts may absolutely be used to purchase AT&T phone cards and the MCI phone card. Further, anybody can access the phone card donation tool to send a phone card to anybody else via email. There's even a Hero of the Week contest where the winner gets a free phone card.

Helping to Support the troops!

- Eric

The Raggedy Girl said...

Sandra:
Thank you so much. I smiled and cried all at the same time. My Grandson, Jeff is deployed in Iraq and next spring my son and another grandson are suppose to ship out. I can't tell you how much this touched my heart.
Roberta Anne

Anonymous said...

Phenominal post, Sandra! I'm the daughter of a service man. After 26 years he's finally retired, but he refuses to call himself a "veteren."LOL My mother is the CEO of the local American Red Cross. Community service is in my blood. In fact, my heart bleeds with it, for the people who set thier lives aside for years at a time so that I can go out and enjoy MY life. Fear not, I know all the crappy stuff you do for me on a daily basis...and YES...THANK YOU for doing it.

For the families who will be missing their loved ones this season, I'm praying for you and you are ALWAYS welcome around my table!:-)

Steph at Problem Solvin' Mom said...

Wonderful post, Sandra! Thanks for the ideas for sending care packages! We have put care packages together at work the past few Christmases, and I am so glad to participate - it's the least I can do for all our military men and women do for us!

Hugs,
Steph

Wendi said...

Great post! I am a huge supporter of the military. I am a former military wife and my hubby now works for a defense contractor. My brother in law is still on active duty. He will be going to Iraq sometime next year.

The troops and their families are always in my prayers!

Anonymous said...

Sandra
Thank you for the wonderful videos especially The Dance and the info on the care packages and the list of soldiers.
God Bless you and all the military wives, husbands, familes...
I wish all our troops could be home with their loved ones for Christmas.. maybe some day ...

PerfectMomentProject said...

Great message. Thanks so much.

Not too late to send presents to OUR TROOPS

Well, it's getting a little late, but there's always New Year's.

Unknown said...

Oh my goodness, you don't know how much that "cha cha" video had me cracking up!!! Oh my gosh that was freaking hilarious!

Susanne said...

I loved this post Sandra. So nice to see them relieving stress with some dancin' moves. LOL. The Chacha made me laugh right out loud. Too funny!

Blessed Beyond said...

I just wanted to say thank you for your wonderful and inspiring post! Thank you for sharing the videos. And I want to thank, Curt, for his service to our great country. And to you too, as a Military wife you scarifice a lot of your family and yourself for our country. Thank you and Curt so very much! Coming from a family with many who have served, your post really means alot! Thank you so much!
Hugs and Blessings,

Jodi said...

Great post. I loved the videos, especially the Cha Cha. I had no idea we had so much dancing talent in the military!! :) It's great to see these guys able to have fun in a situation so serious.

Also, thanks for the links to the websites and the add'l info on what to put in care packages.

To anybody who is reading this serving in the military, I just want to say "THANKS!"

Renee said...

Wonderful post! The Cha-cha post was just too funny! Thank you for the great links.

A big Thank You to all the military and their families for all that you do!