Thinking about soldiers abroad today. Some stuff that might interest . . .

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CALL 1 800 706 1050 AND LEAVE A 15 SECOND MESSAGE TO THE SOLDIERS AWAY FROM HOME. IT IS THE HOLIDAY AUDIO POSTCARD PROGRAM WHICH WILL AIR THE MESSAGES ON THE AMERICAN FORCES NETWORK RADIO.

A small Christmas tree is seen in the foreground as US Marines adjust artillery at the edge of the restive city if Fallujah, west of Baghdad. The continuing battles between Marines and insurgents in Fallujah are hampering reconstruction and the return of civilians, a Marines officer said(AFP/Tauseef Mustafa)



Posted Saturday, December 18, 2004
http://riverbendblog.blogspot.com/

Christmas Wishlist...
I have to make this fast.

No electricity for three days in a row (well, unless you count that glorious hour we got 3 days ago...). Generators on gasoline are hardly working at all. Generators on diesel fuel aren't faring much better- most will only work for 3 or 4 straight hours then they have to be turned off to rest.

Ok- what is the typical Iraqi Christmas wishlist (I won't list 'peace', 'security' and 'freedom' - Christmas miracles are exclusive to Charles Dickens), let's see:

1. 20 liters of gasoline
2. A cylinder of gas for cooking
3. Kerosene for the heaters
4. Those expensive blast-proof windows
5. Landmine detectors
6. Running water
7. Thuraya satellite phones (the mobile phone services are really, really bad of late)
8. Portable diesel generators (for the whole family to enjoy!)
9. Coleman rechargeable flashlight with extra batteries (you can never go wrong with a fancy flashlight)
10. Scented candles (it shows you care- but you're also practical)

When Santa delivers please make sure he is wearing a bullet-proof vest and helmet. He should also politely ring the doorbell or knock, as a more subtle entry might bring him face to face with an AK-47. With the current fuel shortage, reindeer and a sleigh are highly practical- but Rudolph should be left behind as the flashing red nose might create a bomb scare (we're all a little jumpy lately).


PACKAGE TIPS

Packages sent to soldiers in Iraq must be addressed to specific people and include their military address. Generically addressed items will not be delivered.

The Army recommends allowing a minimum of three weeks for packages to reach Iraq by Christmas. Many people try to send things even earlier.

Senders are responsible for the U.S. postage needed to mail their packages to an Army post office in New Jersey. The Army pays for postage between the United States and Iraq.

Welcome gifts include snack foods, reading material, calling cards and personal hygiene items such as lip balm, soap and Wet Naps. Many soldiers do not have room for larger items.

My donation page:
http://www.returningsoldiers.us/donations.htm

Any other Christmas expressions or tips from/for supporting the soldiers abroad?

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1. Christmas Night of ’62

By William Gordon McCabe


THE WINTRY blast goes wailing by,
The snow is falling overhead;
I hear the lonely sentry’s tread,
And distant watch-fires light the sky.

Dim forms go flitting through the gloom;
The soldiers cluster round the blaze
To talk of other Christmas days,
And softly speak of home and home.

My sabre swinging overhead
Gleams in the watch-fire’s fitful glow,
While fiercely drives the blinding snow,
And memory leads me to the dead.

My thoughts go wandering to and fro,
Vibrating ’twixt the Now and Then;
I see the low-browed home again,
The old hall wreathed with mistletoe.

And sweetly from the far-off years
Comes borne the laughter faint and low,
The voices of the Long Ago!
My eyes are wet with tender tears.

I feel again the mother-kiss,
I see again the glad surprise
That lightened up the tranquil eyes
And brimmed them o’er with tears of bliss,

As, rushing from the old hall-door,
She fondly clasped her wayward boy—
Her face all radiant with the joy
She felt to see him home once more.

My sabre swinging on the bough
Gleams in the watch-fire’s fitful glow,
While fiercely drives the blinding snow
Aslant upon my saddened brow.

Those cherished faces all are gone!
Asleep within the quiet graves
Where lies the snow in drifting waves,—
And I am sitting here alone.

There ’s not a comrade here to-night
But knows that loved ones far away
On bended knees this night will pray:
“God bring our darling from the fight.”

But there are none to wish me back,
For me no yearning prayers arise.
The lips are mute and closed the eyes—
My home is in the bivouac.

In the Army of Northern Virginia.

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2. Battalion-Relief

‘FALL in! Now get a move on.’ (Curse the rain.)
We splash away along the straggling village,
Out to the flat rich country, green with June...
And sunset flares across wet crops and tillage,
Blazing with splendour-patches. (Harvest soon,
Up in the Line.) ‘Perhaps the War’ll be done
‘By Christmas-Day. Keep smiling then, old son.’

Here’s the Canal: it’s dusk; we cross the bridge.
‘Lead on there, by platoons.’ (The Line’s a-glare
With shell-fire through the poplars; distant rattle
Of rifles and machine-guns.) ‘Fritz is there!
‘Christ, ain’t it lively, Sergeant? Is’t a battle?’
More rain: the lightning blinks, and thunder rumbles.
‘There’s over-head artillery!’ some chap grumbles.

What’s all this mob at the cross-roads? Where are the guides?...
‘Lead on with number One.’ And off they go.
‘Three minute intervals.’ (Poor blundering files,
Sweating and blindly burdened; who’s to know
If death will catch them in those two dark miles?)
More rain. ‘Lead on, Head-quarters.’ (That’s the lot.)
‘Who’s that?... Oh, Sergeant-Major, don’t get shot!
‘And tell me, have we won this war or not?’

-Siegfried Sassoon

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3. see ya folks