If we can't bring our troops home this Christmas...

[driver8]

DU'er Jefferson's Ghost is organizing a gift drive for our men and women in Iraq this year. A few of us here at DU are helping to get things going and so far, it looks like things are moving pretty fast. We found out last night that his brother may be able to help us get our gifts on a C-47 that flies to Iraq. If you would like to help, please PM Jefferson's Ghost or post here. We want to let our troops know that we support them and that we are thinking of them in these tough times.

From Jefferson's Ghost:

It looks like a C-47 will deliver any Christmas gifts we are willing to donate to our troops in Iraq. Anyone who wants to help can participate in this worthy cause started here at DU last night. We'll mail them to Fort Walton, FL. where some top brass is already planning to send our troops some gifts from area retailers. One merchant feels that our gifts will make a nice addition to a humanitarian effort currently in progress. The merchant will either rent storage space for our presents or arrange for storage on the base with his high-ranking buddies. Please don't send perishables. Any freepers still around here can run to Free Republican and tell them that DU is putting forth a challenge: WE'LL GET MORE GIFTS OVER TO OUR TROOPS THAN YOU GUYS CAN! I wonder if they have the guts to take us up on this contest.

Please include a personal note letting America's finest know that we haven't forgotten them. Also let them know you lean a bit to the left on politics, ESPECIALLY IF FREE-REPUBLIC TAKES UP OUR CHALLENGE but they won't. They're afraid of getting beat again like on Nov 7th. A real big contest could spread this little act of kindness into other media. Start planning letters to the editor in your home papers. If anyone is established at other liberal or political sites, please start spreading the word. We're still checking on contingency sources for delivery of ALL gifts tomorrow. More details coming soon...

One other thing we are doing is writing stories about how war has affected you or touched your life in some way. It doesn't have to be Iraq -- it could be Vietnam, Iraq I, WWII...we want your stories. Here is one from me:



It was 1973 and my family lived on Guam. My father was in the Navy but an Air Force base right down the road sent B-52 squadrons flying to their targets nearly 24 hours a day. F-4 Phantoms flew over our houses so low and so fast it felt like our roofs were going to explode.

Life for us military brats was pretty normal; as normal as it could be, I guess. The war was rarely talked about, but it affected a lot of us. Many of my friends had fathers who regularly flew to Vietnam or spent time there. It was hard to ignore a war when B-52's flew overhead 24 hours a day...we weren't naive. We knew where the bombers were going and what they would do once they got there. We all went to school off base and had Vietnamese friends who had fled the war with their families. Our Vietnamese friends never talked about the war, either.

One of my best friends came from a family of 5 boys...the oldest boys were 16 and 18. They were a very close family and my friend's Mom loved having the kids from the neighborhood over to play.
When I think about it now, I can recall hearing my friend's parents talking about the war and the draft, but at the time I didn't really understand what they were talking about.

One day I was over at their house and my friend and I were outside shooting marbles. Suddenly his Mom came running out the door and she was crying. She asked us where the two oldest boys were and we told her that they had just ridden their bikes down the street. She yelled to them and the boys came riding as fast as they could; we knew something was up.

When the boys finally got there, their Mom grabbed them both around the neck and hugged them as hard as she could; she was sobbing and trying to speak but her words weren't very clear. She pulled her boys closer to her and they got off of their bikes and went inside. My friend looked at me and shrugged and we went back to our marbles game. The oldest brother came out a little later and we asked him what was up. He told us that their Mom had heard on the news that the American troops were being pulled out of Vietnam. We knew that was good news, but we still didn't know why their Mom had been crying. The older brother smiled and told us, "I'm not going to Vietnam."

I will never forget that day as long as I live. After all this time, I can still see the Mom hugging her boys like it was yesterday. I didn't understand the importance of what I had witnessed that day until a few months later...and when it hit me, it hit me like a ton of bricks. I knew that our B-52's were going to Vietnam to kill people, but it had never occurred to me that American soldiers were also being killed. I still remember the joy I felt when I finally realized that my friend's oldest brother would not die in Vietnam.

[driver8]

1. kick

[Jeffersons Ghost]

2. K&R good story

[karlrschneider]

3. A C-47?

??

[Jeffersons Ghost]

4. actually "C-47" came from a quote by my brother with no military expirience...

I don't now if they even fly them anymore. It matters very little to me what means they use to transport gifts to our troops, if the Air Force is handling the delivery. Frankly my knowledge of what the Air Force uses for transport is limited. The Galaxy was flown a while back.


Aircraft more familiar to me include these:



How's this for up to date delivery?

I sure hope Carrier Pigeons aren't extinct.

[Jeffersons Ghost]

5. THIS LINK BETTER EXPLAINS IT ALL... HERE'S WHERE THE IDEA EMERGES...

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=364x2785532