Care Packages for the Gulf

What should you send in a care package? (Note: Most of this was taken from The Desert Storm Webpage and www.anyservicemember.com .) Also check out what the Washington Post printed. Please note: Due to security concerns, the military is no longer forwarding packages addressed to "Any Service Member". You must have a specific address for a specific soldier.

Personal letters and photos from home are always welcome. Newspapers and news clippings, especially regional and local news from their home town for area soldiers, and comics, sports pages, etc. for entertainment relief. Chroniclers, include copies of your current newsletter. Include stationary, envelopes and stamps so they can write back. US flags of any size!

Personal hygiene supplies for both men and women are always in short supply. This includes sunscreen and sunblock. Do NOT send cans of shaving cream, the pressurized cans will explode in the heat. Baby wipes are highly prized, because they don't need water to clean up. Travel sized items are best. Shampoo can be an especially desirable commodity. Women can use items for their "end of the month" needs.

Ziplock plastic bags and small plastic sealable containers help keep the ever-present sand out of their personal items. Don't ship them empty, fill them. Pantyhose (for keeping sand and dust out of weapons while still being able to fire them!).

Toothbrushes, shaving brushes, and other brushes for cleaning and maintaining weapons and precision equipment. Clean rags/cloth, also for cleaning.

Reading materials of nearly any kind. Paperbacks are best for the size and weight. Go to a book sale on "Dollar a Bag" day and stock up. Send them their favorite magazine. Lightweight pocket games, such as a deck of cards, or a travel chess set are also wanted. Hacky-sacks were often greatly appreciated by those that had them in '91. Send them CD's and cassettes of their favorite music.

Use small wrapped hard candies as packing material to fill the small spaces in the box. They're especially good for keeping thirst away. Condiments from fast food restaurants help spice up their meals. Non-perishable snacks. Edible spreads and dips, like Cheez-wiz, Salsa, etc. really help to beat the blandness of packaged rations. Powdered drinks. Soldiers already have cocoa in their ration packages (MREs), so a better choices include Gatorade and other sports drinks, Kool-Aid, etc. The larger packages are perfect for mixing with the bottled water that our Gulf troops are drinking.

Remember that your care package will at some point, be sitting in an untended cargo crate for an hour or more in the sun before being delivered to the recipient. Don't send anything that will break down or be ruined by exposure to heat. This includes cans of pop, cans of shaving cream, and chocolates.

Forbidden items include glass containers, alcoholic beverages, weaponry of any kind, pornography, perishables and unfortunately religious items. Saudi censors will remove anything that is not of the Islamic faith. They will also remove anything outside of their dietary restrictions, so canned pork or Spam should not be sent. Since they have much stricter definitions of 'pornography' than we do, tear the cover off any paperback which has a pretty girl showing off anything more than her ankles. Also, anything with "negative advertising" will not be allowed, e.g. perfumes labelled "Poison", candies called "Death by Chocolate", etc.

The armed services has been advising families to NOT send packages Priority, Fed Ex, UPS, or 'sign upon receipt'. Thank you for your cooperation on this.

Last Update: 07/05/04 [an error occurred while processing this directive]