Help Entertain our troops in Afghanistan???

[Bob_Skurka]

One of my managers in a Sgt in the Indiana Army National Guard. She was recently activated and is on her way to Camp Phoenix, just outside of Kabul, Afghanistan.

Living conditions in Camp Phoenix are somewhat less than we are all used to and the culture of Afghanistan is such that women are not even supposed to go off the base. My manager is up for an 18 month tour of duty there. The one thing she asked for was as many DVD's as I could find, gather, beg, borrow or steal. Apparently the DVD's are all shared between the troops that are stationed there, but that not many people bring them. My company is sending over a DVD player that will connect up the the TV set they have in the rec hall, and we are buying and collecting DVDs with the hope of sending at least 100 different titles. But duplicate titles are not a problem because there are supposed to be TV sets in most of the barracks in addition to the rec area so the DVD's may end up scattered around the base in various areas.

So what I am asking for is your help, if you would choose to do so. If you have any DVD's in your home collection that you could send to the troops, or if you feel like buying some and sending them, then we will be sending over a care package in LATE-JUNE 2004, I would be happy to include any DVD's you send me, along with any notes or cards or other things you might be willing to send. Music CD's would also be very welcome so if you have any of those you want to clean out of your collection, we'd glady ship them over too.

If you would like to help, please send them to:

Bob Skurka
c/o City Sales, Inc.
2552 Industrial Drive
P.O. Box 9038
Highland, IN 46322-9038.

To make the first shipment, I would need whatever you send no later than June 15, 2004. We will probably be sending over packages on a monthly basis for at least 1 year. And if you have any questions or concerns about the legitimacy of my company and sending me things, please go to my profile where you will find a link to my company and it will include my private email and a phone number so you contact me if you are unsure of my actual intent.

 

[Bob_Skurka]

I've been getting some very generous private emails and let me just respond to everyone with a big THANK YOU.

For those who question things or just want to know more:

I will forward over anything you can help with. I am working with the Camp Atterbury "family preparedness" liasion to coordinate the shipments. My company has previously shipped over 6 pallets of goods that we donated when the troops first went into Iraq. We sell products found in convenience stores and they asked for suntan lotion, eye drops, bug spray, shave cream, razors, sunglasses, baby wipes, skin cream, hair combs, candy, snacks, powdered gatorade and other items. We sent it all.

My dad escaped the Eastern European communist push west and ******'s **** push east and immigrated here, joined our Navy and fought in WWII in the north pacific. I've never served, but I've never forgot, and I do what I can do.

So any help of any kind is appreciated. This is not being sent for my manager, it is being sent over for the entire base.

 

[Golfgar4]

Bob,

I was going to send you a private message also, but decided that I wanted to say something a little more publicly.

First - I absolutely know that you are not doing this for any kind of recognition. Clearly from your brief explanation of why you're doing this, you have much deeper and private reasons.

However, as a Navy veteran and the father of a person serving in the Navy right now, I want to publicly thank you and your company for what you're doing. You are an outstanding example of the kind of people that make this country great. It does not matter that you did not "serve". There are other ways to serve your country and to provide support and comfort to those who have or are curently wearing a uniform. Your efforts and the results of those efforts not only impact the service people that are touched directly, but touches every family member of every one of those service people. Because the family members will take comfort and reassurance in the fact that their son/daughter/brother/sister/husband/wife are not being forgotten and are being supported by the very country they have sworn to protect.

I'm probably not expressing myself as well as I should be, and for that I apologize. But I just want to say thank you for the support you're helping to provide. I will do what I can to assist you in these efforts. I encourage all other TBN'ers to show their true colors and participate in this venture.

Thanks again Bob! /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif

 

[EastTexFrank]

<font color="blue"> I'm probably not expressing myself as well as I should be </font>

Golfgar4, you said everything I wanted to say.

Bob, it's an admirable thing you and your company are doing.

 

[LarryRB]

I've been heavily involved in a large VN war helicopter group. We have several doing the same thing as you Bob. I want to say thanks, thanks for caring. This is a far cry from the old days of being baby killers and such. I just hope, especially of late due to the sickening news of POW treatment, that we as a nation don't lose faith or track of the overall picture, for if we doi, it's dejavu all over again..

 

[Bob_Skurka]

LarryRB . . . I think that as troops are rotated through tours of duty that people will continue to rally in support. If for no other reason than a whole new batch of people become personally affected by the efforts. It doesn't matter if the troops go to Afghanistan or Iraq or Kosovo.

I just hope that people time 5 minutes out of their lives and do the right thing when they are called upon to help. Usually if you boil it down, that is how long it takes to write a donation check, or send some supplies, or whatever. What is going on now is a far cry from the Viet Nam days, if for no other reason than the war started by coming to our soil and killing our people in NYC.



By the way . . . you might want to add BUMBLEBEES to your list of things that can hover. And I think everything on the list can also fly backwards, which is another trick that is pretty darn amazing! /forums/images/graemlins/tongue.gif

 

[NIXON]

Bob , I don't own a lot of DVD's . But if you can get a list of what those very fine folks would like , I'll buy some and send them to you . Thanks for taking the time to care about these folks !!
John

 

[Bob_Skurka]

There is no list, I am just collecting what I get sent to me, and adding a bunch myself. I just bought about 20 of them off of EBAY ranging in price from $0.01 to $6.99. I also am collecting them at work and from friends on my email list.

The beauty is that if we send over dupilcates of the same title, that is ok becuase I have been told that there are TVs in several places in addition to the rec hall so it is reasonable to assume that they could have copies in several different buildings.

When people ask specifics, I remind them of a few things.
#1, Disney is great for KIDS, but our troops range in age from 18 to over 50.
#2, **** might be something you watch at a bachelor's party, but we have women troops over there too.
#3, just because I don't like the movie doesn't mean that my tastes are perfect for everyone else.

So when I bought stuff off ebay, I bought everything from Will Smith movies to Bob Hope movies. If my dad was alive he'd hate the Austin Powers movies, but I know a lot of people who like them. I am not a big fan of WRESTLMANIA but lots of people I work with love it. So I am personally buying all sorts of things. Sci-Fi, comedy, drama, action-adventure. I will say I have not purchased any WAR movies, my logic is simple, these people are living in a war zone, the movies I send over a supposed to be a 2 hour mental escape from that.

I would just say, buy whatever seems reasonable to you, in whatever quantity you want to buy it. The "bargain bins" at the super stores seem to have lots of reasonably new titles at reasonable prices. The movie rental places also sell pre-viewed movies at 50+% discounts. I've even found some people, that when I tell them what I am doing, give me a bigger discount.

I originally hoped to come up with 100 DVDs to send over there. At this point, with the fact that I have them arriving by mail every day, it would not surprise me if we can send over 200 or maybe even 300 movies. Most people seem to send me 2 to 4 DVDs. I have one lady who's kids moved off to college so she said she will bring in a whole box of DVDs. I know that I don't have many at home, but the majority of my personal collection are going over too.

I think it is just a small thing to do. But it is a way that many of us can help, and we won't ever know how much we help, but we will know that someone got some relief, if only for a couple of hours, because we sent over something we no longer use.

 

[r0GuE]

I'll be sending you some DVD's, and I am proud that we on this board are responding well. We cannot jump to conclusions about what we see on TV. Let the system work though it. We aren't there.

 

[r0GuE]

By the way... You might be surprised about the Disney films. Some are pretty good and have some humor that adults like too. I wouldn't order it new to send over, but if its on a shelf and you don't want it, then it can't hurt to send it.