Horrible Luck

[Erik88]

Less than a week after joining the Florida National Guard my brother is being told that they are getting deployed. It will be a 10 month stay somewhere in Africa. He called me on Saturday to let me know he is going to miss my wedding in October. He was supposed to be my best man and felt horrible but I told him not to worry and that I'm proud of him.  :usa:

 

I feel really bad for him and his family. He has a wife and 3 kids including a 2 year old. This will be his 3rd tour. He was previously in the Army for 6 years and did 2 tours in Iraq. He was nearly killed during his 2nd tour. He was the only guy in his Humvee to survive an IED attack and to hear him talk about it is horrifying. 

 

I still can't figure out why the Florida NG needs to spend 10 months in Africa. 

 

Anyways, what sort of things do you guys recommend I send him while he's gone? I'd like to do something creative for him.

[Oh Shoot]

...

 

I still can't figure out why the Florida NG needs to spend 10 months in Africa. 

 

If West Africa, likely part of the eBola effort there?

 

- OS

[Erik88]

If West Africa, likely part of the eBola effort there?

 

- OS

 

I asked the same thing and he said no. Nothing to do with Ebola. He thinks they will be in or near Somalia taking over a base for the Marines who are pulling out. That's about all he knew.

[Dustbuster]

Bump the wedding up till he gets back if u can....

[raildog]

I always liked getting magazine's and snack food i could not get in country

[hipower]

Whatever you do, Erik. Please tell him an old fat man in Tennessee says "God Bless and Keep You. And Thank You for your Service, now and previously."

 

And I will add him to my prayers.

[Erik88]

Bump the wedding up till he gets back if u can....

 

I wish but that's not possible. 

[Wyldk2]

Letters from home, Magazines, snacks, ( non-melting kind) maybe a reminder of home, just to keep his spirits up.

 

I don't know, but i do know is some good home cooking really kicks your spirits up. Too bad that won't keep on the shipment out there.

[buck1032]

Djibouti... Tell him thanks for me as well. Never been there and never want to go. I have had friends there so I know just enough to be glad I am retired. LOL I was always single on my deployments so I never got anything other than stuff I ordered, ie magazines and the like. A buddy had his mom send out her homemade jerky and that was always a treat. In my opinion the best thing you could do for him is constant letters or emails about your daily life. And very detailed range reports to add a little salt to it. :) 

[rugerla1]

Whatever you do, Erik. Please tell him an old fat man in Tennessee says "God Bless and Keep You. And Thank You for your Service, now and previously."

 

And I will add him to my prayers.

Ditto what hipower said and also if you want to ship him an extra big package let me know and I'll gladly contribute to the pile  :usa:

[Omega]

I had texas pete, and good coffee sent in along with "lickies & chewies".  But really, anything you send will be well received. 

[btq96r]

If he's going to Djibouti, the base there has been around for a bit and should be stocked well enough for what we called "lickies and chewies."   If he's going to a more astute location, his wish list might grow accordingly.  Also, the mail system is pretty good for the military these days, so anything is a click away from Amazon.

 

The two best things I ever got sent to me while OCONUS

1. Cake baked and sealed into a mason jar.  The flavor kept perfectly and before long, all my friends wanted "fat kid cake in a jar" sent to them as well.
2. Nice bedding.  My Aunt Janice sent me some nice bed sheets and a comforter during one of my tours.  The ones they sell in the PX were the basic cheap ones, and that soft as a feather bed sheet set I had helped put me to sleep every night.

Edited January 26, 2015 by btq96r

[hipower]

Ditto what hipower said and also if you want to ship him an extra big package let me know and I'll gladly contribute to the pile  :usa:

I'm in as well.

[xjsnake]

Does he like cigars?

[btq96r]

Does he like cigars?

 

Smoking cigars is one of the finest pleasures you can have on deployment.  Makes you feel almost at home, then you remember you don't have a proper drink to go along with it.  But it's still one of those nice things.

[Just2Honor]

What hipower said twice over

[Good_Steward]

Baby wipes.

[Dolomite_supafly]

My son is coming home from Djibouti in a couple of weeks. From talking to him there is not a lot they need if he is going to Camp Lemonnier. They have a few fast food places and the living conditions are decent. I will say that being in Africa is a whole lot safer than Iraq or Afghanistan. But also be aware Camp Lemonnier is also about 12 miles away from a country that hates the US.

 

As far as what he would want just imagine what an inmate in prison would want and that is what most soldiers would want when deployed.

 

Something I do regularly is take all my old magazines, say a couple of months old, and mail them off. They ship in a flat rate so the cost is not a lot.