As many may know, I am in the National Guard and work for a satellite communications company dealing a lot with the middle east in my civilian life.  Well, one of the members of my guard unit is on a temporary leave of absence while working for our civilian employer at Al Asad.  He sent me an e-mail about some wounded troops over there that are in need of a few basic, cheap things.  I thought I'd post this to see if anyone would consider helping out.  The e-mail he sent me follows along with pictures he attached:

There is a need here for the wounded GI's that come through this base. Let me explain how I got involved, and what the needs are-



 As you know, I am currently in Al Asad, Iraq. Last night I went to the base theater to see a movie. At the beginning of each movie the National Anthem is played. Two rows in front of me were two young Marines that were obviously wounded. One had a crutch, and what looked like a burn mark on his face, the other one was noticeably limping. I got choked up watching them both struggle to stand while the Star Spangled Banner played.



Al Asad is a bigger base in the western Al Anbar province. There are FOB's-Forward Operating Bases, that send their wounded here when something happens. The area includes the FOB's at the Syrian border. Enough said. The more serious wounded are sent on from here to Europe or back home. Some of the troops stay here to recuperate before going back to the FOB's.  



 Today found me at the Base hospital, its not what you would think of a hospital at home. I will send pics later. After what I saw last night, I had to go by and see if there was anything they needed. My friends you have done a great job in sending cookies, brownies, and toiletries and other miscellaneous items to the troops. They are greatly appreciated and of course the baked goods get eaten quickly! Today I saw a need in the hospital that I hope you can help me with.



 First off, as you can imagine, when someone is evacuated from the field they are sent in with what they are wearing at the time. I talked to the nurses here, they advised me that usually their uniforms are cut off of them when being patched up. When this happens the hospital staff has a clothes closet they go to for clothing. I was shown the closet today. There were three pairs of shorts and some misc white T-Shirts. Supplies are low. (They do have a large supply of shower shoes, so ok there) I immediately went to the PX and purchased some shorts for them to get by for now. At this time the hospital here could use the following items-



1) The biggest need- Misc sized shorts-these are usually PT type shorts and are thin and comfortable in the heat. These can be had cheaply at Wal-Marts, Targets, and K-Marts etc...



2) T-shirts, these can be any new T-shirt. I will be sending a request to Earl Smalls HD and HD of Atlanta, and the Killer Creek Store. Any other places you can think of as long as there is nothing deragatory on it. You know what is acceptable.



3) Misc clothing, I'm thinking here, light sweats, or PJ's to wear in the hospital.



Remember, these are troops in the field, sweating in the heat each and every day, no XXX sizes needed, and probably few XX sizes.



4) I was told when the troops are fed, they aren't always ready to eat when the food arrives...microwaveable bowls and coffee mugs would be a big help. Anyone up on talking to some Waffle houses or Cracker Barrels to donate mugs? I would think not a lot of mugs would be needed. No more then 50 I would think.



5) Magazines, readers digests, TV guide, anything...well almost anything, again you know what is appropriate.



6) Pillows, small but firm pillows would be good.



7) While I was home last, Wal-mart had a $5 DVD stand. These types of movies are greatly appreciated. They can be Cartoons, old Sitcoms etc...these items are not for individual troops, but for all to enjoy while at the hospital.



A note, if someone is gathering all this stuff to ship, we found that shipping costs usually outweigh the costs of the items themselves. If you can give cash to who ever is gathering the items for shipment I am sure it would be appreciated.



 Please ship these items to-



Al Asad Base Hospital

C/O Larry Murray

MWHS-2 Det A G-6

Unit 78092

FPO AE 090502-8902



 Thanks my friends, I know you have done a lot already and I feel guilty asking. I miss you all,



Larry





One of the injured Marines he talked about




The hospital at Al Asad, Iraq



The Intensive Care Unit at the Al Asad Hospital



The new wing of the hospital




Thanks for any help you can give
-Wingnut

tag...thanks for your service guys!


ETA: do they have VHS players over there? if so, I have about 50 tapes I can send.

tag.......lemme see what I can lay my hands on.

SRM

Stay safe.

I'll see what I can do.

Aimless, does this mean that the thread can continue?  I was informed I should have asked first, I apologize and was awaiting further info from the powers that be.

For anyone in the Atlanta area, I am going to see if I can put stuff in with the equipment we are sending over to our engineers at that base or see if we can ship stuff over there for this purpose if anyone local would like to donate.

tag

right there is where I dislocated my left kneecap getting in a hummer taking a guy who sliced his finger to sick call.

ahh the memories of Al Asad

I will get some items together. Tell the Marines thanks for their service to their country and all of us. I will have my wife get some stuff together and it will be shipped out of here before Fri. direct.

no, Larry Murray, the guy in Al Asad, works for the same company I do and we're both in the same guard unit.  For local folks, I will see if my company will foot the bill for some shipping or if some stuff can just hitch a ride with parts.  That being said, I will probably be in the area in not too long.

tag

Bump

And I'm checking with my company to see if they will foot the bill for shipping.  It hit the CEO's desk today so I should hear something soon.

An update, some folks have been having problems sending suppies to Iraq due to lack of ZIP code.  Well, I called and found out that the ZIP for Al Asad Iraq is :
09333-1501

Thanks for all the help so far.  I am still waiting to hear back from my company regarding shipping for the local donations.

I just saw this thread and would like to send some things. Does anyone in the East Lansing MI area want to throw anything in also? I'll go shopping this weekend.

oh man, i am so fucking there!

can we tag this stuff as from arf.kom members and have your bud tell us how much stuff comes in so marked?

I'll tell the guys to keep an eye out over there, because most of the stuff is coming from Georgia from my unit or my company, everything else is probably Arfcom.