Write a Letter for the Troops

Ninepatch is hosting a special edition diary here:

Mojo Friday:  Thursday Special Edition Support the Troops

Learn how to get a letter to a soldier!
and REC her diary please!

You can learn to make your own package too.  

Remember, progressives and liberals love the troops.  Truly, we do.  

•  no tips for me

  give tips to ninepatch and read and rec her diary!

  Support the Troops by Ninepatch

  by jlms qkw on Thu Mar 27, 2008 at 10:02:46 AM PDT

  •  Thank you, jlm qkw

    I am so humbled by the enthusiasm of the DKos community.  It will be wonderful putting all of these letters together for the next set of care packages.

    Thank you for your support.  Peace.

    by Ninepatch on Thu Mar 27, 2008 at 10:03:59 AM PDT

  •  yeah, right

    tipped & rec'd anyway!

    by anotherdemocrat on Thu Mar 27, 2008 at 11:22:48 AM PDT

    •  hey it's the polite thing to say! ;-)

      i promoted this a bit in diary rescue.  

      by jlms qkw on Thu Mar 27, 2008 at 10:00:44 PM PDT

•  I really love this idea

  I'm thinking about it, though, and I don't know what I can say to a complete stranger.

  If you know nothing about someone, then all you can do is talk about yourself, right? That wouldn't be much fun to read, would it?

  Any tips at all?

  by droogie6655321 on Thu Mar 27, 2008 at 10:10:55 AM PDT

  •  When my daughter and I have sent letters

    in packages, we just tell about ourselves--I talk about whatever hobby I am working on or tell something about my family.  My daughter tells a bit about her interests and activities, and the book she is reading.  Doesn't have to be anything special.  As Ninepatch has said (she is where ALL my ideas come from) just write like you were writing a friend.  We stay away from politics (but do mention that we heard about it from Daily Kos, in case they want to check it out), but wish them the best and thank them for their service.

    You might even get a letter back, although they are pretty busy.

    by EJP in Maine on Thu Mar 27, 2008 at 10:17:49 AM PDT

    •  That was going to be my second question

      It would be really cool to get one back. Then maybe the next one I sent would be even better. I've never had a pen pal before, so I think this would be cool.

      by droogie6655321 on Thu Mar 27, 2008 at 10:20:40 AM PDT

      •  As they say on

        anysoldier.com, these folks are busy staying alive, so don't expect any.  But we sent a few packages always including letters and got a lovely letter back from one person, who also wrote a nice note to my daughter.  We have both since written back (along with another package)so we shall see if we hear more.  

        by EJP in Maine on Thu Mar 27, 2008 at 01:43:15 PM PDT

  •  How's the baby doing, Droogie?

    by gdwtch52 on Thu Mar 27, 2008 at 10:47:59 AM PDT

    •  Pretty good

      He slept for about six hours straight last night after he had his dinner.

      by droogie6655321 on Thu Mar 27, 2008 at 11:31:48 AM PDT

      •  Did you remember to get some sleep,

        while the sleeping was good??

        by gdwtch52 on Thu Mar 27, 2008 at 11:59:08 AM PDT

        •  Heh

          I prefer to power through it. If I take a nap when I really need one, I wind up sleeping for 3 hours and waking up feeling even worse.

          I have downed a lot of coffee. ;-)

          by droogie6655321 on Thu Mar 27, 2008 at 12:01:21 PM PDT

          •  It gets better...

            and then comes the time when you put them down somewhere and they don't stay there.....babies grow so fast!

            by gdwtch52 on Thu Mar 27, 2008 at 02:41:08 PM PDT

•  PS:

  I'm writing my letter right now. Would it be wrong to mention Iraq specifically? Is there a possibility the letter might be sent to a soldier stationed elsewhere?

  by droogie6655321 on Thu Mar 27, 2008 at 10:23:37 AM PDT

  •  Nope - they live in the real world

    No matter where they are bet that they have a pretty fair idea of what is going on in other theatres of war [I really dislike that phrase - it's just wrong].

    by llbear on Thu Mar 27, 2008 at 11:38:00 AM PDT