I consider myself lucky to be a member of the Daily Kos community for a variety of reasons. I visit the site every day, and post diaries on occasion. My son is a United States Marine, currently serving in Afghanistan, and I was privileged to write and post a diary describing the day he left for war. Soon after I was contacted by a volunteer from Netroots for the Troops, requesting his address so that they could send him one of the care packages they were creating. I thanked her, gave her his address and then got on with the getting and spending that is my life.
The care packages are very important to the Marines in Afghanistan, it almost does not matter what is in them, because each one is touchstone of home to them. My son receives a fair amount because of the wide circle of caring family and friends who enjoy doing what they can to ease his service. Because of the essay I wrote, several organizations dedicated to sending packages to the troops have put him on their lists as well.
On Father’s Day he called me (thank you, USO!) and we chatted for a couple of minutes about our lives. Right now his is considerably more interesting than mine. Then he told me that that my liberal website had sent him 13 care packages, which we both thought was odd, but a good thing because he was able to pass them out to other Marines on the base that do not have the same support that he enjoys. They even gave him a new nickname, Santa.
Yesterday we got another call from him and he was pleased and amazed, as he had just set a new Camp Leatherneck record, he received 29 care packages in a single day, and every single one of them from Netroots for Troops. The picture he posted on Facebook showed a stack of boxes that towered over him, and he is 6’2”. He received 42 care packages in three days, all thanks to Daily Kos. He gave the entire second batch to the group that supplies the Forward Operating Bases, because those guys don’t get much in the way of gifts from home.
So thank you, Netroots volunteers, your hard work and contributions are doing exactly what they were intended, bringing a bit of home to men and women serving half a world away. And it made my son smile, a Father’s Day gift that cannot be purchased, but will be treasured forever.