August Sailors Are in Iraq!

[Mary, Proud Mom of Nick]

Our group of Sailors for the month of August are Seabees stationed in Afganistan. Iraq. The unit consist of 38 males and 8 female sailors and they have been there since May 2008.

Thank you so much for your support. We have been very busy recently and I am sorry I have not been able to write more, but as you can imagine there is a lot of moving parts here. The troops are doing great, and still need some of the basic toiletry items and entertainment items. We started our deployment with very little and as we have pushed forward your help has lifted us up and motivated many. We call everyone’s packages “gifts from the heart boxes” because that is what they are. We could not do what we are doing without your support. Mail has been slow lately and troops are getting a little down but they really look forward to hearing from Americans like yourself, so if you can’t send items then just send a letter a post card they love to hear that they are not alone. The troops due get to watch movies on their laptops so DVDs are in high demand here. As you can imagine there is very little to do on our off time here so anything you can send to help the troops take their mind off of where they are helps.

Again I want to thank everyone on the behalf of my troops for the prayers and love we have received from those we truly serve with pride. God Bless you all.

SW1 Billy J. Salsbury
Attn: Any Sailor
NMCB THREE
Unit 25269
FPO AP 96601-4921
(Use address exactly as shown.)

[Joslinda]

Great.. just the perfect thing to help keep me busy... Thanks Mary for this post..

[Mary, Proud Mom of Nick]

While Molly was doing NY, I think I volunteered to find the new group of Sailors. The task has been a weekend event! So many different needs and options to consider and some of their letters were just heart wrenching!

I hope that everyone will be pleased with the choice; I like that it had a combination of both men and women in the group and with as many MOMs that we have supporting the cause I thought a larger group would work well.

I specifically was searching for a group in Iraq or Afganistan that has limited resources and are so far away from home.

[shell]

you did a GREAT JOB picking out a group Mary!

[Jackie]

Mary do we know what things they need? Is it the same as the July group? I plan on sending some of last months magazines for the women should I put for the ladies on the outside of the box?

[Mary, Proud Mom of Nick]

I suspect that you could put ATTN: Any female Sailor on the box Jackie.

In doing the research this weekend, I found that the females are really in need of personal hygenine products from tampons to pads. They enjoy girly things like nail polish and scented lotions and small bottles of perfume. Some really mention the need for sports bras and socks

All Sailors seem to appreciate bug spray, powder drink mixes that they can add to the bottle water, beef jerky, coffee, magazines, deodorant, books, dvds, nuts, hard candies.

[shell]

here's the other emails from the sailors

From the Sailor:

11 Jun 2008
Hello,

I am Billy Salsbury and I am originally from Muskegon Michigan. I have been a Seabee for 19 years now and I am stationed in Port Hueneme California with Naval Mobile Construction Battalion Three. Our unit is currently forward deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan. We live in plywood huts called (SWA HUTS) and we have 220 volt electricity with transformers reducing it to 110 same as in the states. We live six troops per hut and share a small refrigerator which keeps bottles of water cool. The average summertime temperatures here range from 102 – 130 degrees depending on what regions of the country you are in.

Our unit has many female troops and hygiene items for both male and females here as you can imagine are in very short supply. Our troops want to say thank you for the overwhelming support they have received so far from everyone who has sent care packages and letters. Some of our troops are young and do not receive a lot of mail so to see some of them open a package with shaving gel and razors or even just baby wipes, or shampoo is humbling to say the least. One of our troops received a book from a couple and he turned to me and said he had started to read this very book before we left and was unable to finish, he said for a moment it was just like we were at home.

Our troops work very long hours seven days a week with very little down time and there is not much to do here to take your mind off of where we are. Some of the troops have asked about getting dvd movies, games or other forms of entertainment to help them relax. Some still need basic hygiene items, and of course just a letter or card can go along way in lifting both the morale and hearts of the troops. Some cannot call home and ask if there are ways of getting AT&T calling cards so they can talk to their families.

Again I would like to thank you for all that you do to help us out here and we will keep all of you in our hearts.

V/R

SW1 (SCW) Billy J. Salsbury



--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

05 May 2008
I am from Muskegon Michigan my unit NMCB THREE is from Port Hueneme California and we are currently deployed. We currently live in plywood huts called SWA Huts. We have refrigerators and laundry services here. The power is 220v. I am representing our First Class Association who needs our have troops that need items that are in short supply here. Items such as baby wipes and hand sanitizer are great. Toiletries such as shampoo, liquid and bar soaps, shower shoes, razors, shaving gel for sensitive skin, and AT&T calling cards would also be a big help. We have many females with our unit that require different types of soaps and gels. Oh I nearly forgot that we really need shaving gel for our ethnic troops that will keep them from getting bumps, and hand / body lotion.

[Jackie]

Thank you, I will get these things together and send out next Friday.

[Mary, Proud Mom of Nick]

I have sent my first letter to Billy this morning to let him know that a proud group of Navy moms will be supporting this team this month!

[Linda]

Thank you for getting this all together. I would love to help and will start getting items together to mail. I will also enjoy writing to any of these sailors. Thanks again, Mary.

[Mary, Proud Mom of Nick]

I just know our sailors in Afganistan will love hearing from us Moms at home. When I wrote Billy to brag on how wonderful all of our Navy moms are, I included my email address in case they have access and will post any communications that we get from the group on our site here.

[shell]

How long have they been there, and how long are they expected to be there? I can't find there page now over at the site? :)

Our postmistriss Mary looked at the address and said to expect regular size packages to arrive in 9 to 12 days, letters in 7 to 9 days, not to send anything that needs to be signed for or it could take a month or more.
For future reference, she also said that come Novemeber 5 anything mailed after that mite not make it there for Christams time.

[Mary, Proud Mom of Nick]

Great questions Shell, this group has been in Afganistan since May and are due to rotate out about mid October. So if that holds up, perhaps they will all be back home with their loved onces before the holidays!