soldiers

I am fascinated by what I am learning about soldiers when I read the kinds of requests soldiers leave on booksforsoldiers.com. Like any other population, there is every type. The other day I came across a request for Newton’s Principia Mathematica. There are requests for gun and hunting magazines, for chick flick movies (by guys), romance novels (women soldiers), two requests for Men are from Mars, Women are from Venus, requests about child reading and pregnancy (a woman leader of a squad said that her guys were all very young and many about to become fathers, so she requested childreading books for them), fantasy and science fiction, classics, text books, study guides for particular professional exams (real estate, ets), finance books, poetry, books about children with ADHD, etc etc. Many, of course, request games. There were requests for mosquito netting, tarpalins with sticks. The soldiers in Afghanistan are particularly interested in things like toilet paper, sunscreen, deodorant, healthy snacks. One admitted that yes chocolate melts in the mail so really you shouldn’t send it but he misses it so much he’ll be happy to get it melted.

Having learned from A’s cousin that common tools are not always available, I’ve taken to sticking in screwdrivers, wire cutters, and such when there’s a corner free in a box.

Both A and find find that now that I’m visiting “booksforsoldiers” the news of deaths in Iraq are even more hard hitting and sad for us.