3 ways to help a soldier

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Every once in a while there’s something I find on the Web that matters.

Don’t get me wrong, I find lots of useful stuff out there every day, from free software to local events info to amazing things to read by amazing minds. In that respect, I figure we’re all alike. The Web is, after all, the Great Enabler: it seems we waste a lot a freaking time using it to make our lives more productive.

I’ve personally spent an hour (or five) searching for a deal or a tool that gives me more time to look for more great deals or tools somewhere down the line.

But things like Books for Soldiers goad me back to reality.

The fact of the matter is I have a lot of books. Back last November I bought three box lots of assorted paperbacks off eBay. Several months ago, while sorting a box of vintage mysteries, I noticed that one of them—published during World War II—featured an ad on the back page encouraging people to donate their books to their local USO.

It was a brilliant idea and I wondered why books these days don’t feature such an ad. I understand times change and these days publishers need to sell more books so a paperback’s back pages are reserved for hyping the author’s next hardcover usually. I understand. It is the publishing business.

Just yesterday I found inkgrrl’s blog. Perched atop the links was Books for Soldiers, plus an assortment of other troop support stuff.

Looking at her list of links I wondered about the ways you can support troops in small ways that make a big difference to them.

3 ways to help a soldier

1. If you haven’t guessed it already, donate your books to the USO or use the Books for Soldiers service.

   If you choose to donate to the USO, try your local branch first. And be sure they’ll accept your donation. Some facilities may be short on space or have a glut. Checking to see what they need in advance is a time saver for both you and them.

2. Write letters
   This is one is simple. More than anything else, soldiers like to know they are in our thoughts when they’re away from home. Once upon a time, we civilians could send mail addressed to “Any Soldier.” That isn’t the case these days.

   If you know a soldier serving overseas, be sure and write them often. If you don’t personally know a soldier, check with co-workers, friends and acquaintances. Perhaps someone in your circle knows one.

   If you can’t find a soldier here, try the Letters From Home Project. If you’re iffy about using a service over the Web, try a local VFW post or some other organization in your neighborhood. These groups often have soldier or platoon “adoption” programs.

3. Send a care package
   It used to be that you could send a care package to “Any Soldier” and it would be delivered to someone.

   Not any more.

   Like I mentioned above, anything you send must be sent to a specific soldier. Last Christmas, I used Any Soldier to send a pre-made package to my sister who was serving Iraq. But the site also lets you send to “any soldier” by allowing the organization to choose one from a list provided by the soldiers themselves.

   If you want to get more personal than that, the site also has a forum for both soldiers and civilians to exchange names and addresses. The soldiers then post what they need for the near future depending on their current circumstance (if they’re out in the sukc, for example, a big bottle of shampoo is useless).

   If you can’t send a package, send a letter instead. As soldiers often say, the most important part of the care package is the care.

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Tags: books, On books, paperbacks, support_troops, troop_support, USO, vintage_mysteries