Operation Homesick: 5 Ways To Send Care Packages To Our Deployed Service Members

home·sick
/ˈhomesick/ 

1. Experiencing a longing for one's home during a period of absence from it

To some, homesick is just a word. To a U.S. Troop, homesick has many definitions. It can mean missing their wife or husband, parents, siblings, and friends. Missing milestones in their children’s lives, and knowing they will continue to grow up, even in their absence. Some troops may long for everyday luxuries that many of us take for granted. Small delights such as a hot bath, civilian clothes, or taking a ride through the country. Homesick might simply be wanting to sleep in their own beds, and to know they are safe. Whatever each of their own personal definition of the word may be, it’s important our United States service members know they are always in our thoughts. That we, as Americans, are forever grateful for our freedoms that the military ensure.


One way to let our troops know that they are appreciated, and to “give them a taste of home” is through care packages. A sad, yet true fact, is that we have service members overseas that go through their entire deployment without ever receiving anything from the states. I firmly believe our troops deserve everything they could possibly need or want. Especially while enduring the stresses of being in a foreign place, and missing everyday enjoyments. Through donations of items to be shipped, small contributions or donations of money, and sending letters of gratitude, we can help a troop, or entire platoon, that is homesick and remind them they haven’t been forgotten.


Below are 5 websites that will connect you with a U.S. Troop, or an entire platoon, that can help you with everything from sending care packages and letters, to donating items and money contributions. 

1. Hero Box is a non-profit organization that can connect you online with a service member that is overseas. Hero Box supports deployed American troops, by providing them with not only items, but support as well. When a sponsor sends a Hero Box, it is customized to the service members needs.

2. Any Soldier is completely volunteer based and has a number of helpful tips on their website. As of the date of this post, Any Soldier is helping approximately 60, 831 service member, and has 1, 428 military contacts. You can send items or support to whichever unit or units you choose.

3. Operation Shoebox is made up with over 1,300 volunteers in 3 locations, along with additional volunteers all across the US. Operation Shoebox sends not only support, but care packages, letters, and items in bulk amounts to help raise troops morale.

4. Soldiers Angels is non-profit organization, and through their volunteers, provide comforts and assistance to military men and women. Soldiers Angels has 1,946 heroes waiting for someone to adopt them as of date of this post. You can check out Soldiers Angel's list of teams and projects, or make a donation.

5. U.S. Troop Care Package is able to send care packages to troops by relying on their volunteers, donated items, and contributions. They ask that families and friends of troops overseas submit their names, or the troop submit their own name, and addresses, and U.S. Troop Care Packages can send them packages. 


The act of kindness from a stranger will forever be in the men and women's hearts, and knowing how happy you made that service member during mail call will forever be in yours.  


The 913th Engineer Company Company out of Union City, Tennessee deployed again, August 18th, 2011. The troops were escorted from their unit, to the airport in Memphis, by members of various organizations, such as The Patriot Guard Riders. We will be making care packages for this unit, as well as others, and shipping them, as soon as we receive their overseas mailing addresses. Below you can click to donate which will help with cost of items and shipping. Every little bit helps, and our U.S. Troops are more than worth it!

In the comment section below, please list any military units, or individual service members, that are currently deployed overseas or expected to be deployed, along with the date. To do so privately, click Email Daily-Jargon. Thank you all for your help and support!

This video is the 913th Engineer Company being escorted to the airport in Memphis, Tennessee. The very first motorcycle, is Billy Laird. His son, Sgt. Dustin Laird, was with the 913th on their first deployment, when he was KIA in August 2006. Billy was asked to have the honor of leading the group. He said although it was extremely hard and emotional, he proudly accepted.
 

 



Statue Honoring Fallen Soldier Vandalized



I’ve heard the saying, "the good die young." In the case of Dustin Laird, there has never been truer words spoken.



 

Sergeant Dustin Daniel Laird was only 23 years old when he

was killed in action while serving in Operation Iraqi Freedom. 

An IED (improvised explosive device) detonated underneath

the vehicle  Laird was driving, in Rawah, Iraq, on August 1, 2006. He was a member of the 913th Engineering Company in

Union City, Tennessee. 



An adopt-a-site was placed on the corner of Hawks Road and Dustin Laird Drive in Laird’s hometown of Martin, Tennessee. His family placed a concrete statue of a soldier, adopted, and landscaped the site in the spring of 2008.



Almost 2 years to the date after Laird was killed, his family

received disturbing news. The statue located at the

adopt-a-site, on Dustin Laird Drive, had been stolen over the

weekend. Within hours of the discovery, in a town with less than

10,000 people, the community immediately began to donate their

time and efforts. Groups and entire families scoured desolate

areas, local news outlets broadcasted the details, and the Laird family waited in hopes of the statue being found.

Early the next morning, not even 24 hours after the statue went

missing, the Martin Police Department went to deliver yet more

shocking news Laird's family. The statue had been returned,

in the exact spot it was taken from, but it was not in its original

condition. The vandal(s) had returned the statue, and painted

it to resemble a skeleton and skull.  The words, "You don't

know what's right," were also painted on the base. The final product

was enough to send the Laird's, as well as the community into a

tailspin of anger and mourning.

 Over 2 weeks had passed without any information or possible suspects. The town of Martin, and Laird's family had begun giving up hope that justice would be served, or that any explanation of the horriffic crime would be given. The break everyone had been waiting on finally came almost a month after the statue's defacing. Laird's sister, Heather, received an unforgettable phone call late that August evening. She listened in disbelief as the person on the other end of the line proceeded to to tell Heather that she, and one other person, were responsible for the statue. The suspect agreed to meet Laird's sister, and his father, Billy, at the Martin Police Department to turn herself in. 

The two were identified as Sara Gallimore, 22, and Brandon White, 23 who claimed this was a protest against the war, and not Dustin Laird personally. At the couple's court appearance, members of the 913th, as well as members of the community lined rows of seats alongside the Laird family . Gallimore and White both plead guilty to vandalism , and were ordered by Judge Tommy Moore to pay $100 each to Laird in restitution, and to both serve 200 hours of community service at the home of the 913th Engineering Company, where Laird was a member.

The Laird family purchased and placed an identical statue, which is valued at approximately $300 a piece, in the same spot where the previous one sat. They hoped in doing so, it would allow Sgt. Dustin Laird's memory to once again rest peacefully.

I wish I could end this blog by saying, "3 years later the replacement statue still stands proudly on Dustin Laird Drive." Sadly though, there has been 2 more incidents of vandalism and theft of the statue since August 2008, which I will be posting about too. This month marks 5 years that my brother has been gone, and there still isn't a day that passes that I don't think of him. I decided to post this blog today, in honor of the 913th Engineering Company out of Union City, Tennessee which Dustin was a member of. The unit left this morning for another deployment, and a piece of my heart went with them.

A huge thank you to all of the men and women who have served or are currently serving in the military. A big thank you also goes out to my cousin, Sabrina Bates, Chief Staff Writer, for the Weakley County Press. She has done an amazing job covering stories about Dustin, and honoring his name.

I encourage and urge you to leave a comment with the name(s) of fallen soldiers you know. They deserve all the recognition in the world, and this is just another small way of keeping their memory alive. 

 

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