January 19 Angel Dust comes back to bless me!

Last November I joined up with a group called "Angels in Camouflage" to provide support to our soldiers in Iraq. It started out first with my desire to do something, perhaps lap robes, for our Vietnam veterans in the local veterans' homes.

In searching on the internet, I found this group that was doing just that but also due to the activity in Iraq were making hats, gloves, lap robes and such for the wounded soldiers in Iraq. The bulk of these items were being sent to the military hospital in Landstuhl Germany. I connected up (via E-Mail and then in person) with a gal in Portland (Juel is her name) who had direct contact with Mash units in Iraq itself. They told stories of wounded soldiers there needing comfort items (blankets, sweats, t-shirts, etc) prior to their shipment to Germany. They also told of the oncoming cold weather and how the soldiers who have been given fleece items said it was the softest thing they had felt their whole time there.

My soft heart kicked in and I went to work. First I pulled out 3 yards of fleece I had in the cupboard, cut it in half and bound it with nice satin binding. Then I went to Joanne Fabrics and purchased fleece on sale by the bolt. Then I went on E-Bay and started finding bargains on the satin binding as at regular price that was the most expensive ingredient in my "lapghans". Once I found the bargains there, then I needed more fleece so I had to make a trip to the Portland "Craft Warehouse" where when they heard my story, they let me purchase fleece panels (48 x 60...just right) at wholesale prices.

The futon in my sewing room was covered with fleece panels, satin binding and blankets "in process". I researched with the post office and found they had a new "flat rate" box for $7.70 but I was determined that was too much to pay for shipping one lapghan. I developed a method for compressing the fleece blanket in a zip lock bag (with a minature ironing board) so it went small enough to fit TWO, count 'em, TWO blankets in each box. What a bargain!!!

I developed a special label for each blanket that had hearts on it, said
"Our Hearts Are With You, Thank You For Your Service, To:____________________, From: Linda & Gary Stocker, Vietnam '68-'69", plus our E-mail address.

By the end of December, when I finally had to take a rest and move on to getting ready for our Vietnam trip, I had completed and mailed 30 blankets! The ladies at the post office know me just as "the blanket lady" and I had them in tears today when I stopped by to share with them the picture that had been e-mailed to me last night. It shows a wounded American soldier in a Mash unit in Iraq covered with one of MY BLANKETS!!! About a week before that I had gotten an E-Mail from a female soldier over there who was also a blanket recipient, but somehow seeing the picture put it all into perspective!

The other day I was sitting at my desk and glanced at the envelope where I had put the receipts for the blanket ingredients I purchased. I do not care at this point to add it up (that's not material to the results) but what hit me was what I had written on the envelope. It says "Vietnam Blanket Receipts"....WOW, would you call that a Freudian slip. My blankets to Iraq has been my own little way of trying to show the type of support to our current soldiers that I wish had been shown to Gary and other Vietnam Veterans so many years ago. Perhaps we can all reach out to make an effort to help in this support and it will make a difference in their lives as they move forward in their lives as our new generation of Veterans.

Quoting an E-Mail from one of the MASH nurses who have been distributing items...

"It means a lot for people to take their time to just recognize and take time out to purchase things that we need and support us with their cards or letters. You would be amazed to see the looks on people's faces just to receive mail. Even if it is people they do not know. But we all appreciate it. Because there are some, OK a lot of individuals that do not receive anything. That leaves the moral for that person and those around them down. From every soldier here that you have touched and the things that we have received from soldiers angels. We thank you! I have passed out all of the mail and goodies to the soldiers that are in our ward and they are so happy to receive home away from home love with your contributions."

There are a vast number of ways (just do an internet search for ideas) for each one of us (in our own way) to support these new veterans and I challenge everyone to find their own way to make a difference!