Did you ever wonder whether those care packages they send to soldiers overseas do any good?
Listen to two men who know. They served in Iraq, and said they were deeply moved and drew strength from the contents of the boxes they got each month, boxes postmarked from somewhere back home.
“I could see the work that went into the packaging and that was very touching for me,” said Army National Guard Capt. Jeffrey Oakes of Gansevoort, N.Y., who pulled 20 months in two tours of duty, the first 11 months in Kuwait, the rest in Iraq.
“It was just very humbling to think that a lot of people we had never even met were sending all that stuff to support us,” he said.
Oakes, 40, a father of four who came home in June 2006, still has cards sent by schoolchildren with pictures and messages in crayon.
“Even in these days of e-mail and computers, there will always be something special about getting real mail, something to pick up and read, something to actually hold,” he said.
Marine Reserve Sgt. Sean Smith, 23, of Hudson Falls, N.Y., received 10 packages in the seven months he spent in Iraq searching for insurgents at a major entry point to the city of Fallujah. One box transported him, if only for a moment, to his favorite place.
“One of my buddies mailed me a couple of rocks from the Adirondacks and some rainwater from a state forest,” said Smith, an outdoorsman who completed his bachelor of science degree in nature and culture at Paul Smith College in Saranac Lake, N.Y., after returning home last fall.
Smith said packages brought a little peace into the hearts of Bravo Company. He said he will always treasure the kindness of the boxes.
“Every card and letter I received, I sent back to my girlfriend and she put them all in a photo album for me,” Smith said. “I’ve done my best to acknowledge everyone who sent something.”