But books will.Another family member is in Iraq. This time it's my niece's husband, a doc stationed with a Forward Surgical Team (FST).
As anyone who has ever been in the service knows, boredom is an unavoidable part of military life. Books help, especially the kind of books we read. Nothing takes your mind of the brutalities and war like a good multiple homicide.
So I'm sending out a call to all the people who read this blog. I want you to send books. More important, if you blog and I know most of you do, I'm asking you to post Brett's address at your place and ask your readers to send books. Paperbacks are probably best, but hardbacks are fine, too.
For those who don't know, there are some restrictions. You can't send porn (I'm looking at you, Stephen) and there's some restriction against religious evangelism that I don't think will be a problem here.
I don't ask much of this crowd. I give and give, always for your amusement and edification. Oh, sure, I urge you to buy a book every now and then, and occassionally I invite you to say something that would derail any potential political career you're considering, but other than those small sacrifices you're pretty much free to come and go as you please.
But not today. Today I'm asking you to step up. You can send your books to me and I'll forward them, or you can send them direct. And please, if you want to do something more than slap one of those three-dollar magnets on your car, pass this address along to fans, friends and family.
I know you guys won't let me down.
Here is Brett's address:
Cpt. Brett Sachse, MD
240 Med Det 28 CSH
APO AE 09348
Here is my address:
David Terrenoire
5 Chipley Ct.
Durham, NC 27703
I'll let you know how it's going in future posts.
18 comments:
Thanks for posting this. I've got about 50 books set aside & now I know where to send them (I'd lost the addy, per usual).
As for the magnets...well, I always laugh, 'cause those suckers take the paint right off your car. I'm still trying to figure out how wrecking the paint job on your car or truck is supporting anybody besides the auto paint industry.
Bless you, Angie.
I had no idea those magnets destroyed anything more than the whole concept of patriotism. But they take the paint off a Navigator?
Cool.
The FOs are on board. We'll post something tomorrow to help spread the word and I'll get my box together this weekend.
I may mention something about painting your house as well:)
Jeff,
You, sir, are a mensch. I don't care what anyone else says.
My mother says everyone likes me and she's the only one I listen to anyway...
Porn? Me? Why, sir, you cut me to the quick!
You want books? I'll send ya books. I'll tak you up on the offer of shipping them out. My wife and I sent care packages to some of the soldiers out there a while back. And much as I was glad to do that (god knows they need a lot of Benadryl cream, and CDs) shipping 25 boxes to the military every few days is a colossal pain in the ass.
I remember hearing that a call went out a couple years ago that people stop sending romance novels. Turns out the bulk of the people sending books to soldiers were women who thought a good romance would be just the thing to send a 19-year-old Sergeant.
By the way, does the fine Captain have any preferences on genre?
I think he goes through books like you go through hookers, Stephen. If it's not his cup of chai he'll pass it along to the others in the unit and, I'm sure, soldiers in recovery.
And I'm happy to send them myself. Bring 'em on.
I've been away and sick and am hopelessly behind... but it is so nice to see you back.
Sandra,
I know you've been hobnobbing with the stars and under the weather (at the same time!). I hope you're feeling better now.
Nice to see you back, too.
So are romances out? I've got about a 50/50 split I can send...but if they don't want the romances, I'll leave those out.
lori,
No, send romances. There are plenty of women on the surgical team and I know many men whose guilty secret is a love of the bodice rippers.
Knock yourself out, Lori, and thank you so much.
You guys are great.
As it happens I have a big stack of old paperbacks they might like, and I'll even kick in my ten or so Hard Case Crime books.
And I'll post on this over at CrimeSpot today, too.
Operation Paperback is an all-volunteer effort to send gently used paperbacks to our troops serving all around the world, and mysteries are high on their list. I received a nice thank-you note from a staff sgt serving in the Middle East for the box of Robert B. Parker novels that I sent.
Full details at:
http://www.operationpaperback.org
Great idea. Reading is a definite boredom-killer. Crime fiction is popular with many of the military personnel I know, as is sci-fi and military fiction.
When I was at Camp As Sayliyah in 2004, it seemed like there were lots of copies of the same mass-market paperback books from the best seller lists in the post library (or what passed for a library). The selection on most posts up in Iraq is most likely much slimmer. So feel free to use your imagination in selecting titles.
Also, there's a group called books for soldiers that packages books and DVDs (a lot of the troops in theater have mini DVD players) to send over. The site even has a place where service members can make requests.
I'm gonna send a box to you but I'm also going to mail separately a check to help defray the cost. That way you can bundle things in bigger lots. Does that make sense?
patti,
you don't have to send a check, although I appreciate the thought.
No, if you go to the trouble of sending books, I'll pay the tab from here.
But thanks. This is a great response.
Just came across your post. Are you still collecting books?
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