Her name's Rachel Contreras.

[camwyn]

She's 29 - a year younger than me. She's a single mother of two girls. She's from California.

She's a supply sergeant in the US Army. She's served in the Army for ten years. Right now she's in Camp Cooke, Iraq, where she's in charge of the cooks, the food, the water, and other related supplies. She's been there since January; her unit is supposed to go home come next January, operative word being 'supposed'. Some time ago, when I was first cleaning my room, I consulted Books for Soldiers and found her name and request. I sent her about two and a half years' worth of back issues of Cooks Illustrated magazine- all recipes and product tests, no ads.

Today, I got a thank-you card from her... and a two-page letter.

Damn. I mean, damn.

Comments

[fuchsoid.livejournal.com]

This is an excellent idea. My brother did a 12-month tour in Iraq last year, and greatly appreciated any books and magazines I sent. Active duty seems to consist of great stretches of boredom, with small intervals of life-threatening terror, and he was desperate for anything to read. Apart from anything else, anything you send to any one individual will get passed around among the rest of the unit as well, so you're benefiting several people at once.

I take it this scheme only extends to US forces, but I believe there is something similar for British soldiers as well.

[camwyn]

Actually, they have a message board section marked as being for the UK's fighting forces. Haven't had the chance to check it out, though.