American Goodwill

I’ve been meaning to write about this for a while, but I’m just now getting around to doing it. There are a lot of good people back home in the States, and some of them actually read this blog. Their heart’s are good and their desire to help soldiers, as well as the children of Iraq, is apparent in the emails that I receive. Being a soldier myself, I’m obviously interested in helping fellow soldiers in any way that I can. I also have a desire to help out the children of Iraq as much, if not more, than my fellow soldiers. You don’t have to be over here to understand that there is something inherently good about these children. When you see their faces, talk with them, and witness firsthand the conditions in which some of them live, you can’t help but be interested in their well being. The general kindness manifest in the people of America seems to go unnoticed in the world at large, but I can promise you that it doesn’t go unnoticed with the children of Iraq and the soldiers over here fighting for their future.

I must apologize for not addressing an issue that I’ve been wrestling with for weeks. There are many of you that have expressed an interest in sending me toys, pens, and other things that I can pass on to the children. There is one person in particular, Angel, who has been a regular reader since I started this blog. I don’t know her personally, but her name seems to be synonymous with her character. On more than one occasion she and her family have offered to send me things so that my buddies and I can give them to the kids. Her son, who seems to have inherited the good-hearted attributes of his mother, has personally collected toys for the children as well. She has also offered to send me, and guys in my platoon, things that we may need for personal use. There are others of you as well, and my not mentioning you by name is in no way meant to convey that I am ungrateful.

This kindness offered by you all has me torn between wanting to accept your kindness and wanting to retain my privacy. For numerous reasons I’ve chosen to remain anonymous and therefore am hesitant to give out my personal address. I hope that you will forgive me. What you can do, and what I sincerely hope you will do, is send these items to programs like Adopt-A-Platoon. There are also programs out there designed to specifically help the children of Iraq. My hope is that you will take the time to contribute to one of these as well. I personally have more than enough things to get me through the year. I will probably run out of room to store the many boxes sent to me by family members and friends. But there are guys in my platoon and throughout the army who don’t receive much mail or boxes. Someone in our platoon is signing us up for Adopt-A-Platoon, so we can get some boxes to the guys not receiving any. Instead of sending me things, I encourage you to send them to this program.

Some of you have also suggested that I set up a wish list or tip jar on my blog. There’s nothing wrong with this, but it’s just not something I want to do. The freedom to write whatever I want is reward enough. There is an Amazon search box over to the right of the page. If you ever shop on Amazon, you can always stop through here on your way there. By entering Amazon through the search box, I receive a small commission from anything you purchase. This commission is in the form of a gift certificate that I can use to buy books, dvds, and maybe a new computer. If your going to buy something from them anyway, you might as well come through here first.

My conscience can live with that, but I’m starting to wonder if I’m now partially employed by Mr. Bezos. Oh well, he seems like a nice guy, and I’ve enjoyed shopping on there the past few years. Maybe I should try to get sponsored by them. I could adorn my equipment with the Amazon logo, providing them with priceless exposure all over Iraq. They could establish their presence here first, increasing their market share in the Middle East. Ebay and the others would be left behind. Now that I think about it, I like Ebay too. Sponsor me Meg, and I will display your logo prominently on my helmet. Iraqis are more internet savvy than you may think. Yahoo, I have a place on the back of my vest that has plenty of room for your logo. I’ve been using your email service for years and can’t imagine using another. What about Google? I’m using blogger right now. You boys might be gazillionaires thanks to your recent IPO, but what about your Middle Eastern market. All of you could help foster the growth of capitalism in this young democracy, and I could be your first billboard. With all those logos I might start to resemble a NASCAR driver. That might bother a few people at the DOD, not to mention some of the officers around here. Rest easy Mr. Rumsfeld, the only logos I want to wear are the 3rd I.D. patch and Old Glory.