A Proper Send-off If you’re sending care packages to soldiers overseas, be sure to know the rules

Janice Ouellette of Bradford knows what to send her son Army Sgt. John Ouellette, who is stationed in Iraq: “Anything that lets him think about home is what he wants,” she said. Most recently he wanted an electric razor, which she sent packed in 100 “hot balls,” an individually wrapped hard candy. But what he likes best of all, she said, is homemade cookies.

She freezes cookies and vacuum-packs them with a home sealing device she bought at a local department store. “That way they stay fresh. His buddies were all fighting for those cookies,” she said, laughing.

Her son also has asked for recent family photos and recently he e-mailed a request for light bulbs. “They can’t get them fast enough through military channels,” Ouellette said. “He said his platoon would chip in to help pay for the light bulbs.”

But before anyone sends anything to a soldier in Iraq, she suggested talking to the soldier to make sure the item is OK to send. Certain food items contrary to Islamic dietary laws are not allowed.

The parcels Ouellette sends her son usually cost about $10 to send by priority mail. The packages are sent to an APO address and cannot include her son’s military rank. It took 16 days for the electric razor packed in hot balls to reach her son.

“Anything any of us here can do has got to help them [over there],” she said.

When Sgt. 1st Class Rory Eldridge was in Iraq, his mother, Suzanne Morrison of Orono, sent him homemade trail mix containing peanuts, almonds, cashews, dried fruits, coconut and raisins, which she packed in small bags containing a half-cup each. She said her package took eight to 10 weeks to reach her son, who finished his tour of duty in Iraq and is now stationed at Fort Campbell, Ky.

Those who send packages to Maine soldiers serving in Iraq need to observe the rules, said 1st Sgt. Barbara Claudel of the Maine Army National Guard’s Family Support Services office.

The first rule is that one may no longer send a package addressed to “Any Soldier.” For security reasons, a soldier’s name and address must be on the package. The Maine Army National Guard cannot give out the names of soldiers serving in Iraq. If you know a soldier serving in Iraq, it’s a good idea to contact the soldier to discuss what items to send and to receive permission to do so.

The second rule is to make sure the packaging is durable. It takes two to six weeks for a package to arrive in Iraq. But it could take longer.

The third rule is to follow U.S. postal regulations which state that one may not send obscene articles, bulk quantities of religious materials contrary to the Islamic faith, pork or pork byproducts, weapons, drugs or tobacco.

First Sgt. Carroll Payne spent six months in Iraq, from March to September 2003, with the Maine Army National Guard 112th Medical Co. Air Ambulance unit.

“They’re doing a bang-up job,” he said, “medevacing Iraqi children, Iraqi prisoners of war, U.S. soldiers with all types of injuries and victims of burns.”

“Don’t send chocolate,” he said. “It arrives melted.” Temperatures in Iraq can exceed 100 degrees F. He suggested sending hand cream, trail mix and books. Maine soldiers also like to get spices with which to “doctor up their mess hall food”; LED flashlights that you squeeze to turn on – “It’s very dark in the desert”; and Maine souvenir items, such as postcards and lobster magnets. Small packages are better than large ones because units often are on the move.

Maine soldiers in Iraq sometimes bring with them personal laptop computers.

“We found out real quick that the floppy disks we went with got destroyed by the sand,” Payne said. CDs, zip disks and memory sticks are appreciated.

Soldiers in Iraq, Payne said, sometimes stand in line three or four hours to use a phone. Phone cards from home containing 240 minutes will yield only 24 minutes in Iraq. A better way, he said, is for family members to purchase phone cards to use to call soldiers serving in Iraq. That way, they get to use the full number of minutes on the card.

Claudel suggests sending these items to soldiers in Iraq – Wet Ones baby wipes, lip balm, international phone cards, disposable cameras, travel-size toiletry items such as shampoo, deodorant and talcum powder, playing cards, AA and D batteries, and cribbage boards.

Currently, Claudel said, Maine has 1,100 soldiers deployed in Iraq, Afghanistan, Kuwait and Cuba.

“Thousands of Mainers are directly affected by a soldier’s absence,” Claudel said, and they need support, too.

Guard families have a number they may call when they need help. Those wishing to provide services, either free or discounted, to soldiers’ families, may call toll-free (888) FMLYCTR. When a call for assistance is received, a family will be matched with the appropriate service. Services needed include general home repairs, plowing, shoveling snow, electrical and plumbing.

Several Maine National Guard funds are available to aid Guard families. Donations to those funds are welcome, Claudel said, as are donations of international phone cards.

Gift certificates earmarked for Guard families also are appreciated.

To learn more about how to assist Guard families, call Linda Newbegin, Maine Army National Guard Family Readiness, at 650-2796, or e-mail Newbeginme@pivot.net.

Ardeana Hamlin can be reached at 990-8153 or ahamlin@bangordailynews.net.