have been on the phone with a few (2) of my sons buddies that serve with them in Afghanistan and they have ask me to get them new pillows and pillow cases for them. They have thief's taking there pillows and blankets when there not in there base. They first thought it was other guys in there unit doing it so they all started putting there names on there pillows and blankets with permanent markers but there sure now its the local population. So I went off today to get them new stuff to mail over to them and told them to let me know who else needs them. Well thanks to Walmarts cheap pricing today I got 5 sets of what they need. I will hang on to the extras and mail it to the ones that need it when they let me know. I guess when you have nothing a pillow looks like gold. I would think they would have a little more security in there bases as well. I was having a problem getting the pillows in the postal mail boxes until my wife out smarted me and suggested we put them in vacuum bags and shrink them down? Well now I have been eating dirt all day reminded of how little I think ahead.


Lou

What you say about the security is worrying: If they can sneak pillows out, then they can sneak other stuff in.

English Mike wrote:

What you say about the security is worrying: If they can sneak pillows out, then they can sneak other stuff in.

Yep...you got that in one Mike. It is extremely worrying. I wonder if the hierachy of the units over there have bothered to pass this tidbit of info (intelligence) on to their superiors? Seems to me that it is something that needs to be done...ASAP !!!

I know what its like to go without a pillow....damned uncomfortable when you are trying to grab a gonk. I used to use my bum pack (fanny pack) with something soft in it, but it really was only a poor substitute. Would always wake up with a crook neck...but if you are tired enough, a rock almost feels good as a pillow.

Cheers, Vince

ya know with a kid who is just about ready to go into basic training here, I hope she calls me one day with the complkain of someone stole her pillow.. because if thats the worst to be worried about then i got no problems!!! i dare someone to walk into a VFW and repeat this to some of the guys there... I am NOT dissing on the soldiers over there doing thier jobs, i just find it funny that through it all they are complaining about pillows..

WTF is a pillow??

hunterjoe21 wrote:

WTF is a pillow??

You should know that HJ....its the nice soft thing you rest your head on when ya go to bed.



Cheers, Vince

The US Army told me that if I wanna rest my head on something while sleeping, it better be a rock.

hunterjoe21 wrote:

The US Army told me that if I wanna rest my head on something while sleeping, it better be a rock.

SLEEPIN' !!?? Did they let you sleep in the US Army mate? I think I shoulda joined up with you guys.

Cheers, Vince

When I was in the first Gulf War, the spouse support group back home actually got ahold of some pillow factory, the wives supplied the material and the pillow company donated the filling and their labor force to make the pillows for our battalion - we got a shipment of hundreds of these pillows. They were roughly 12" x 9" - I still have that pillow today - it is dessert camo and has a loop so I can clip it on to my rucksack. Like Vince says, we never slept - not once for the entire 9 months I was there so it is still like new.

Lots of power naps then I take it WW ??

Dimitri

Looks like they got the person stealing the pillows, it was a 9 or 10 year old girl. They all got together put her together a care package. Looks like she has no family and was just trying to servive. One of the guys in there unit is trying to get things together to adopt her and bring her home to the states.

Thats kinda "sweet" Duce, hope it works out for her and him.

Dimitri

Dimitri wrote:

Lots of power naps then I take it WW ?? Dimitri

That often what it amounts to 'Mitri. Sure we do get to sleep, but you never...and I mean NEVER...get a full 7 or 8 hours gonk.

Depending on what your job is...I was Infantry...you at best will get up to maybe 4 hours at a time, then broken by as much as 2 - 3 hours, then maybe another hour...if you are lucky.

Cheers, Vince

Duce wrote:

Looks like they got the person stealing the pillows, it was a 9 or 10 year old girl. They all got together put her together a care package. Looks like she has no family and was just trying to servive. One of the guys in there unit is trying to get things together to adopt her and bring her home to the states.

That isn't unusual in a war zone. Its always the civilians...and in particular the kids who suffer. Luckily the kids bounce back pretty well. It the kids too who are usually the first to befriend the soldiers (the good guys), and see them for who and what they are...simply other human beings doing a hard job.

Tell your boys to look after any kids like that Duce...they are the real victims of the war. The religious and politically driven extremists on the other side don't give a damn about the kids...even though they are from their own country.

Cheers, Vince

ok so what was she doing with all of the other pillows that was being stolen, i mean really how many pillows do you need? and being a devils advocate here with this, great she is being adopted, going to be brought into a strange country where she will know a few people only, will know very little of the language and the customs.. ok so what is she going to do here to survive if she was stealing pillows there is it going to be cars or banks over here? sorry i just cant seem to get behind the idea of patting a thief on the head and saying aww its ok we understand you had to do this to survive..