Ben 'Facebooked' me and I thought to share with you.
2/14/10 We have a place to keep our bags. And we sleep in the tent where we work at. Otherwise outside. But since it's been raining on and off were all crammed into this little tent. I'm in the army, mom. The infantry. If it comes down to it, we'll sleep outside in the rain. Anyways, can you send some, as in one or two, paper plates, plastic forks, and some napkins? I miss eating like that. Oh, and a few bags of ramen noodles. That's it for now I guess. Thanks
2/15/10 War zone or not, we are the infantry, and this is the Army; we tough everything out. Here are the rumors I've heard: were being extended another 90 days, were going kenetic, meaning start targeting Hatian gangsters and bullets start flying, we're leaving here in 18 days, and we're leaving here around July. So take your pick. Are you saying you haven't shipped the box yet? I think the cookies should be fine too, until they reach the hands of me and my buddies :)
If you have a Facebook account, it'll be fastest way of communication with him. Although it's always nice to receive mail. I'm planning to send another pkg on 2/16 or 2/17. So if you want me to include anything from you, I'll be happy to do that. Just e-mail me at eguidosan@gmail.com. Thanks.
Monday, February 15, 2010
Friday, February 12, 2010
APO Mailing Address
We finally got an APO address to send letters & pkg to him. You can send anything but drugs & weapons, I'm told. Just follow the typical rules from the post office.
PFC Guido, Ben
B Co 1-325 AIR 82nd ABN
LSA RED
APO AA 34068
I'm sending: baby wipes, toilet paper, small mirror, DEET, head lamp, book, paper, pen, envelopes, stamps, candies & non-perishable food items, and some $ for him to buy junk food like sugar cane & soda. It's very hot there so stay away from chocolates & stuff that will melt/spoil.
Last time I heard from Ben on 2/10, he's been sleeping outside on the dirt. They got kicked out of the building because some higher ranking people came in and took over. It was raining that evening and they have no cover. I don't know why they don't have tents to sleep in. He is very dirty as you can imagine life without running water. I don't think they've been able to launder their clothes?! I don't even want to know. Few days ago, he had a 'shower' for the first time in several weeks, from a 5 gal. bucket, with a cup. Apparently the field shower they set up is broken.
I have to say that he's been a tropper out there with the meager living conditions. I have not heard him whine or complain at all. At least not to me. He's probably keeping all the 'bad' news away so that I won't worry.
He did figure out a way to send me flowers for Valentines Day. What a sweetie!
Keep up your much needed & appreciated prayers for him!
PFC Guido, Ben
B Co 1-325 AIR 82nd ABN
LSA RED
APO AA 34068
I'm sending: baby wipes, toilet paper, small mirror, DEET, head lamp, book, paper, pen, envelopes, stamps, candies & non-perishable food items, and some $ for him to buy junk food like sugar cane & soda. It's very hot there so stay away from chocolates & stuff that will melt/spoil.
Last time I heard from Ben on 2/10, he's been sleeping outside on the dirt. They got kicked out of the building because some higher ranking people came in and took over. It was raining that evening and they have no cover. I don't know why they don't have tents to sleep in. He is very dirty as you can imagine life without running water. I don't think they've been able to launder their clothes?! I don't even want to know. Few days ago, he had a 'shower' for the first time in several weeks, from a 5 gal. bucket, with a cup. Apparently the field shower they set up is broken.
I have to say that he's been a tropper out there with the meager living conditions. I have not heard him whine or complain at all. At least not to me. He's probably keeping all the 'bad' news away so that I won't worry.
He did figure out a way to send me flowers for Valentines Day. What a sweetie!
Keep up your much needed & appreciated prayers for him!
Tuesday, February 2, 2010
Slight improvement
Ben called Sunday evening (1/31) and updated us with exciting news. Well, not really!
His unit was assigned to the outskirts of the town, so he is not in the middle of all the actions as he hoped to be. He has not seen any dead bodies or smell anything bad. The Haitian like the Army soldiers but not the UN workers because they are not rude & harsh with them.
He's been assigned to do security and the grave yard shift (12 midnite - 8 AM). His main duty is to watch the radio and report on an hourly basis of activities. Since he's nite owl, it's not too bad. He gets to call some friends in CA since the time differences works out. But he's totally bored.
They still do not have running water & electricity, hence no showers & clean laundry - oh, but they do have baby wipes. The living conditions improve slowly that they now sleep in a building on cots with mosquito nets. He's not sure how much the nets really help since the windows & doors in the building do not have screen & doors on them. They still have limited food & water supply for the troops.
His bug bites are not as bad, he thinks the sulfur in the match-heads are working. (I wonder how many he takes?)
The army is setting up stations so that they can receive mail within couple of weeks. I will post the address here. They can receive anything other than guns and drugs.
According to the Army, their deployment will last no longer than 6 months. They should be coming home around July 18, or sooner.
His unit was assigned to the outskirts of the town, so he is not in the middle of all the actions as he hoped to be. He has not seen any dead bodies or smell anything bad. The Haitian like the Army soldiers but not the UN workers because they are not rude & harsh with them.
He's been assigned to do security and the grave yard shift (12 midnite - 8 AM). His main duty is to watch the radio and report on an hourly basis of activities. Since he's nite owl, it's not too bad. He gets to call some friends in CA since the time differences works out. But he's totally bored.
They still do not have running water & electricity, hence no showers & clean laundry - oh, but they do have baby wipes. The living conditions improve slowly that they now sleep in a building on cots with mosquito nets. He's not sure how much the nets really help since the windows & doors in the building do not have screen & doors on them. They still have limited food & water supply for the troops.
His bug bites are not as bad, he thinks the sulfur in the match-heads are working. (I wonder how many he takes?)
The army is setting up stations so that they can receive mail within couple of weeks. I will post the address here. They can receive anything other than guns and drugs.
According to the Army, their deployment will last no longer than 6 months. They should be coming home around July 18, or sooner.
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