Fri 1/16/2004 8:30 PM
Dear Marty, I read about you in the paper and went online to find your website. I sent a bunch of boxes to the troops before Christmas. I'm delighted to say that I have received a few letters from the troops. I'll be sending more boxes soon to the addresses on your website.

I hope you get your experience with the IRS is a good one. Since you are working with a congressional office you should have more luck than the majority of people. It took me six months to get my approval from the IRS. Good luck. Joan

Fri 1/16/2004 1:06 PM
Marty,
I got a phone call from my son, Brandon, today. He was able to talk for 30+ minutes this time!

First, I need to tell you that my son gets LOTS of care packages. I have family, friends, co-workers, friends with co-workers, etc., who have been sending care packages. Brandon probably gets more than most and he shares them. Anyway, today I asked him if he knows SGT Brian Horn. And he said, "Yes....that guy gets more care packages than I do!" Brandon said that at the mail station, they keep 10 "AnySoldier Packages" stacked up for the soldiers to go pick up if they are having a "nobody loves me day".

Brandon wanted to know how I knew about it. He just figured Brian was personally getting all of the care packages and was sharing them. He knew they were for "AnySoldier"....but he thought it was because Brian was opting to share them because he was so overrun with care packages.

It sounds like the "AnySoldier" packages are all over the place.
Thanks for doing this for all these guys!

Brenda :-)

Wed 1/14/2004 1:20 AM

Mr Horn, I am an italian girl and a fan of the 173rd. I really appreciate your website and like the high quality of the pics posted. Hereby i enclosed a pic of the christmas tree ornaments that i made for some airborne families and friends. Happy Year 2004! Adele

Tue 1/13/2004 7:38 PM
Marty, I contacted SGT. Hunt with the air force about being one of your distributers. He informed me he's been there for a while. Rumer has it he'll be home by Easter. I've got one other I'm in contact with but not by e-mail. I'll go to work on him and see what his status is and if he can help.
I did ask SGT. Hunt if he knew Brian. He said he has never met him but he proseeded to give me Brians biographey. He also said he's become somewhat of a folk hero around there. You've done a really good job with this.

(Note from Marty...The AnySoldier effort is NOT looking to support Airmen or Sailors, at least at this time. Please see the FAQ note on this.)

Thu 1/8/2004 4:17 PM
Dear Marty,
I found your web site through a letter to the editors in our local paper, so my neighbor and I got together and bought enough stuff ($450.00 at Costco) to make up 12 boxes. They are from 17-20 lb each and the post office says it is about $25.00 for mailing to the APO addresses. As you might imagine, we are asking friends for help in that part of it.

This is a little story I would like to share with you. The other day I went to the Dollar Store in our area to pick up some toy stuff for the boxes so they would have something to give the kids over there. A sweet little lady pushing a walker was interested in why I was buying 12 of each item. When I told her what we are doing and that I have been asking friends to help with the postage, she pulled a $20 bill out of her purse and gave it to me! I was flabbergasted. She doesn't know me at all, but said she believed I was telling the truth and remembers her mother being in WWI. So that money was in honor of her mother. I tell you, it sure restores one's faith in our fellowman, huh?

Anyway, we will be getting our packages off this next week. We are dividing them up between the addresses on your web site.

Sincerely,
Kathy (Santa Rosa, CA)

Tue 1/6/2004 3:43 PM
Congrats on the site hitting 100,000+ visitors at about 440PM today. Keep up the good work!!
John

Tue 1/6/2004 3:10 PM
Marty:
I received the link to a website about "Attn: Any Soldier" and am going to do what I can...I am in the process of actually moving to another state and thought "What a cool way to give some of my stuff a new home!" Some is new (still in packages), some is "like new"...whenever I go to a motel, I take the bars of soap that I don't use that are still in the wrappers, lotions, shampoos, etc., so NOW I have a good way to make use of them, and I don't have to pack them in cartons to go from a HUGE home that we're leaving to a 2-bedroom apartment!

I also plan to notify all of our local churches and radio stations (in case they are not aware of the website) and see what I can do about spreading the word...

Thanks so much to your son, Brian...I think it is important for us to support our soldiers. I can't say that I agree with them being there in the first place, but that's an issue that I have with our President and not with our fighting men and women. As long as they are being honorable and doing what they have been told to do and are expected to do, all I can do is EVERYTHING I can do to show them how much I appreciate their patriotism and their commitment. I don't believe I actually know any of our soldiers, but I won't use that as an excuse to NOT participate...like I believe some other (heartless) people might.

All my love and best wishes to you and your family...
Sherry (Georgia)

Mon 1/5/2004 11:59 AM
Marty....
Sorry for the late reply.....I was so busy getting ready for Xmas and then was off all last week. You are MOST welcome for the mentions...it is the least I can do. Did you get to talk to Brian at all over the holidays? I certainly hope so!
Have a wonderful New Year and let me know if I can do anything else to assist your efforts!
Jenni

(Note from Marty...This is Jenni Chase of 104.1 FM (DC))

Sun 1/4/2004 11:18 PM
Just wanted to send you an email about my dad. He made the army a career of 20+ years. Somehow he ran across your website and wanted to help. (He was in Vietnam and Korea, so he understands what these guys and gals are going through.)

He told me about it and I made up a flier to distribute at work. Together we were able to collect enough items to fill 28 boxes so far! My parents have paid for the shipping on all of these boxes out of their own pocket! (A couple hundred dollars!)

My dad did not do this for any glory or fame, he just wanted to help brighten someone's day, but I think he deserves some credit. Granted, I helped him to collect the items, but he and my mom got the boxes, boxed them up, dealt with all the paperwork at the post office, and paid for it.

My father is SFC William and I think he deserves credit for his efforts. During a season when so many only think of themselves and what they need to do, my dad thought to help others. I'm proud that my company and I were able to help him.

I thank you for setting up this site or we would have never been able to do this. I also want to express pride in my father for remembering what he went through and for trying to make this time a little better for those who are going through it now.

Whether you are agree with this conflict or not, we are Americans and we help our men and women who are risking their lives overseas. I'm glad we could do some good.

By the way, my father has received a letter from one of the soldiers that received a box. It was a great letter and really made this all worthwhile.

Again, thanks to you for this website and thanks to my dad for being great and trying to help out!

Sheila

Wed 12/31/2003 2:04 PM
Dear Sir,
I was glancing through various pen-pal programs for soldiers and came across this effort. I would, at one time, have just sloughed off this entire thing due to my stance on War and such but reading through your site and the e-mails put things into another perspective for me. Luckily, I haven't had to go to Iraq and as that thought passed through my mind, I realized why - because these men and women went for me.

I was/am brought to tears when I think about what they're doing and what is going on in a place they shouldn't be but are, regardless. Recently, a man I love tremendously joined the Navy and I couldn't believe it nor could I understand why. Reading through your site and the e-mails has given me a new understanding of why.

For this, and the opportunity to help in a real way, I want to say thank you.
-Christian

Tue 12/30/2003 10:04 PM
Just wanted to drop a note of thanks for showing the rest of us how we can support our troops overseas.
What a great idea!
Thanks,
Tom (Omaha, NE)

Tue 12/30/2003 7:18 PM
Re: help for cpt smith
Sunrise medical is donating 19 wheelchairs for Cpt Smith
that gives us a total of 27, lol
Happy New Year!!
(wishes to remain anonymous)

(Note from Marty...WOW!)

Tue 12/30/2003 5:26 PM
I heard about this on the radio the other day and I think this is a great program!! Will be getting some packages together to send to our soldiers. Will also forward this site on to my friends. Am so glad such so many people are participating in this to show our support for our troops. It is the least we can do. No need to answer this. Just wanted to thank you for allowing us the opportunity to show our support for our troops.
Debbie

Tue 12/30/2003 3:17 PM
My name is Pam and I'm the proud mom of two sons serving in Iraq. You are an angel, sir. There needs to be more people in the WORLD like you.

Along with sending packages and letters to my sons, I have "adopted" a couple of soldiers in Kuwait who don't have families to do what we do. I'm sure that I feel more blessed than they do when I send these packages out-just to know that I'm doing what I can to keep these guys spirits up.

I learned along time ago the "what goes around, comes around". You, sir, will be richly blessed. I love hearing about things like this--all I really seem to hear is the bad stuff. This warms my heart and gives me back a little faith in mankind. THANK YOU.
Sincerely,
Pam

(Note from Marty... I am VERY blessed. There are many people out there far better than me, thank God, and they are the ones that make this actually work.)

Mon 12/29/2003 2:53 PM
Hi,
I read about your project and website on the Kidsave Yahoo group list. I just wanted you to know, my kids (Olya 15 and Sergey 11) and I sent 4 packages today (2 male, 2 female) to the Chaplain and to Sargent Joel Fehl.
Happy New Year.
Camille (Austin, TX)

Fri 12/26/2003 9:32 PM
Dear Sir:
Hope you and your family had a great Christmas and a wonderful 2004. I have already sent out a few big boxes (sorry, did not read the "recommended size" before sending them) to Brian and one to Major Wheatly (Female Soldiers Gift). Please let Brian know they will be coming his way and do please apologize for the size and weight of the boxes.

Also, since I am doing this with the help of my Company and employees, I thought it will be nice to have my Company's name mentioned on the website.
Its Sovereign Bank New England. I actually named my little program "Operation Sovereign Cares". Hahaha, talk about being original, right?

I just want to thank you for putting this website up and everything you are doing! God bless you and your family! Please send my regards and best wishes to Brian and his troops.

Have a wonderful holidays!
Jess

Fri 12/26/2003 8:53 PM
Hi Marty:
Hope your Christmas Was Merry! Ours was excellent as evidenced by the attached photos. We completed 80 boxes, except when all counted somehow, 82! I had no shot of finishing them myself, so all my family ate their Christmas Dinner and then pitched in on the best packing effort I have ever seen! Even our Postal Clerk was glad to see us, and helped with everything. Your instructions were perfect. Many thanks for enabling us this pleasure.

We're taking a few weeks off, but we will happily repeat this effort as soon as possible. Keep working to give our troops some support. It was thrilling to see and hear them on MSNBC saying thanks to "Anysoldier.us, Sandbox.com, etc." We'll keep Brian in our thoughts and prayers. Connie & Vinny

Fri 12/26/2003 6:03 PM
I don't personally know a soldier in Iraq and I've been searching for a way to help the troops and your site appears to be the answer!

My husband and I are going shopping tomorrow.

Thank you,
Tina (Memphis, Tennessee)

Thu 12/25/2003 8:38 AM
Hello Marty,

I am SSG Shaun Beauchamp from 1st Plt, A-co 1-508 and I would like to start off by saying thank you for starting this great program. I have seen ALOT of boxes come through here and go to soldiers who don't exactly get mail very often. I would like to thank you for the support that you and everyone who visits this website is giving the troops serving here in Iraq. For those ladies and gentlmen who have sent boxes I would also like to say thank you very much for all that you have done. I urge any of my soldiers who recieves an anonymous box to reply to them but any means possible just so that that person knows that their box got to a soldier who needed it. It also helps if the person sending leaves an email address because a few of us do have access to the internet now, but that is on the person sending. I would like to say thank you very much from all of us at Alpha Company, 1st Platoon, 1-508th Red Devils. Merry Christmas and have a Happy New Year.