THIS from Canoe today 
Quote:
December 20, 2006
They've got mail!
Cdns bombard troops with good wishes - and goodies
By DOUG BEAZLEY -- Sun Media
Cpl. Sonia Mathieu, 27, of Valcartier, QC is little shy around Santa, AKA Kandahar Bob AKA Robert Johnson, civilian who works on the base and plays Santa, second year in a row. (SUN/Alex Urosevic)
Listen, people, the guys who sort and ship mail at Kandahar Airfield aren't the sort to tell anyone what to do. But they have a favour to ask.
(To see photo with story, follow link below! Karmen)
http://cnews.canoe.ca/CNEWS/War_Terr...f-2895482.html
Keep the maple syrup at home. Please.
"Yeah, that was a bad one," said Master Cpl. Patrick McMahon of 1 RCR out of Petawawa, smiling.
"Someone packed it wrong, and it broke, and didn't it leak all over the other parcels. Don't know what all else buddy had in that package of his, but I'm betting it came out sticky."
BUSY SEASON
One sticky package out of tens of thousands - still a pretty good batting average for the Canada Post service at KAF. This is their busy time of year, of course. Not that it ever really slows down.
"Since August ... let's see," said McMahon, scanning a clipboard. "We've moved 6,743 bags of mail, weighing a total of 116,883 kilos.
"Now, in this last week, you're talking 835 bags, 14,500 kilos. Since Dec. 8."
A little over 2,000 kilos a day. And not all of it even addressed to anyone in particular.
Since September, when Operation Medusa really turned Afghanistan and the Canadian military into a hot topic back home, there's been an outpouring of sympathy and support from hundreds of thousands of Canadian civilians - most of whom, apparently, don't actually know anyone serving overseas.
"We get a ton of unaddressed mail, usually posted to 'anyone in the Canadian Forces,'" said McMahon. "Padre usually gets it, and it takes a long time to get through.''
And the things they send. Toothpaste. Cookies. Candy. Toiletries. Sudoku puzzle books.
"Those things were huge a few months back," said Cpl. Claude Robichaud of the Fleet Mail Office.
There's also Kraft Dinner - tons of it.
"I guess it gives the guys on the line a break from rations, but we've been getting an awful lot of it," said Robichaud. "All it takes is for one guy on leave to say, 'Gee, I sure miss KD when I'm in Afghanistan,' and it's an avalanche."
Just this week, the Canadian Forces issued a press release pleading with the public to stop sending unaddressed care packages to Afghanistan.
"The CF resupply system cannot handle care packages addressed to 'Any CF member' for a variety of reasons, including security and volume," the release said.
The military does encourage people to write or post messages to the troops.
You can post electronically at:
http://www.forces.gc.ca/site/Communi...rd/index_e.asp
If you want to send something unaddressed via snail mail, you can do that too. Go to the forces website at www.forces.gc.ca and follow the links to find the addresses.
The troops particularly appreciate letters from kids. Schools can bundle up letters from an entire class in one large envelope and send it on. It'll cheer them up - no lie.
But don't get the impression that Christmas in Kandahar is going to be a miserable experience for Canadian soldiers. For one thing, the food will get better.
Troops serving in the field in southern Afghanistan will circulate through FOB Ma'sum Ghar, section by section, between Christmas Eve and Boxing Day.
They'll get a hot turkey dinner (a welcome break from rations) and a chance to read their mail before heading back out on the line.
For those lucky enough to be back in KAF at Christmas, there will be distractions aplenty. The new Canada House will be open Christmas Day, complete with a barber shop, movie theatre and ice cream parlour.
TWO BEERS APIECE
There are concerts planned, a hockey tournament, a barbecue and - of course - a special meal at the central mess. The soldiers will get two beers apiece over the Christmas period.
The camp won't empty out - no more than 20% of personnel are on leave at any one time, Christmas notwithstanding. But everybody gets 35 minutes per week of free long distance phone calls home, and all the e-mail they can send.
It won't be the same as Christmas in Canada. But for a war zone, it won't be all that bad, either.
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