STAR VETS are the part of Star Touring that recognizes and honors the many people that have served our country. To become part of STAR VETS, you have to be currently serving in the Armed Forces or have served in hte past and are able to provide proof of service. A special "Star Vets" patch is available to wear proudly for your service provided.

Just a reminder about our "support the troops" care packages.

At the last meeting we agreed to send two care packages each month. Last month we sent six! The boxes are 12 x 12 x 5 1/2 inches. We have one box nearly full with extras from last month so if everyone would donate one or two items we would surely fill both boxes.

You can look at the anysoldier.com web site for suggestions on what to send and what not to send.

Last month we sent our packages to a Marine reserve unit based in Minnesota and serving in Iraq. I didn't get a response yet but I imagine that they are very busy. We can continue to support this unit or pick a different one. Let's discuss at the next meeting. Either way, they all need our support.

This message was posted yesterday on the Any Marine web site from SSgt Lindsey. All of our packages were sent to SSgt Lindsey for him to distribute to the 90 Marines in his group.

From the Marine: (SSgt Lindsey)
13 May 2009:
Hi there! I feel terrible for not replying for a while and wanted to give you an update on what's going on. Our Marines of Task Force Military Police are doing well and staying busy. The main effort in our little piece of Iraq is shrinking our military "footprint" and our Marines are doing an impressive job protecting the convoys as they carry out this task. Your care packages have done an awesome job of keeping morale up during these first critical couple of months of being away from family and home. We truly appreciate your generosity and support. When people talk about supporting the troops, this is one way where we truly feel that support. Thank you all so very much. Take care and God bless.

Classification: UNCLASSIFIED
Sir, I just wanted to let you know that I've just received your letter
from the 10th of May today, and thought I'd take the advantage of being
on the computer right now to say, "Thanks". From all of us here at Alpha
Company, 3/3 - we very much appreciate all of your generosity and
support. A lot of Americans are on that bandwagon of "supporting your
troops" but you folks are living it. It means more than you'll ever
know. Morale is one of those things that's dependent on a lot of factors
that we as leaders can plan for and control. One of those things is not
the heat. LOL. Also, one of those non-controllable factors is people
like you surprising our Marines with the knowledge that they are
remembered back home, despite the fact that there's not constant combat
operations out here, and that people do still think about and appreciate
their sacrifice. That may not stop their griping about the heat and
being away from home and loved ones, but it does put a smile on their
face for a while. Thanks for helping us take care of our Marines. So,
again, thank you very much for your time, support and generosity. You
are all so very appreciated. God bless.

Respectfully submitted,
SSgt Lindsey
Comm Chief/Watch Officer Task Force MP (A Co 3/3) TQ, Iraq
DSN: (318) 3424-263/264
VoSIP: 696-2726