Team,
I hope that this note finds you well. We’ve continued to push this week in making sure that any American wants socks can get them, as well as having heard from a number of units that just received their shipments. It’s been a great week and we’ve got a whole bunch of great things to report!
Some of you have noticed that we changed up our website a while ago. We did it to try to make it simpler for people to be able to find us. Not only donors, but the men and women we server. One of the things that we added was a page marked Unit Support and made sure that it was prominently featured on our home page. Since we’ve put it up, it’s gotten a lot of use!
The form isn’t difficult. It’s really just the unit mailing address, when their deployment date ends and a contact e-mail address.
As our boxes started hitting across the Areas of Operation in Afghanistan, Iraq and Syria, the recipients share the contents with units and service members who haven’t received any. As a result, we’ve had 5 additional units ask for help and we’ve been happy to oblige.
Here is the note we received following letting one of the units know that they can expect some socks soon:
“Thanks! This is my 3rd deployment and the first I've heard of you guys. A friend gave me a pair of your socks, and I love them. Thanks for your support to the troops over here!”
We also got a bunch of thank you notes and some pictures:
“I just wanted to let you know we received 4 boxes that you sent to our unit. The socks are amazing, and the Soldiers are very happy. Thank you for you and your teams' effort in getting them to us. Everyone has gotten at least one package of 6 pairs.”
“Finally, was able to get our 2 boxes. Had to shut my post office due to COVID. Was good to see smiles on our young soldiers and Airman faces today as I helped hand the socks out. Many thanks, and much appreciate the support. “
“I wanted to reach out to you and personally thank you for your support to the Military. Our unit greatly appreciate your gift to the men and women supporting this mission and every other unit you have sent packages too. I would like you to know the following, once I passed these to the different sections here, I’ve had multiple people come back and ask for another pair or two. It truly makes a difference. Again, we thank you for what you stand for and what you have done for so many.”
“Today, the Marines at the MARCENT Coordination Element - Kuwait, as well as any other Marines that wandered into our work spaces, received socks today! Your most recent package was received today and distributed immediately upon opening. All the Marines here appreciate the socks, so please relay that to all of the donors, as well as your staff and family. Keep being awesome!”
“Sir, just wanted to pass along that our unit just received 2x boxes of socks. Much appreciated. We will distribute these out to the Soldiers and make sure we have some pictures to send back. Thank you again for doing this!!!”
“Thank you for everything you and your organization is doing. Your socks are very popular with the troops.”
But of course, we saved the best for last:
“I received some of your socks today and I hope you don't mind as I'm not an American! I am a Royal Marines Commando but I'm serving with an American unit for a six-month tour. It’s an incredible organisation you have set up because you're not wrong, a new pair of socks when living in poor conditions will bring a smile to anyone’s face. Thank you for all of your hard work and thank you for the socks, they're greatly appreciated. Again, I hope you don't mind me having some pairs. “
We didn’t mind. In fact, we are big fans of the Royal Marines, as one of his comrades paid Carla the ultimate compliment.
While many of you have met Carla, she doesn’t give off a very threatening vibe. She’s not particularly big and she usually wanders around with a smile on her face, belying the fact that she is an avid shooter, and was trained by a Marine Battalion Gunner on how to shoot. She is often seen putting a series of rounds into the chest of a target followed by a couple in its face. This is known as “winning hearts and minds”.
Often, we will go to a range and all the gangbanger and special operator wannabe’s look at her with the “what’s she doing here” look until she lets loose, and they realize not to cross her. While she may appear harmless, she’s lethal!
We live near the Marine Base at Camp Pendleton and one day were asked if we would like to bring our armory down to let the contingent from the Royal Marines who were out for the Warrior Games send some lead down range. Not unusually, the same thing happened, everyone looked at my wife with that familiar look of smugness until she started hammering the target.
After ripping the center out of a target with a 1911, the Royal Marine Corporal standing behind her said solemnly, “Madame, you are a bad-ass”! Of course, with his accent it sounded closer to “bod-oss”. I think she quit smiling about it a week later!
I was happy to share the story with him as well as the socks.
We are grateful that what we are doing is continuing to have a big impact, and that our socks continue to be a big hit with the men and women receiving them. But most of all, we are grateful for all your help in making sure that we can continue to make sure that we are able to continue making sure that they can continue to receive them.
Thanks for your help.
We have got a couple of weeks to go before our next shipment. We’re down to below 1,500 pair, so if someone needs socks, we’ll make sure that they’ll get some. We can still use your help. Please take a moment to go to http://socks4heroes.com and donate if you haven’t recently or take a moment to forward our message to your friends who support the Military.
Thanks for joining us in our position in this fight!
Jim
In memory of our son, LCPL Donald Hogan
Posthumously awarded the Navy Cross
KIA 8/26/2009 Nawa, Afghanistan
We honor his memory by caring for Americans wherever they serve in harm’s way