NOTE: Christmas Mail Deadline is TODAY! 15/12/10

Armistice Day November 11, 1918

When the world remembers the end of WWI.

In Flanders Fields

In Flanders Fields the poppies blow
Between the crosses row on row,
That mark our place; and in the sky
The larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.

We are the Dead. Short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
Loved and were loved, and now we lie
In Flanders fields.

Take up our quarrel with the foe:
To you from failing hands we throw
The torch; be yours to hold it high.
If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
In Flanders fields.

Lieutenant Colonel John McCrae, MD (1872-1918)
Canadian Army

For the Fallen

With proud thanksgiving, a mother for her children,
England mourns for her dead across the sea.
Flesh of her flesh they were, spirit of her spirit,
Fallen in the cause of the free.

Solemn the drums thrill: Death august and royal
Sings sorrow up into immortal spheres.
There is music in the midst of desolation
And a glory that shines upon our tears.

They went with songs to the battle, they were young,
Straight of limb, true of eye, steady and aglow.
They were staunch to the end against odds uncounted,
They fell with their faces to the foe.

They shall grow not old, as we that are left grow old;
Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn.
At the going down of the sun and in the morning
We will remember them.

They mingle not with their laughing comrades again;
They sit no more at familiar tables at home;
They have no lot in our labour of the day-time;
They sleep beyond England's foam.

But where our desires are and our hopes profound,
Felt as a well-spring that is hidden from sight,
To the innermost heart of their own land they are known
As the stars are known to the Night;

As the stars that shall be bright when we are dust,
Moving in marches upon the heavenly plain,
As the stars that are starry in the time of our darkness,
To the end, to the end, they remain.

Laurence Binyon (1869–1943)

They shall grow not old as we that are left grow old
Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn
At the going down of the sun, and in the morning
We will remember them.

Lest We Forget.

To read more about Australia's participation in war and peacekeeping, please visit the Australian War Memorial site.

Thank you to everyone who carries the torch, and you who are showing support of our soldiers by sending them parcels.

I notice the blog is quiet, are we still sending parcels?

I had this enquiry from a new reader a couple of days ago:

Hello Kae, I was told about Ocean sky and Khaki buy a fellow breast cancer survivor and I have already sent one parcel off to “Afghanistan”. I have noticed there is not much activity on the O S & K site at the moment. Is this activity of sending parcels still going on?

I have another question if I may. Are the parcels opened before they get to the troops, or are they sent as I have wrapped them? I ask because one of my boxes didn’t close properly but the brown paper I wrapped it in held it all together.

Thanks, yours Miss J

I've only just found it today - I don't check that email often enough and will go for weeks with no emails arriving there! I hope there are no bloopers in this post, it's late and I must go to bed! This is my reply to Miss J:

Dear J

Sorry about not replying sooner. I've just started a new job and as it is my first year I'm a bit tired when I get home and didn't realise it had been so long since I'd checked my gmail address!

Yes, the parcel sending will go on as long as we have troops overseas. Recently I, along with the local RSL, sent 32 parcels overseas, I must post the information on that! We sent 15 to East Timor and the rest to Afghanistan. We have received a few personal thank you notes from East Timor and from Afghanistan. It's certainly a thrill when you receive an email from a soldier just to say thanks with some photos of the soldiers wherever they are.

The local RSL President asked the local school children if they'd like to write to the Australian troops serving overseas, thinking that there would be maybe 30 or 40 letters. The children responded with 350 letters! We had to put many in the boxes for the soldiers. The children wrote their letters and they were put into self addressed envelopes. No postage required as service personnel overseas have their letters home delivered for free.

Last month the local RSL collected boxes of goodies from a few local merchants and a truck from 6RAR came and picked them up to take them to Afghanistan. A bundle of letters went with those goods, too. There is also a collection point at the local IGA where people can deposit goodies so that the RSL can make parcels for the troops. Above the collection point is a poster which gives some items which can be donated.

I asked the RSL president to give the teachers a message for the children to let them know not to expect a reply because sometimes the soldiers may be busy or just a bit shy about contacting a stranger and not knowing what to say.

Next month the commander of 6RAR will be speaking at the local primary school to thank the children and show them some slides of the soldiers at work. I will try to attend, but it is during work hours.

I don't know whether the parcels are opened before they get to the recipients. Sometimes they are shared around, someone might love these lollies and someone else might need the deodorant and another might need the soap, or the toothpaste or the toothbrush. They share, that's what soldiers do!

I have six boxes made up here in front of me and when I can get my act together, and pick up the magazines donated to the RSL by the publisher, and reorganise the boxes to fit in the mags, I'll be sending them off, and probably another six boxes with them!

I must go to bed! My new job is exhausting as I am learning. Nilk and Boy on a Bike both have busy jobs and I know that sometimes it's hard to put posts up... the main job of this site is to get the message out to people that they can support our troops overseas.

Again, apologies for my tardy reply. Thank you for supporting our Australian soldiers. They do a good job promoting Australia by their action overseas assisting the people in the countries they serve in.

Regards
Kae

Why?

To find out more about what Aussies are doing in places like Afghanistan, please watch the 4 Corners program "A Careful War".

This program highlights the way that our service personnel assist in Afghanistan, and also the dangers they face.

A Careful War - Part 1

A Careful War - Part 2

It's time for people to be enlightened that the work in Afghanistan and other fields in which Australian Defence Forces are working.

I know service personnel who have been deployed to places such as Afghanistan and Sudan and I know that they strongly believe that their job is to make the lives of the people in these places better. This is what they train for and this is what they go there to facilitate. The weapons side of things is really a secondary thing, for their protection and the protection of the locals.

Here is a link to the extended report from Chris Masters in Afghanistan.

Update:
In the extended report are several links to individual interviews and to Chris Master's diary and a PDF of background information on Afghanistan.

K is for Keep It Up

As you may have noticed, we haven't posted much for a while. I guess we ran out of things to say - everything you need to know about sending parcels has been covered already.

Just so you know, we haven't given up on the parcel posting thing. I generally try to get at least one in the mail every month, and if I am really organised, I'll send four in one hit. My personal aim is to send 10-20 per year, and to keep that up as long as we have troops deployed somewhere. So far, I'm not doing too badly.

I recently watched the two Four Corners episodes that covered Afghanistan. The second episode had a short segment showing the troops receiving parcels from home. It's amazing how much you can come to appreciate something like lemon teabags when you are a long way from the nearest supermarket.

Combat Team Delta

Rusti Kozicki and family says "Hi!"

Rusti's been sending packages for a while and is always thrilled when a reply arrives.

Thanks from Rusti!

from Rusti's Comment on this thread.

Rusti, if you get a thrill out a note saying thankyou (some have had phonecalls, others emails), imagine what a thrill it is to receive a package of goodies from home?

ANZAC Day, 25th April, 2010.

It's 95 years since Gallipoli.

PRAYER FOR DEPLOYED MILITARY PERSONNEL

The Psalmist says: “God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble.”

Gracious Lord,

You have reconciled to yourself all those who trust in your Son for the forgiveness of their sins. We pray this day for our deployed military personnel serving around this world.

Watch over our men and women, especially in places like Afghanistan where conflict and strife seem at their worst. Give them courage in adversity, safety in service and protection from harm.

We pray for those who may be sick and injured. Strengthen all who will care for them. Provide ample resources and energy to doctors, nurses and chaplains coping with prolonged work hours and deeply distressing circumstances.

We pray again for the families and loved ones of those deployed. Protect them during their periods of separation and reunite them in joy.

And, heavenly Father, we especially pray this morning for those who are now grieving the loss of loved ones killed on active service. Help them to cast their anxieties upon you, the God of all comfort. Enable others to minister to their needs with sensitivity and respect. And may they know the prayers and support of their fellow Australians.

We ask all these things in the Name of Jesus Christ our Lord.

Amen.

Amen.

A message from the pointy end

Some feedback for parcel posters -

If you would like a reply from the person who received your parcel please enclose a self-addressed envelope. Spare envelopes would be good, too.

That way it is easy for the member to write a thank you and a hello, pop it into the envelope and post it to you.

Don't worry about a stamp.

Security

We are anonymous on this blog, the reason is that we don't want to risk anyone's security or the security of personnel serving overseas, or their loved ones here at home.

OSK is delighted to receive feedback from recipients of care packages, and you can give us feedback in the comments section, it emails us to let us know that you've made a comment. We can also be contacted privately if you click on our blogs, I have a clickable email address on my blogger bio. We don't publish this information because it is easy for bots* to automatically search the internet for email addresses and send spam. I hate spam. Spam in a can, spam on my computer - yuk to both!

About the feedback, if you do receive feedback and want to share it on the blog that's fine to put it in the comments, however, please don't use any identifying names, numbers or suchlike, and if you reproduce a thankyou or link to one, please remove the identifying information. Not everyone is as security aware as we'd like!

So, please keep in mind that we must be careful about using names and other identifying features on the blog.

*bots - people write programs to search for @ and other indicators of email addresses and can get massive lists harvested from the net using these programs or "bots".

E is for Easter.

I know it all seems a bit early to be thinking about Easter, but if we look at the time frame to get things to our Diggers, then now's a good time.

So is there anything particular we can send?

I know that chocolate is frowned upon due to it's inability to withstand high temperatures, but I did once send a small chunk of gianduja chocolate to a mate in Iraq. I put it in the freezer for a while, then wrapped it in a layer of newspaper for insulation before posting it.

It did survive the trip, and was greatly appreciated.

One thing about that, though, is that this wasn't a thin piece of chocolate a la most easter eggs, so I'm thinking that bags of small solid choc eggs would be the way to go on that front.

Also, there are things other than chocolate out there that could be considered.



I'm getting up a collection of these eggs. They're only around $2.50 ea, so adding one to the shopping bag each week isn't breaking my bank.

If you have any other suggestions of things to add that would be specific to Easter, please feel free to tell us.

OSK Mission Accomplished! Keep up the good work!

Anonymous in the comments on the post for November 30th sent us a link to this information at the DOD site....

12 January 2010
Care packages for ‘an Australian soldier’
Australian soldiers serving in Afghanistan have been inundated with care packages from thoughtful people back home.
Hundreds of packages were addressed to ‘an Australian soldier’ and included lollies, toiletries and cards.
The smiles on the faces of the soldiers based at Camp Holland, clearly proved the care packages boosted morale.

I really can't express how pleased I am to see that the efforts of people sending care packages to Aussie defence personnel deployed overseas have been reported by the DOD. This shows that the parcels addressed to "An Australian Soldier" are getting through.

It is nice to think that our little blog has had an effect on the morale of our Defence members serving overseas, and that there are people out there who have visited our blog and decided to support our soldiers/sailors/airmen/K9s.

Thank you is such a small thing to say, but please know that your support for our troops is truly appreciated, respected and goes a long way to show that people at home care about our Defence personnel.

Here is the link to the item, there are more photographs. Note the number of packages packed in the large transport boxes.

http://www.defence.gov.au/opEx/global/opslipper/images/gallery/2010/0112a/index.htm

Keep up the good work!