On behalf of the 176th Firefighting Team I want to say THANK YOU!!!!! You are awesome!!!!! Thank you so much for the books, snacks, knit scarfs, knit caps, detergent, music, sadukoo, batteries, word searches, movies and everything else you have done. We had a great Christmas because of you and all the others who have selflessly taken the time, effort and money to care. It helps us to stay motivated while away from our families and friends when people we have never met care. It helps us to feel that pride we have for our great Nation when we feel your support. It is very hard for me to put into words the kind of gratitude and appreciation we have for you and everyone at HOME. We have been blessed by you and we know that in turn you too will be blessed. We love to read the cards and letters that are sent along with the care packages. We have recieved letteres from fellow veterans who have fought in WWII, Korea, Vietnam, Desert Storm, Iraq, and other areas. It is nice to hear their story and why they have come to belong to this program.

Everything you have sent to us is right on the money. We are doing great here and are preparing for a cold winter. They have told us that we should be getting some snow from now until possibly March. They say it will snow for a little then warm up and then snow again. This will be our first winter here. I will try to take some pictures of the surrounding mountains that have already started to be covered in snow. Every morning we have to check all the fire trucks to make sure the water didn't freeze in the pipes along with all of our personal firefighting equipment. Fortunately our days consist of mostly training and not much action. When we are busy it is usually somebody's worst day. We also help with building inspections here. We try to make sure that every tent and structure have the right amount of smoke detectors, extinguishers, and batteries for the smoke detectors. Because some of these buildings here are makeshift we check to see if we can prevent some hazards with electrical wiring and other potential hazards that might get overlooked. We also get to workout some. This is most of our favorite thing to do. We are looking into joining the 911 challenge for fitness. This is available to all fire, police, EMS, military personnel. The money raised gets donated to St. Jude's which is a group that has been supported by many fire departments nation wide. I don't know if we will win but it is always fun training for a purpose.

Again I want to say thank you from the bottom of our hearts for your selfless service to us and to our Country. I hope you had a great Christmas and a Happy New Year. Please stay safe and feel free to email me at this address. I do not have constant computer access so it may take me a little to answer you so I apologize for that. I will promise that I will respond as quickly as I can.

Thank you so much.
With humble hearts,
176th Firefighting Team
POC: SGT. Seth Frost

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Feb 17,
Hi HOME,
Due to recent activity the roads were black (no travel) but today they made a postal run and I got all your boxes. Question, is there anything that will go bad? I did want to get some pictures for you but I am leaving for a conference in Qatar in the morning. I was going to wait and open them when I got back on the 28th.

Holy crap, another truck just came in with more! Okay, just opened the box with the knife sharpeners...told you we were fine! Nothing quite as creepy as a room full of people sharpening knives.

SETH HENDERSON, Capt, USAF

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Friends,

I just wanted to share a few photos of the proud men and women you have touched.

Thank you ALL for your heartfelt generosity!

Our Post Exchange is experiencing shortages in every area due to the continued conflict with Pakistan. The majority of our supplies flow through its borders. Your "Care Packages" are providing our troops with the essentials plus morale building supplies that make our days bearable.

Camp Eggers thanks you for remembering us.

You all have made friends forever.

V/r

LARNELL S. THOMPSON, Major, USAF

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Hand-written letter from the soldiers. Click images to view larger.

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Dear H.O.M.E.,

I would personally like to thank you for all the care packages. As a proud Soldier serving in honor of Operation Enduring Freedom it warms my heart to know there are organizations that care so much. Your packages makes us feel appreciated and drives us to continue to fight for the men and women of our great country. I wish I could explain in words how much of a morale booster your packages are for me and the soldiers who serve along side of me. During the holiday seasons when so many Soldiers are alone and away from their families receiving a package with a letter from a young American showing their appreciation for our service is amazing. Sorry it took so long for me to send a message back I apologize, but with the demanding task, connectivity problems and fight against the taliban it sometimes is a challenge to find five minutes of personal time. I set aside this time to thank you and let you know your work is not going without being noticed. I have received countless packages from you and I have shared with over 300 soldiers. Of all the packages I think everyone loved the chips and cheese dip the most, I must say it has put smiles on many soldiers faces. When I get back to the states in the next several months I would love to donate to your organization. My Battalion Commander would also like to send a token of his appreciation on Behalf of the men and women of 2-5 INF Battalion. So please continue to help the Soldiers of 2-5, but also the other Soldiers spread out over the middle east. You have a great organization and it really means allot to us. So again I would like to say THANKS HOME.

P.S. will we be looking forward to more Chips and Dip

CPT J'Varis Jackson
Adjutant

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