Comics for US soldiers in Iraq

[BassGMan]

Hi guys. I think I had a pretty good idea.

 

On saturday a guy won two inexpensive lots of DC bronze horror "reader copies" that I had listed on Ebay. They were mostly G/VG copies of House Of Mystery. Yesterday I received payment for them via PayPal along with a note stating that this was a US soldier in Iraq, and he wanted me to send the books to his wife who was at his army base in Germany. Later she will send the books to him personally in Iraq.

 

So this got me thinking. I wrote the guy and asked if he and his fellow soldiers would like more comics. Obviously I was not thinking of investment books, but "reading copies" for entertainment purposes as I am sure there are many boring hours over there. I asked the guy if he thought this would be a good idea, what kind of comics the guys would like, and what address we should all send them to. I let him know that I knew some "serious" dealer/collectors whom I thought would be more than willing to help. So anyway, he just wrote back with the following statement:

 

"That would be really nice of you folks to do that. I am the Morale Welfare and Recreation Liason for my Brigade, and it would really be nice to have something besides the books and readers digest over here. I recently saw some comics in one of the other units MWR, but not sure which ones, I do remember seeing Kiss Psycho Circus amongst them (big shout out to the KISS Army). I prefer horror/war/sci fi genre, but I am sure the guys would be happy with anything. I belong to an aviation unit over here just outside of Tikrit, Saddams hometown, we provide attack helicopter support (Apaches) and utility/lift support (Blackhawks)for a large part of Iraq. Things arent to bad here for the most part, it is very hot here and you have to vary your work schedule accorrdingly. FOB Speicher was the main former Iraqui Air Force Academy/School so a lot of the infrastructure remained after the war. It was named Speicher after the Navy Pilot that was shot down the first night of attack du

ring the first Gulf War. Lt Speichers initials were found inside one of the holding cells at this base during the mid 90's. I cant give specific numbers but this is one of the biggest Foward Operating Bases in Iraq. I can send some pictures later of our different units, but because of Intelligence purposes we have to be careful of what is in the photo. You can send comics to.

 

SFC Podraza

MWR LNO, 4th Aviation Brigade

FOB Speicher, OIF II

APO AE 09392

 

Thanks again Sid."

 

Shane

 

 

Well that's it. My package is going out tomorrow. Along with the House Of Mystery comics that he purchased, I threw in a nice lot of Spidey reprints in Marvel Tales. You can ship the books very cheaply and still use Media/Book rate but you need to include a green/white customs declaration slip on the package as this will be going to a US base in Germany before being shipped to the guys in Iraq. Or maybe this is going straight to Iraq, I'm not sure. Thanks guys, I know our soldiers will appreciate it. Send in some of those 25 cent, 50 cent, and dollar box issues if ya' got any. ------Sid

[NewtSamson]

FUN FACT:

They government used to send comicbooks and cocacola to the GIs in World War 2.

[BassGMan]

Guys, he sent me another e-mail of him in some very interesting photos in Iraq. I'm not sure how to post them here. Maybe I can forward this e-mail to someone and you can post them for me. In my e-mail the photos just show up under his message, and not as files that I need to download. Not sure how to post them here. Anyway, I'm off to work now and will somehow get the photos up tonight. ------Sid

[NewtSamson]

Guys, he sent me another e-mail of him in some very interesting photos in Iraq. I'm not sure how to post them here. Maybe I can forward this e-mail to someone and you can post them for me. In my e-mail the photos just show up under his message, and not as files that I need to download. Not sure how to post them here. Anyway, I'm off to work now and will somehow get the photos up tonight. ------Sid

 

Right click and save to desktop then email them to someone as attachments and they can post em

Send them to newtsamson@aol.com

I'll post em in a few hours.

[ultimatevenom]

Guys, he sent me another e-mail of him in some very interesting photos in Iraq. I'm not sure how to post them here. Maybe I can forward this e-mail to someone and you can post them for me. In my e-mail the photos just show up under his message, and not as files that I need to download. Not sure how to post them here. Anyway, I'm off to work now and will somehow get the photos up tonight. ------Sid

 

Right click and save to desktop then email them to someone as attachments and they can post em

 

He already said that

[NewtSamson]

Guys, he sent me another e-mail of him in some very interesting photos in Iraq. I'm not sure how to post them here. Maybe I can forward this e-mail to someone and you can post them for me. In my e-mail the photos just show up under his message, and not as files that I need to download. Not sure how to post them here. Anyway, I'm off to work now and will somehow get the photos up tonight. ------Sid

 

Right click and save to desktop then email them to someone as attachments and they can post em

 

He already said that

 

foward the emails to me bassgman

newtsamson@aol.com

[BassGMan]

Guys, he sent me another e-mail of him in some very interesting photos in Iraq. I'm not sure how to post them here. Maybe I can forward this e-mail to someone and you can post them for me. In my e-mail the photos just show up under his message, and not as files that I need to download. Not sure how to post them here. Anyway, I'm off to work now and will somehow get the photos up tonight. ------Sid

 

Right click and save to desktop then email them to someone as attachments and they can post em

Send them to newtsamson@aol.com

I'll post em in a few hours.

 

Done, I could see the photos as attachments in the forwarded e-mail. For me the photos were "just there". Hopefully this works Newt. If not I'll deal with it when I get home. ----Sid

[awe4one]

They will go to Germany before moving onwards to Iraq. Be aware also that.....

 

It is going to take an extremely long time for the packages to get there. A typical package from Germany can take three months......but I hear the times are improving.

 

If you're sending straight to this soldier then fine.....but if you go through official Army channels, they are likely to trash any copies that don't look new.....

 

Jim

[goldust40]

FUN FACT:

They government used to send comicbooks and cocacola to the GIs in World War 2.

 

Yep - some of these comics went to England, once the G.I.s arrived. This explains why certain early G.A. books turn up in the U.K., as many were left behind by American troops once they returned home.

[CKB]

About a year ago, I ran some auctions for low-grade Charlton/Dell 60's 70's war books. They were won by a commander in the Armed forces, who distributed them to his men.

 

I am all for this, and will be putting together a box.

[BassGMan]

They will go to Germany before moving onwards to Iraq. Be aware also that.....

 

It is going to take an extremely long time for the packages to get there. A typical package from Germany can take three months......but I hear the times are improving.

 

If you're sending straight to this soldier then fine.....but if you go through official Army channels, they are likely to trash any copies that don't look new.....

 

Jim

 

I think the address posted above will go straight to Iraq. He gave me a different military address for his personal books with his PayPal payment. I sent the e-mail with the photos to Newt. Hopefully he can post them. I'm at work now and don't have access to that e-mail from here. One way or another I'll make sure those photos are posted by tonight. -----Sid

[Mr. Zipper]

Last year one of the woman in my office put together shoe box sized care packages for the men in her nephew's unit in Iraq.

 

I went to two LCSs and bought any and all of the promotional price books I could find (The 9 cent FF, the 25 Cent Avengers, Daredevil, etc.) My contribution was dozens of comics. According the the woman, the guys in the unit loved the comics.

 

So, in addition to cheap readers, cheap promotional price issues are good too.

[NewtSamson]

Here ya go BassGMan:

 

 

> Sid

> Here are some pics of me and some of the guys I work with in Iraq. Me

showboating on top of a MIG, me in front of one of Saddams Palaces over in

Tikrit Main, The Big Red One patch on my shoulder and on the front of the

building. Some of the guys getting fuel for their Apache AH-64 helicopter,

hope you enjoy the pics. Thanks again.

>

> Shane

[awe4one]

They will go to Germany before moving onwards to Iraq. Be aware also that.....

 

It is going to take an extremely long time for the packages to get there. A typical package from Germany can take three months......but I hear the times are improving.

 

If you're sending straight to this soldier then fine.....but if you go through official Army channels, they are likely to trash any copies that don't look new.....

 

Jim

 

I think the address posted above will go straight to Iraq. He gave me a different military address for his personal books with his PayPal payment. I sent the e-mail with the photos to Newt. Hopefully he can post them. I'm at work now and don't have access to that e-mail from here. One way or another I'll make sure those photos are posted by tonight. -----Sid

 

Everything that's going to Iraq will be processed at Ramstein AB, Germany before movement on to Iraq. It's possible that a small portion will go through insufficiently_thoughtful_person, Spain but the main mail facility is in Germany for all onward movement.

 

Jim

[BassGMan]

They will go to Germany before moving onwards to Iraq. Be aware also that.....

 

It is going to take an extremely long time for the packages to get there. A typical package from Germany can take three months......but I hear the times are improving.

 

If you're sending straight to this soldier then fine.....but if you go through official Army channels, they are likely to trash any copies that don't look new.....

 

Jim

 

I think the address posted above will go straight to Iraq. He gave me a different military address for his personal books with his PayPal payment. I sent the e-mail with the photos to Newt. Hopefully he can post them. I'm at work now and don't have access to that e-mail from here. One way or another I'll make sure those photos are posted by tonight. -----Sid

 

Everything that's going to Iraq will be processed at Ramstein AB, Germany before movement on to Iraq. It's possible that a small portion will go through insufficiently_thoughtful_person, Spain but the main mail facility is in Germany for all onward movement.

 

Jim

 

Oh, OK thanks. I guess the stuff will take a while to get there then. From where I am the photos are not showing up on Newt's post. Can you guys see them? If not I'll try it myself when I get home after work and/or send them to whoever can put them up. Thanks------Sid

[OldGuy]

From where I am the photos are not showing up on Newt's post. Can you guys see them?

 

No.

[awe4one]

From where I am the photos are not showing up on Newt's post. Can you guys see them?

 

I saw them earlier but now they're gone....

 

Jim

[BassGMan]

From where I am the photos are not showing up on Newt's post. Can you guys see them?

 

I saw them earlier but now they're gone....

 

Jim

 

OK, now I can see the photos. Thanks Newt for putting them up. I am totally tech-illiterate. OK guys, now let's send those comics in for our troops.

 

Thanks, I am sure they will greatly appreciate it. See first post for the military address. -----Sid

[NewtSamson]

From where I am the photos are not showing up on Newt's post. Can you guys see them?

 

I saw them earlier but now they're gone....

 

Jim

 

OK, now I can see the photos. Thanks Newt for putting them up. I am totally tech-illiterate. OK guys, now let's send those comics in for our troops.

 

Thanks, I am sure they will greatly appreciate it. See first post for the military address. -----Sid

 

Your welcome, old chum. But, don't worry about your computer conking out on the pics. No man...it's not at your end. For some reason the photo website I'm using has chosen to work one second and not the next. Quite strange never had trouble till now. Maybe I have just to many images up there. Gotta start deleated the trash images.

[Jagull]

you think this dude wants some X-Men readers?