hello, My name is Corporal Gonzalez with the United States Marine Corps. Currently I am stationed in Ramadi, Iraq. The reason I am writing is because we are in dire need of donations. What happened is that insurgents totalled the truck that had all of our supplies in it with a roadside bomb recently. This happened last week and with the elections in Iraq coming up in about a month the Public Affairs deparment here is in serious need of some help. What we ask for is soccer balls but anything else that can be associated to the sport is more then welcomed. The children here love the sport and nothing more then to play it when time allows. We hand out the soccer balls on welfare missions to see how the people of the country are doing and to help them understand that we are here to help. The best thing to see here are the smiles on the children and parents when they receive a present from us. Even though it might not be obvious, this country revolves around soccer. I truly appreciate the time it took you to read this and any help that comes along is more then honored. You can reach me by email or by mail which is CPL Gonzalez MC 3/7 H&S s3 UIC 41575 FPO AP 96426-1575 once again thank you
This may or may not be the place for this, but I want to thank you for your service to this country. Thank you for fighting for my freedom. Tracy
Maybe someone who knows somebody at Nike, Adidas, or another manufacturer can organize a large amount of soccer balls that can be donated. Or even another large retailer. I think it would be really cool to do this, as this is a great way to build a bond with the Iraqi people. If no one from the corporate world will step up, maybe we can all send money, balls, or both, to a common address and then send them all over at once. Either way, I hope this gets organized. Thank you for your service, all of us appreciate it and God Bless!
Thank you for all the replies and hopefully this gets a great response. I will keep my eyes open and once again thank you
I will definitely send you a soccer ball, and thank you for your service to our country! I have to object to the "fighting for my freedom" comment above. He isn't doing that in Iraq. He's part of a coalition to remove the Saddam regime (done) and to bring a Democrat government to Iraq (work in progress). The Iraqi people need our help, and he's doing that.
I can live with that. My cousin, a Lance Cpl. will be leaving Yuma for Iraq after the first. He gets out in a year too. This will be his first tour, he spent 2 years in Okinawa.
Okinawa to Yuma to Iraq......that is a tough change but I'm sure he will handle it well......I wish him a safe return from Iraq.
If you don't mind donations from an old Vietnam LRRP Ranger, I'll see what I can do. Marine, please keep this fact in mind: Regardless of what you hear through the MSM (Main Stream Media) the vast majority of American citizens support your efforts, and appreciate the sacrifice that you and all of our service people are making. This is not the time or place to get into a discussion about the validity or meaning of what the mission statement of our Armed Forces is at this time, so I'll leave those who "Object" to their own opinions. Let me take this moment to wish all of my fellow Americans in Afghanistan, Pakistan, and Iraq a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. I did a Christmas in ‘Nam and it has proved me with many cherished memories. May God bless you and keep you safe. Semper Fi!
Here's a dumb question---can I mail a soccer ball to that address? I've never sent anything to overseas military before and that address looks really wonky to me but I guess it's right...
Military mail addresses look nothing like anything that you have ever seen in civilian life. His unit is deployed in Ar Ramadi, Iraq. The best I can make out of it is that CPL Gonzales is in: The 3rd Battalion of the 7th Marine Regiment (Hotel Company) Headquarters and Service Company S3 is the Battalion Intelligence Section UIC - I have no idea, didn't have those in my time Folks, I am doing my best not to get emotional, but the fact of the matter is that his unit has taken a number of KIA casualties. For myself, I think sending Cpl. Gonzales a soccer ball is the least I can do. If anyone else is sending a ball I recommend that you get as much of the air out of it as possible, and of course, get it in a box that is strong enough to make the trip. The ball doesn’t have to be expensive, remember that many of the greatest players from South America started out kicking rolled up rags. God Bless you all. Here is the URL for his unit: http://www.29palms.usmc.mil/fmf/3-7/default.asp
Hey perhaps we can get a bunch of Fire fans to send some balls and such as a group? Maybe we can get Peter involved??
Cpl Gonzales: Can you give us any information about mailing packages to you. Does the U.S. Post Office offer discounted rates when sending mail or packages to Iraq? What are the requirements for package wrapping, is there a website we can check out? Keep your fingers crossed, Marine, perhaps we can get the ball rolling - soccer people are generous and will always atleast try!
i got a soccerball from my old soccer coach and he just put in a regular box that you would ship anywhere else in the US. now i've never sent anything to iraq but if you had any further questions the PO could always answer them.
i just wanted to let everyone know that it really isn't that expensive to mail stuff to our troops overseas. i mailed a bunch of goodies to my buddies in iraq last summer and it wasn't that expensive. so please don't let that discourage you. i'm not sure if this is common, but you might not want to seal the box until you get to the post office. i had a few plastic bottles full of ahem "ice tea" that i shipped out and the PO wanted to make sure everything was packed safely...
not trying to get political but this needs to be brought up. and i'm sorry that this isn't soccer related but if people want to know how to help this is what is needed. before i start do NOT take this is an insult. but the marines equipment sucks so bad. i know because we had to work with them in Fallujah last november during the siege. if there is something you want to do to help is DEMAND better equipment for these marines. they are still in the vietnam era. these humvees suck. a small IED would kill everyone inside. they desperately need to be uparmored on the BOTTOM. i was blown up in my stryker with three 155 mortar rounds(i'm not too sure on this, because im a bravo not a chuck but just one of those will clear a football field) tied together(on my dad's birthday ) and yet it destroyed the stryker and some how i didn't get a scratch. Jesus was definately with me that day. but back to what i was saying i didnt see any of their line soldiers with m4 but they all had m16s aka "the musket".(benefits of the m4 is it's smaller and more tactical) also while we had the single monocular night vision which is not as great as you think but it sure is a whole heck of a lot better than the 7As. which are super uncomfortable, unmaneuverable, and most important any moisture in them and you can't see a damn thing. and i hate it because the (i'll be nice) non combat-arm soldiers have the MOVIE THEATER and eat like kings and yet we can't afford antennas for our radios or bullets. and the highranking non combat arms soldiers drive in mercedes. don't you feel good where your tax money is going again i'm sorry if offended anyone because i'm not trying to start a ruckus but if there is definately one way you can help is demand that the iraq money go to improving combat equipment not luxuries.