My apologies if you have covered this before, but I recently signed up for sending care packages to a soldier in either Iraq or Afghanistan. I'm not sure which country I got, but I believe it was Iraq. Are there any suggestions on things to send? I'll probably get two packages out the door before I hear from the soldier as to personal tastes, etc. I figure personal hygiene things, snacks, powdered gatorade would be good. I remember having read baby wipes come in handy.

I would love to send more things, but not knowing tastes, I hesitate to immediately send CDs or books. Any suggestions? Thanks so much.

You're on track.

The good folks at Soldiers Angels may have some ideas for you (soldiersangels.homestead.com) but I'd add that the soldier you're sending too will be thrilled just to be getting something, and will appreciate that someone stateside cares enough to bother.

Thanks for not forgetting.

Chrees, double stuffed Oreos seem to be THE THING. Don't worry about CDs or books. Anything you send, opera to country to heavy metal to hip hop, somebody in this diverse Armed Forces of ours will love it. Same with books or magazines.
A canned ham, anything sweet. Packages of peanut butter crackers, cheese crackers, unscented bug repellent. Greyhawk, does the GI bug repellent still attract more bugs than it repels?
In the first note, ask about woman soldiers. We're so conditioned by generations of sending stuff to 'our boys' that we forget about the fact that we now have a lot of 'our girls' over there.
Good foot powder if if you draw a grunt.
Watch that you don't send melty candy. An old fashioned shaving brush. Best thing yet for keeping the dust brushed off a weapon in dusty climates, in damp climates for keeping that light coat of oil for rustproofing.
Most of all, your good wishes and prayers.

Thanks for the tips. I also picked up lotion, foot powder, lip/chap stick, and suntan lotion in addition to the other things. We'll see how things work out. Just hope he doesn't laugh too hard at some of the things! OK... I'm laughing so I figure he can too. (Peter, I'm assuming with name I was given it was a guy. I could be wrong, of course, but I'm pretty sure with the first name)

And wrote a couple of pages to introduce us. Can't wait to hear back. And Greyhawk, this was through soldiersangels so I started with their list. Just wanted to fill in with some other comments. Looks like there are several good services going for this. I almost felt guilty with how good it felt to send the package off this afternoon...

One last question. I tried to search based on the limited amount of info I was given about the group he was in. Is there a good source somewhere on the web that shows where troops are stationed? I found several good histories of squadrons/calvaries/etc., but I'm new to the nomenclature. Just want to understand a little more...

Thanks again!

Generally exact locations are kept more or less secret. If the info isn't available via their home base/post webpage or Public Affairs office it's probably best left unnamed. You could also check the homepage for the local (to that base/post) newspaper, they may have articles about the location.