Cool idea: Delaware mom sending air conditioners to troops in Iraq

She set up “Operation Air Conditioner,” and thus far has shipped 85 A/C units and countless boxes of food and water to servicemembers serving in a hot, dry and desolate land.

She has another 152 units in the pipeline, and donations are pouring in to her Internet site, http://mywebpages.comcast.net/frankiemayo/

http://estripes.com/article.asp?section=104&article=16815

If they don't have electricity, then what good will those units do? I also suspect they may be low-BTU units that will be overwhelmed by the intense heat and dust. But it does show there are people with heart out there and her efforts are definitely to be commended.

The food and water idea is great. Especially the water.

if you're concerned about the ACs.

Mrs. Mayo has checked with her son's unit to find out the generator compatibility there and has checked with manufacturers to find the unit that will be suitable for the troops in the Middle East. If I can find the URL to the TV spot on this, I'll post it.

It is free to send whatever one wants to the Middle East bases from military bases in Europe/Asia. However, from Dover, which is Mrs. Mayo's locale, the price to mail to the Middle East is exhorbitant, and this cuts into her cost for sending other needed supplies.

I can't understand why the Bush administration hasn't stepped up to the plate to offer assistance on the postage of the supplies, especially given the publicity Mrs. Mayo has received.

As Mrs. Mayo has said, "If I can save the $26,000 it will cost to ship 750 Air conditioners, I can use that money to buy more." She wouldn't be sending 750 ACs if she didn't think they could be used.

Bush could pay for the postage himself and never miss it. Opportunity lost *sigh* .

I admit I didn't read the link, I was in a rush and just kind of assumed things. Which I should NOT have done. My apologies. :spank:

Anyway, I will check it out now and see how much I can donate. Those people need our help, and if our government won't do it, we'd better.

but it makes me mad that we pay all these taxes and have to pick up the slack to keep troops in decent conditions.

snip

Despite the e-mails from grateful soldiers and the media attention Mayo has received, she thinks her efforts are “no big deal.”

“All it takes is to do it,” Mayo said. “My mom is here. She’s 75, and she tells me about World War II, and this would’ve been no big deal.

“I sound hokey, but I’m just so sick of people being unpatriotic.”

snip

She's sick of people being unpatriotic? Does she mean military deserters who start wars with lies, cut vets benefits, and invite the enemy to attack our troops? Probably not.

Her response:

I started this to support my son who is a soldier deployed to Iraq. He is there for the next year. I am well aware of the stress and anxiety that goes along with being deployed as we are a military family. I did not write the press articles. They interview me and write what they want. My spin is this - these are our soldiers our sons, daughters, husbands, wives, cousins, uncles, aunts - they are in a dangerous place doing dangerous work and we have to support them. I do not live at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue and I don't have any say on why they are there - they just are. It is this helpless feeling that compels me to act.

It's a simple thing really. It started with supporting our son and his unit and it has grown to all deployed to Iraq. I will continue to do this until there are no more US soldiers in Iraq - if it is 1 year, 2 years, or forever. As long as our military are deployed there.

Thank you for your email. I do really appreciate it. I think my website reflects my views. If you would like to see what I say about it here I've attached a local news story for you.

Frankie Mayo,
Army Mom of
CPL. Chris Tomlinson
300th MP Company
deployed to Iraq March 2003

500 billion budget for Defense and we still have to take up collections. Very, very wrong.

(her response to my e-mail is found in this link)

Hello,

I work for the DoD (V Corp) in Germany. Here on base many military dependents with deployed spouses have spoken of the dire needs of the troops in Iraq. They have been sending care packages of their own via husbands' APO addresses, and co-workers are using those addresses to send packages containing supplies--many listed on your website--as well. These spouses do this out of desperation for their husbands' welfare, who suffer greatly on their never-ending tour of duty (complete with promises of leave made and then broken), not out of a need to fulfill feelings of patriotism, as you had mentioned in "Stars and Stripes."

Many of these spouses have seen their husbands, on average, less than six months out of the last two years, and they receive phone calls maybe once a week for 15 minutes or less. Mail is sporadic, at best. Their children think Daddy has ditched the family, and military marriages are crumbling. I hope you are not suggesting that it is "unpatriotic" not to want your spouse to be sent away for a year or more with little to no contact, perhaps to die, or to question why the troops are still in Iraq if their mission has been "accomplished" as President Bush has stated.

"We are terrified" is what the spouses are hearing from their loved ones. They send care packages to their husbands' companies to let them know we have not forgotten them as their morale hits rock-bottom. Supporting the troops by sending them supplies does not equate to supporting their presence in the region. I think those distinctions tend to get muddled with confusion over what is "patriotic" and what isn't.

By the way, if Americans on low incomes can support the troops financially, why can't President Bush, who has access to the most heavily financed government organization (Department of Defense) in the history of the world?

I would like to support your mission financially, though you are likely to find my motives "unpatriotic."

I'm still looking for an URL to the videofile attachment. It's out of some station called KYW.

Scroll down to "Delaware Mom launches Operation Air Conditioner"

On edit: this should work better.

http://kyw.dayport.com/viewer/viewerpage.php?Art_ID=1581&tf=kywviewer.tpl

:wtf:
Instead of sending our boys tons of AC units we should be sending hospitals medical equipment. How would you feel getting an AC unit shipped to you in a land were people you see are dieing from preventable deseases. Your tent is cool, but the people on the street you patrol every day are hot and angry. By the way at night it gets really cold there, maybe we should send them space heaters too.

I'm not saying to send care packages. Send letters and fruitcakes. But before you start sending infrastructure to make them comfortable, think about the people over there that really need help. Hospitals are running low on every thing. When donors go over there they have to prioritise hard core and sometimes keep adults from getting help so that kids can.

Here's her e-mail about the food/medical and the postage to send it. You can help. Bush won't.

(read from bottom up)

MRS. MAYO: yes the Dover shipments would help me out greatly! That is my problem at the moment. I have medical supplies that are desperately needed that I can't get to Camp Dogwood. I have food and water for the Army Rangers up north who need it and I have to mail it.


ME:

Mrs. Mayo,

My friend and I have sent you some money via Paypal. We will be able to pass your videofile on to several others at our workplace. If there are any phonecalls we can make to congressmembers inre: Dover shipment on your behalf, please let me know. It's truly a desperate situation for our soldiers, and I know military spouses and family members overseas share your concern and are grateful for your activism.

All the best to your son. We wish for his safe return.




MRS. MAYO: I wish it were so. I have been in contact with people in Washington DC and we are working on the possibility of airlift out of Dover AFB. I live less than 1 hour from Dover.

If I can save the $26,000 it will cost to ship 750 Air conditioners I can use that money to buy more.



ME: Those of us working on bases in Europe and Asia can send packages to the Middle East for free. Perhaps that is the case for military families stateside as well, which the troops would benefit from since it would save on postage. Another idea is to have your senator contact President Bush requesting that he supply you with "postage paid" stickers.