Gear for the troops

Those of you who know me well understand that I have a keen appreciation for our military and their current mission in Iraq. As an American, and as a Mom, it drives me crazy to think that our government would ever send soldiers to the field with substandard equipment. My son assures me he had everything he needed, and then some. Maybe he was right--check this post on Engadget about the new air conditioned vests. I know a few Marines who would've appreciated one of those!

While we're on the topic of provisioning the troops, I'll confess to my own major wierdness while my son was deployed. I tried, but I did not handle it gracefully. I heard horror stories about troops that didn't receive the right gear, so I bought him a few things...the very best and coolest goggles, the moisture wicking undershirts, and socks. Lots and lots of socks.

I believe that was the first indicator of my mental meltdown. After reading an article about troops getting terrible foot infections from living in their combat boots, I went online to find the very best socks. I ordered 2 dozen, then found out they were back ordered. I found another source and ordered 2 dozen more. Same story. I found yet another source and finally got the socks shipped to my son in the field. All of them. Over a three week period I sent him 6 dozen pairs of high quality socks specially made for combat boots, in the color preferred by the Marine Corps. Every time I wrote to him I asked, "Do you need more socks?" He thought I was nuts, but was too respectful to say so. Many months later, when he had returned home and settled in, I found out that I had become known within his unit as 'Sock Mom'. He had more socks than he needed. He had been selling them to the other guys for $10/pair. (I paid $13/pair, plus shipping.)

He's been home now since April, and I have slowly come to realize just how nutty I was during that deployment. I'm doing much better now... But it doesn't take much to send me right back to that stomach clenching, heart-in-my-throat feeling that I lived with for too many months.