24 Aug 2007

Service: Navy
Hometown and State: Edmonds, Washington
Email: shender6@hotmail.com
OK to give email address to adopter?: Yes
Gender: Male
Expected month home: March 2008
Wish List: Stick packs of crystal light and snacks such as hard candy and peanut butter fudge.

Where Stationed: Afghanistan

Julieann,

Hello. That's great your son made it back from Iraq safely.   My mom also wants me to return from Afghanistan.   I just arrived in country and went to the exchange to buy items, but they didn't have anything I wanted. Also, this is a NATO base, so everything is sold in Euros.   Since I don't have a digital camera, I had people take a few pictures of me while I was at Fort Jackson, SC for training.   I've attached two pictures of myself in some of my gear.   Keep up the great work.  We all appreciate people like you who make a difference in our lives.  Thank you very much.

Sincerely,

Steve
 

Training At Fort Jackson 01

Training At Fort Jackson 02

Steve Henderson

Shelly and Steve 03	Shelly 04	Frederick and Frank 05
Steve 06	Shelly and Steve 07	Shelly, Frederick and Frank 08
Steve, Shelly, Frederick and Frank 09	10	11

At 02:54 AM 9/5/2007, you wrote:

Everybody,

Hello from Afghanistan.  It's Steve again.  Just spending another day in paradise helping keep America free and rebuilding Afghanistan.  My son just send me a picture of fishing, so I included it in this e-mail.  My youngest son Frederick caught a fish and my oldest son Frank wasn't as lucky.  He did manage to see a turtle and a snake.  They want to go fishing again.  I have a good idea of what I will be doing once I get back home.

My sons collect cards like Yugioh, Naruto, Bleach, InuYasha, Pokemon, etc., so they went to a card store called Front Row and bought a good deal of cards.  The owner's great and gives us a military discount of 10% off.  I wish all stores did that.  With that incentive I just keep coming back.  

The other picture is when I was part of the Quick Reaction Force during Urban Operations.  I received a lot of good training and I keep that in mind when I'm walking around with an M16.

Being over here gives me a new perspective that I hadn't seen before.  With all of my training and the different environments you have to deal with, the little things mean more to me.  I remember flying into Maine and we were greeted around 0330 in the morning by the Maine Troop Greeters.  I was joking around about 12 hours earlier how you won't see Senators greet us in the airport.  I was shocked to see the large group of people at the airport greeting us and opening up their doors to provide friendship, food, and cell phones.  I was able to talk to my family after a few weeks of training.  After awhile things like being able to take a shower, eating a meal other than an MRE, sleeping on a bed instead of the ground or a cot, and being able to sleep in until 0700 seem to be wonderful things.

One of the most important things you can have when you are thousands of miles away from home and in the mountains is support.  Support from your friends and family.  Until you are in a combat zone, it is hard to express how thankful we are to have the kind of support that we receive. Care packages and e-mails make a difference.  It increases morale and keeps us motivated.  I see the smiles on the faces of those that just received a care package and the first thing they say is help yourself.  When care packages arrive, people share the contents with everybody, so nobody is left out.  When we receive e-mails, it gives us a good feeling that somebody cares about us and what we do.  It is nice to know that we have some support.  We can't thank you enough for what you do for the military.  We need more people like you in this world.

Thank you very much and take care.

Steve

At 06:34 AM 10/22/2007, you wrote:

Gordon,

Thank you very much for the package.  You must be a mind reader because you knew exactly what to send.  Breakfast bars, gum, candy, cookies, socks, popcorn, beef jerky, drink mixes, etc. are perfect.  You sent a variety of popcorn and that was great.  You are awesome!!!  I couldn't believe all of the things in the box.  It didn't end.  I packed up two bags full of items and brought them to the office.  I kept the rest in my room for later.  One of the Marines here said yesterday that he likes drink mixes that you can open and pour into water.  He doesn't like the Crystal Light tubs because they are hard to pour.  You sent the exact kind that he likes.

Now I can throw away some of my old socks and replace them with the ones you sent.  You sent some good food, so no matter what they serve in the galley these days, I can still eat good thanks to you.  Now I can sleep in a little longer and eat a breakfast bar or two.  While watching movies I can get some popcorn and throw some drink mix with water and pretend that I'm in the movie theater.  It's a great escape from the day-to-day routine we currently have.  I got lucky today and had three chicken tacos. I put some hot sauce on them and ate them all up.  We look forward to them because they don't serve them very often, so to us they taste great.

I tried to look at your slider, but these computers around here wouldn't let me see the web page. I'll try some other computers and see if I can connect.  You are lucky to have computers that are faster. I feel like I've gone back in time to the 1980s. Because of all the dust, you really can't get good computers because they wouldn't last too long. I have to wipe my desk down about once a week because the dust gets so thick. I think the dust is the reason why I cough all of the time. When I clean my nose, I remove lots of black crud. It reminds me of being in the Philippines. That place was was dirty too.

I'm going to head out for dinner so I can lift weights tonight. I hope they have something good. If not, then I'll probably have some popcorn and some lemonade.

How is your daughter's store doing? I looked at those pictures and I'm amazed how nice you guys made it. Every shirt you were wearing was completely wet. Considering you had air conditioning, that says alot. You are a very hard worker.

Take care and try to get some rest when you can.

Steve

12	13	14
15	16	17
18	19	20
21	22	No Picture

At 06:57 AM 10/23/2007, you wrote:

Gordon,

Here are some pictures of me that were taken today.

Steve

23	24	25
26	27	28

At 10:33 PM 11/7/2007, you wrote:

Here are some more pictures.

29

30

No Picture

    
Prayer Wheel for our Marines, Soldiers, Sailors, Coastguard, and Airmen..

'Dear Heavenly Father,
 Hold our troops in your loving hands.
  Protect them as they protect us.
 Bless them and their families for the selfless
 acts they perform for us in our time of need.'