When my cousin was stationed in Iraq a couple of years ago, I decided to support him and the troops with a book donation.  I'd heard the soldiers were receiving care packages of items, but few books.  Customers responded with piles of used paperbacks and I sent my cousin a box of 75 titles.  As soon as he picked the books he wanted (he's a sergeant), he let his fellow soldiers at the box.  The books were swallowed up in moments.  I sent him another box a few months later, and they shredded the box.

After my cousin returned home, a resident from Clarksburg went to Iraq.  He received two boxes during his tour, and called me from Iraq to report similar results.  I put a request on Facebook for soldiers to send boxes to, and heard from a soldier about his platoon.  They had one book to share among them, and it was reread so many times, the binding was gone and they carefully passed the pages to each other in a plastic bag.

To date, I have five boxes ready to ship to a soldier overseas.  I'm told by the military I have to send packages to a specific soldier because of security.  If I send to a platoon or general address, the package will be summarily destroyed.  Please contact me by e-mail, pat@novelplacesusa.com, if you know a soldier overseas.  For privacy, do not post an address on the website.

Thank you for your support.