The Toys:

I really appreciate the great response I have received from all of you who have a strong desire to help through your willingness to provide toys for the kids of Iraq. I was so shocked when plunge told me the number of positive emails we had received. Thanks so much, really. I will be posting a couple of addresses where you can ship your toys of any size or kind, so watch for that in the next couple of days. I will make sure that each and every toy that is sent will get into the hands of an Iraqi child. We have had a problem with some toys that were sent over being taken and sold in the market place so I promise to make sure this doesn't happen.

Another special request to make: I have come up with the idea of having a cycling team over here made up of soldiers working in the green zone. There is a group of us that are really missing being able to tool around on a bicycle and we also feel that this would be a good way to promote a very positive image of what America is all about, as we cycle around giving out toys to kids in the neighborhood. This would be a great PR effort to promote more of a positive side to what we are doing here, outside of our roles as soldiers.

We just need to find someone or some company that is willing to sponsor our team, providing us with shirts, hats, and even bikes if possible. We could later give the bikes away to the people, or leave them for the next soldiers to ride. I am sure there is a way to make this happen benefiting everyone involved.

As Baghdad settles down we will be able to venture further out into the community, even so there are lots of kids living with families in the green zone. This would promote good will for the community and be a great thing for our morale too. It is little things like this that help make us feel like we are making a positive contribution.

I hope that someone out there can catch the vision of this as we do.

Thanks in advance

PS - I also wish to thank each and everyone of you that has added your voice to get the generals released. I will update you more on this later.