N.B. resident: Anyone can help any soldier
Web site tells how to send packages to troops overseas
BY JENNIFER AMATO Staff Writer

NORTH BRUNSWICK — For the past two years, township resident Bruce Trattler has sent packages to members of the armed services who are serving overseas.

Trattler learned about AnySoldier.com, a program that was started by Sgt. Brian Horn from Maryland, an Army infantryman who served in Iraq and Afghanistan, to address the needs of soldiers who didn't receive personal mail. Trattler said he is just one of more than 3,600 people involved in sending packages to members they chose from the Army, the Navy, the Marines, the Coast Guard and the Air Force. There is a brief description of the individual or the unit on the Web site, without violating security, and volunteers can find out where the military personnel are from, when they arrived and when they are expected to come home.

"War is a terrible thing, so it's not about supporting the war, it's about supporting the men and women who volunteered to go in harm's way … and all you're doing is supporting another human being," the retired Air Force member said.

Right now, Trattler said he is serving six people who represent a couple of hundred military personnel. He started sending packages once a week the first year, but now sends them once a month. He spends his own money on everything, unless someone offers to pay for shipping.

Trattler said the post office is cooperative, and that a new flat-rate box can hold up to 20 pounds of materials for about $11. He also said that the military needs supplies when it is not holiday time, and that packages usually arrive in six to 10 days if it is off-season.

"Imagine yourself on a camping trip for 12 months, and think of the things you would need for 12 months," Trattler said.

Trattler said he seeks out "challenging" supplies, since people in general tend to send over food and toiletries. He said he sent over cigars from his favorite store to a group overseas, "to find something different to brighten someone's day."

He said that at the end of last summer, he sent a Marine group from North Carolina 5-gallon water bottles because theirs were broken. He said he received an e-mail saying that when they opened the box, "18 Marines were cheering because their day was made."

In addition, he found out that mountain bike inner tubes were needed, so he went to a shop on Route 27 in New Brunswick and bought them at a discounted price, thanks to the store employee. Trattler said the recipients were excited because they had to ride five miles to the chow hall, so this eased their travel.

He also found out from a master sergeant in the Air Force that Afghan hospitals treat wounded Afghanis, soldiers, police and young children and are in need of soap, toothpaste and toothbrush kits to teach them how to continue their hygiene after leaving. He said at his annual dental checkup this year, he asked an office worker, whose sister is a colonel in the Air Force, to ask the dentist to contribute any dental supply samples. Trattler said the employee said, "Bring a shopping bag." He left with so many tubes of toothpaste that his arms were hurting.

Trattler also is proud of his daughter, Jennifer, who as an intern this past summer for the New York Yankees, brought home extra hats, banners, magazines and baseball bats that were giveaways at the stadium. Trattler said he knows of a group of New York Police Department and Fire Department members who are in a combat unit and are die-hard Yankees fans, so they were elated with the reminders of home.

He said he even closed down a cash register aisle at a ShopRite one day because batteries were on sale, and the manager waived the purchase limit and rang up all of them at once.

"I pretty much bought them all," Trattler said.

Although Trattler said he does not do this for any sort of recognition, the troops' appreciation does gives him enormous satisfaction. Last summer, Trattler said his phone rang on a Saturday morning. An Air Force master sergeant who was working as a surgical technician in a combat support hospital overseas was visiting Spotswood and asked to meet Trattler in person.

Another touching moment was when he received a certificate of appreciation from a Marine commander at the Al Asad Air Base who sent him the American flag that was flown over the base on July 4, 2007.

"Hopefully I can stop one of these days because everyone is home," he said.

For more information, visit www.anysoldier.com.

Contact Jennifer Amato at

jamato@gmnews.com.