CAMP SCHWAB, Okinawa, Japan -- It may be a brown cardboard box, a lightly scented letter with perfume of a loved one, a chain of quickly responded e-mails or a late night phone call. Any form of contact that allows a deployed service member to communicate with friends and family back home. It is all known as one thing – mail call.
“There are a number of different ways in which families can communicate with their Marines while deployed,” said Debbie Carter, family readiness officer, 2nd Battalion, 24th Marine Regiment. “Although e-mail, phone calls, care packages and MotoMail are well-known methods for communication, families are encouraged to remember that nothing takes the place of a personal hand-written letter to their deployed Marines.” Being away from loved ones is one of the challenges service members face while deployed. The Marines of the Landing Force, participating in Cooperation Afloat Readiness and Training, will face that challenge with many resources they will be able to use to communicate back home.
“When I get a letter or something, I get a nice feeling – happy to see something from home,” said Lance Cpl. Jeremy Love, SAW gunner, 3rd Squad, 1st Platoon, Alpha Company, and native of Saginaw, Mich. “Especially when its unexpected.”
Receiving mail and being able to communicate back home is not only motivational, but is sometimes necessary. Whether it be personal problems or news of a natural disaster, communication back to the States is vital.
“Families express a number of different emotions when receiving mail from their Marines during a deployment,” Carter said. “I think that initially the primary emotion is excitement. It results in that famous ‘butterflies in the stomach’ feeling as the letter or package is being opened. The initial excitement is followed by a longing to be able to reach out and touch their Marine, and finally the sadness of missing them so much.”
There are many options the Marines of the LF will have including e-mail and internet access, letters, care packages and phone calls. If assistance is needed when communicating with a deployed service member, the unit family readiness officer should be contacted.
“It’s one of the high points of the day because everybody is going to be homesick – going to be thinking of home,” said Lance Cpl. Guy Pyke, data technicians systems specialist, Command Element, and native of Salisbury, N.C. “So anything that reminds them of home is going to help.”
The LF will be embarking and debarking from ship throughout its deployment to Southeast Asia, so staying in contact will be difficult due to the tempo of operations. The quickest, most constant form of communication is e-mail.
“When I receive a package ... it means a lot to me,” Love said. “Just as long as they add that trail mix in there and the pop tarts and random stuff.”