Volusia veterans say care packages are a 'morale booster' for sailors at sea

Patricio G. Balona, The Daytona Beach News-Journal
·3 min read
Barbara Edwards, whose grandson is in the U.S. armed forces, helped VFW Post 3282 in Port Orange package goodies that will be sent to sailors and Marines on the USS Harry S. Truman.
Barbara Edwards, whose grandson is in the U.S. armed forces, helped VFW Post 3282 in Port Orange package goodies that will be sent to sailors and Marines on the USS Harry S. Truman.

PORT ORANGE — U.S. Navy ship food tastes great when you are freshly deployed, but after a few months you start to lose interest in the chow and crave something different, no matter how small, said David Goodale, a U.S. Marine Corps Aviation veteran.

On Thursday, Goodale, 79, who was stationed aboard the USS Boxer for two years in 1964, and several members of Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 3282 in Port Orange, packed M&Ms, fruit cups, chocolate, potato chips, beef jerky, cereal, and other goodies into several boxes. The boxes, 27 of them, were later shipped to sailors aboard the USS Harry S. Truman, stationed in the Mediterranean, said Tara Crossland, an auxiliary member of Post 3282.

Ship food 'not so terrific'

"These things will come in great," Goodale said of the packages. "When you first go out on a carrier, the food is terrific, but after you have been out there for about eight months all of a sudden it just isn't the same food. It's not so terrific anymore."

The sailors and Marines were deployed in December to the Mediterranean in support of Ukraine, but their six-month deployment was extended by another three months, said Chris Gates, a U.S. Navy veteran who is also commander of VFW Post 3282.

"These are care packages, a little love from the citizens of the United States to them," Gates said. "This is so they could eat a little bit from home."

Chris Gates, a U.S. Navy veteran and commander of VFW Post 3282 in Port Orange, checks out boxes of goodies that will be sent to sailors and Marines on the USS Harry S. Truman. The carrier is deployed in the Mediterranean in support of Ukraine, said Gates.
Chris Gates, a U.S. Navy veteran and commander of VFW Post 3282 in Port Orange, checks out boxes of goodies that will be sent to sailors and Marines on the USS Harry S. Truman. The carrier is deployed in the Mediterranean in support of Ukraine, said Gates.

Goodale said he knows what it is like to get goodies from home, even if it was a small piece of candy he got in the mail from his girlfriend. The treats brighten the lives of sailors who have been out at sea for a long period of time, he said.

"These things are a godsend for sailors out at sea. You guard them with your life," Goodale said, laughing.

Of his service, Goodale recalled that sailors often traded goodies they received in the mail with their fellow shipmates.

"It's a morale booster," said Tim Deem, a U.S. Marine veteran of VFW Post 3282 in Port Orange. "Anything, no matter how small, even the mail, When the troops got the mail, everybody was happy."
"It's a morale booster," said Tim Deem, a U.S. Marine veteran of VFW Post 3282 in Port Orange. "Anything, no matter how small, even the mail, When the troops got the mail, everybody was happy."

Gates, who said he retired from the U.S. Navy in 2017, still has a friend deployed on the USS Harry S. Truman. After communicating with his friend, Gates said he learned that the sailors could use care packages from home.

"(This) is to support our troops, the ones that are deployed, to remind them that they are always in our thoughts and prayers," Gates said. "It's important that we do it all the time, and continue to show to our active duty members that are deployed that we are always thinking about them."

Care packages a 'morale booster"

Marine veterans and brothers, Mike and Tim Deem, who also spent time on a ship during their service, said they were happy to send some cheer to the sailors even it was a bar of Jergens soap.

"Anything from home was exciting," said Mike Deem, 72, who did tours in Vietnam.

When he served, care packages were few and far between and sometimes all the Marines got were a worn copy of Playboy magazine, cigarettes and chewing tobacco, Mike Deem said.

"I got a box of goodies (here) that I wish I could have gotten when I was over there," Tim Deem said, carrying a box on Thursday.

In the box, Tim Deem had placed beef jerky, Pringles potato chips and other snacks.

"And some good old Vienna sausage," he added. "That never goes out of style."

Tim Deem said he is certain that the small packages of goodies will have the same impact on the sailors of the USS Harry S. Truman that he experienced when he served.

"It's a morale booster," he said. "Anything, no matter how small, even the mail. When the troops got the mail, everybody was happy."

To donate to Boxes for Troops, make your $25 check payable to Marine Corps League, Daytona #658, and send to VFW Post 3282, 5810 S. Williamson Blvd., Port Orange, FL 32128

This article originally appeared on The Daytona Beach News-Journal: Port Orange veterans send goodies to sailors deployed on ship