Hits: Afghanistan Update  11/12/2006

Click here to jump to a listing of all of Chris's pictures

SPC Liechty arrived back in Hawaii on 3 March 05. 
He was totally surprised to be welcomed by his Mother and Georgette (our friend who lives in Hawaii.)  He received two flower leis, another one made of candy, and the last of mini-bottles of liquor.  Chris only got a few minutes with them before the troops were bused to Schofield Barracks.  Mom and Georgette followed and picked him up after he was finally released.   Then they drove him and two buddies down to their room at a hotel in downtown Honolulu.  Then off to Hooters for supper and back to the room for their private party.  (All three had turned 21 in Afghanistan so it was a big party.)  Mom came back the next day at noon and played taxi for all three.  Mom will be there until 10 March.

Since late March of 2004, I calculate that we have sent Chris and his unit over 1 ton of "care" packages, over 200 paperbacks, over 500 DVDs, and about 25 pounds of homemade jerky.  Most of the paperbacks and almost all of the DVDs were left behind but all of the candy and food were consumed.  The most unusual things sent were a microwave, a bookcase, a gallon of chocolate pudding, a gallon of nacho cheese, a gallon of jalapeños, and 12 pounds of tortilla chips.  

Click here for a list of stuff to send      Click here for simple mailing instructions

The memorial service for his friend killed in a vehicle accident.  I have placed red letters
over him in the picture.  Click on the thumbnail picture to download a larger one.
Photo by Staff Sgt. Bradley Rhen
Capt. John Sego, commander of Co. B, 2nd Bn., 27th Inf. Rgt., talks to the Soldiers of his company following a memorial service for Cpl. Isaac Diaz Dec. 5 at Forward Operating Base Orgun-E, Afghanistan.

Feb 05:  Dad's letter and Chris's photos are published in the Leinie Lodge newsletter|
9 Dec to 10 Jan  Since the mail is slow we stopped shipping packages and sent more DVDs:
8 Dec 04   Another nice day with 6 boxes totaling over 116 pounds and two dozen DVDs.
23 Nov 04  A big day with 30 boxes being sent over.  Six of these contained 32 stuffed Christmas stockings.  One for every guy in the platoon. A total of 620 pounds.
22 Nov 04:  Two boxes of presents.  Skoal (vanilla and green apple), cold weather clothing, and presents.
15 Nov 04:  Five more boxes.  Four were an assortment of donations and 1 was a lighted Christmas tree.
9 Nov 04:  Two private boxes sent to Chris.  One contained new cold weather gear like gloves, thermal underwear, mittens, and magazines.  The other contained snacks and honing oil.
8 Nov 04: Another box of goodies.
8 Nov 04:  We got mail.  It had a micro-cassette tape, letters, and pictures. 
1 Nov 04:  A nice box from Mom and Dad that contains about 4 pounds of jerky, 17 DVDs, 2 sealable containers for storage, a bag of screws and tools to put his bookcase together, and magazines. 
28 Oct 04:  A box of donated goodies was mailed; snacks, newspapers, envelopes (not that he uses them.)  We did get a phone call from him on Wednesday.  Mom and Dad were at work but in a building without a phone so the guy at work who took the call put him into voicemail.  He simple said hi to Dad and Mom from you favorite son and that I can't talk long because the connection was so crappy.  Then the line went dead.  Also 15 more DVDs were mailed out this week. 
18 Oct 04:  We shipped his birthday box and 17 DVDs.
4 Oct 04:  Chris's plane left 3-1/2 hours late so we got even more time to talk.  Many people were walking up to him and saying thank you for his service.  He was really overwhelmed by the show of support.  The next day we shipped over 7 boxes of stuff.  Three were stuff he bought and 4 small ones from work.
18 Sep 04: Chris's pictures while home on leave  Chris tried to surprise us and had Marc pick him up at the airport.  Dad figured it out  a few hours before he got home.  Mom was really surprised when she got home at 10:00 PM Saturday night and opened the door to see Chris waiting for her.
18 Sep 04: Click here to jump to Chris's pictures from Afghanistan 

Click here to see posting on Free Republic website.  Read the whole article, Roberta posted under my screen name, american_ranger and she is posting #5 and #6.  Posting #6 refers to having to turn off the bold print.  The other postings comment about that.

Click here for 25th IDL article
Look at Mom and Chris as he guards our kitchen.
Click here for 25IDL Deployment Pictures  (Chris's are better)

Click here to jump to the 2-27th Infantry Battalion latest news     

July 2004:Click here to check out this 25IDL picture. Is this Chris? 

15 Sep 04:  Two boxes of goodies, magazines, dental products, soap, writing material, deoderant, body lotion and some homemade jerky.
7 Sep 04:  Five boxes from Dad.  12 pounds of Tortilla chips, 1 gallon of Nacho cheese sauce, 1 gallon of pickled Jalepeno slices, 1 bottle of Habanero powder, 1 bottle of Jalepeno powder, 1 large bottle of Cajun seasoning, 3 packs of homemade jerky, AA batteries, 30 tins of Skoal, and some miscellaneous stuff.
26 Aug 04: Insect repellent, magazines, foot powder, popcorn, soap, suntan lotion, cards, pens, gum, razors, Q-tips.
23 Aug 04:  24 pints of homemade salsa was UPSed to cousin Todd who will take it with him when he flies to Afghanistan on his next trip.
20 Aug 04: Another box of goodies.
12 Aug 04: Two boxes were shipped.  200 mini-bottles of hand lotion and a box of snacks, insect repellent, and personal hygiene stuff.  Also 7 DVDs and a small box of jerky (1-1/2 pounds) of jerky made by Dad.  Oh yeah, a package of Buffalo jerky was in this box.
 2 Aug 04:  Four boxes of supplies.  Includes personal hygiene items, games, and more goodies. 
29 July 04: Shipped over Dyno 2000 software and a little candy.  Dyno 2000 allows a person to add accessories to a computer generated engine model.  Chris wanted this to experiment with while at base camp. 
26 July 04: Three boxes.  Two from the SOT group and one from home.  The one from home contains homemade and meat market jerky.  The two from SOT contain razors, soap, shaving cream, hand  wipes, hand sanitizer, toothbrushes, toothpaste, gum, candy, and Ramen soup.
21 July 04:  Sent one box from MTM and one from home.  Insect repellent, soap, wipes, gum, snacks, razors, drink mix, jerky, socks, playing cards, stationary (Write home!), shaving cream, soap, shampoo, candy, lip balm, kleenex, and skin lotion.
13 July 2004:  Check out the eight picture from the top on the right side at this website.  Is the second guy from the right Chris?    http://www.25idl.army.mil/deployment/OEF%20Afghanistan/Deployment/12Jul04pictures.htm
13 July 2004:  A tube of posters donated by Harry's liquors in Mendota was mailed out.
12 July 2004:  One box of goodies and one box of books.   Also 6 more DVDs were sent.  I have to get a life.
9 July 2004:  Two boxes were sent.  Nothing but goodies.   Also 12 more DVDs were sent out.  Most have 3-4 hours recorded on each of them.  I have sent almost 100 DVDs so far. 
28 June 2004: Four boxes of nothing but goodies.  Jerky, candy, popcorn, chips, and gum.  Mom and Dad bought stuff for one box and the other three came from the "Support Our Troops" drive.
22 June 2004: Quick phone call from Chris.  He has been on a patrol for three weeks. His patrol found a hidden cache of rockets and he found a hidden cache of 7.62 ammo.  He has been receiving our packages and DVDs. He said he got a bunch of DVDs just when they needed them to overcome the boredom.  He said he got one care package while in the field and it really helped. He confirmed that they got the microwave that we sent.  He was amazed that we received over 1,000 pounds of stuff at the "Support Our Troops" drive last Saturday.  He said a letter is in the mail.  (Boy, have we heard that one before.)  A very short call but it sure raised Momma's morale. 
21 June 2004: Three boxes went out.  Two were very big (2 cubic feet each).  Insect repellent, writing pads (We have not heard from him in 4 weeks, either his arm is broken or he is out of paper.) books, playing cards, batteries, snacks (lots of them), envelopes, pens, magazines, a football, underwear, drink mix, games, insoles for boots, more snacks, footpowder, Q-tips, wipes, chapsticks, T-shirts, Kleenex, sunscreen, more drink mix, Ben Gay, and a box of 40 bags of Pretzels.  Most of this came from the 19 June "Support Our Troops" drive. 
14 June 2004: We missed a week so we loaded him up good this week.  Mom and Dad splurged at Sam's so it will be like Christmas.  We shipped out chocolate chip cookies, chocolate pudding (1 gallon), soap, popcorn, more foot powder, 60 packs of gum, body building powder, soap, 9 Civil War books, magazines, 7 DVDs (some with two movies), a package of twizzlers, and a bunch of other stuff.  We also ordered two special t-shirts from Ranger Joes that are designed to wick the moisture away from your skin so you stay cooler.  Brian Hafenstein said that they are very popular over there.  If Chris likes them, we will post on this page what they are and where to order them if anyone wants to send a present. 
2 June 2004: 200 bottles of hand lotion, 4 popcorn, Q-tips, 4 drink mixes, 40 packs of chewing gum, sunscreen, 5 boxes of macaroni & cheese, 2 bottles of Jalapeño cheese spread, 3 deodorant, 1 big beef stick, 1 pair of odor eaters boot inserts, 2 cans of shaving cream, and 1 box of magazines.  Mom and Dad sort of splurged on Chris this week.
24 May 2004: Three packages sent out. Soap, Kleenex, magazines, canned fruit, toothpaste, notebook, shampoo, floss, 3 boxes of Girl Scout cookies, and 2 bottles of insect repellent.
17 May 2004: Two packages sent out.  Instant lunch (3), drink mix (2), Candy, 18 pairs of socks, crackers, Jalapeno cheese sauce, deodorant (5), macaroni & cheese, hot sauce (4), chili powder (2), Ramen (1), microwaveable bowls, sun block (1 large), beef sticks (2-1/2 lb), and gum.
13 May 2004: Four packages shipped out. Girl Scout cookies (8 boxes), insect repellent (18), toothpaste mini-tubes (48), granola bars (6), candy (2 bags), DVDs (6 but each may contain more than 1 show), and a mini-cassette tape from Dad and Mom.
4 May 04: A special box is shipped off. Contents will be a surprise (totally legal).  Also a box containing some stuff Chris wanted and needs.  It contains 2 CD cleaners, 3 cans of dust remover, 1 can of super powerful foot powder, 1 pair of Dr. Scholl's odor-eaters inserts (from his letter, this is really for the rest of his platoon), 32 AA batteries, 1 3-lb bag of trail mix, 6 individual packs of Jalapeno sunflower seeds, 1 box of anti-static wipes, 2 DVDs, 1 bottle of vitamins, 1 video game (Battlefield Vietnam), 6 granola bars, toenail clippers, fingernail clippers, moustache trimmer, small scissors, powdered drink mix, 2 boxes of Girl Scout cookies, and 1 box of Q-tips.
3 May 04: A CD arrives from Chris.  It contains a letter and many pictures (click here to check it out.)
3 May 04: Another box is shipped off. It contains cheese macaroni mix, 8 boxes of Girl Scout cookies, 1 big beef stick, 5 bottles of spices, 43 packs of gum, 1 book, 6 cans of shaving cream, 12 Granola bars, 1 bottle of foot powder, 6 chapsticks, 30 toothbrushes, 48 toothpastes, 30 cans of floss, and two packs of jerky.
29 April 04: Four boxes went out for Chris and three for Nathan.  Chris got one more than Nathan because Mom and Dad bought some stuff just for him.  Chris got 200 bottles of hand lotion, snacks, cheese spread, magazines granola bars, DVDs, cigarettes, toilet paper, food, books, miscellaneous stuff, shaving cream, insect repellent, and some Girl Scout cookies. 
27 April 04: Article from 25th Inf Div Light Website   or check it out at  www.25idl.army.mil
23 April 04: A box containing 30 small shampoo bottles, 30 small soap bars, and 30 disposable razors was sent to Nathan Wells and Chris Liechty. This was all donated by the Madison Concourse Hotel.  Another box was made for Brian Hafenstein but not sent since he is not over there yet. The Concourse donated a lot more but we will send it as needed.
19 April 04: More books and another box of goodies and DVDs.  Dad now has a DVD recorder hooked up to the TIVO.  He is recording WWE Raw and other TV shows and movies on the TIVO and then recording them on DVDs.  Donate some DVD-Rs (This DVD recorder only works on DVD-R not DVD+R) to the Liechtys.  They're burning through a lot of them trying to keep the troops entertained.  Boredom is the worst enemy of morale.
15 April 04: Another 5 minute call. Mom and Dad both talked with him for a few minutes. He was back at mainbase  Said he'd been lifting weights. Gave us a list of things he wanted. Told Mom he wanted contacts. Told him some were on their way but Mom would order more. Then he talked with Marc and told him to copy some music for him and to have Acker get some pictures over to him. Apparently, Acker is making a little video for him. Said when he got back from  the field that he had received 4 packages so far. Sounded good but, as usual, the phone call went too fast.
12 April 04: Four more packages sent.  Two were full of Dennis's old paperbacks and two contained 80 razors, shaving creme, Q-tips, soap, shampoo, Off (unscented kind), ziplocks, powdered lemonade mix, and misc.  Please help send more stuff.  The nearest 7-eleven is a long drive.
6 April 04: A quick phone call: Chris called again around 4 a.m. on Tuesday, April 6 (I think). This time Dennis talked to him a little bit and then I took the phone down to Marc and woke him up. He was requesting that Dad send some razors over in the one of the care packages for his platoon. He and his Dad talked Army stuff, then he talked with Marc, asking Marc for some things. I asked Marc if he wanted me to write them down and he tells me he'll remember them - which, of course, the next morning he's going "I hope I can remember what he wanted, I was half asleep." Chris said he was still in the same place. I asked him again the name of the place and it was Sharan, the capital of a province named Patika. It was another 5-minute phone call and the time goes way too fast but it sure is good to hear his voice.
5 April 04: Another package is shipped out.
3 April 04: Mom gets a 5 minute phone call at midnight
    As best I can remember (I wish I'd been awake and was taking notes. I think it was around midnight).  When I realized it was him, I asked him where he was.  Not sure why, but I didn't expect the call.  He said Afghanistan.  He said that they'd all be given 5 minutes to call home on a satellite phone.  They were at base camp for about a week before moving to an outlying province where they were in tents.  They were there as a "show of force that the Americans were there."  The tents were surrounded by real walls (I thought he said 30' tall but that sounds awfully high to me - again, I wish I'd taken notes).  He said he was having fun.  Had been driving a Humvee.  Talked about hitting a puddle to splash some guy.  He said again that he was in very good spirits.   Said the weather was hot and sunny.  When asked how hot, he said something about just in the 80's.  He said that they'd had a dust storm for two days at the beginning of the week.  They were to be there for 20 days before returning to base.  He also said that he'd had this dream (He didn't have time to tell me all about the dream) and that on a wall were written some Bible verses and that I was to look up Psalm 3.  (It was very appropriate to the situation he was in.)  He said to tell Dad and Marc that he loved them and to tell his friend Acker that he said hi.  I told him that his Dad had been sending packages at least every week so he should have some goodies when he got back to base (hopefully) and that I'd sent letters.  We talked about a few things he wanted and that was it.  The time was gone all too quickly.
29 March 04: Dad sends two more care packages.  The basement larder is getting pretty picked over.
25 March 04: Chris calls from an Air Force base in Turkey.  He expects to be in Afghanistan in two days.  He talked a long time and did not want to hang up because it will be the last time talking to us for a long time.
24 March 04: Dad ships off 4 care packages.
23 March 04: Chris's Unit Deploys  Click here to jump to the 25IDL Deployment Information Page