Cigarista The "C" Spot at the Beach
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Cigarista The "C" Spot at the Beach |
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Cigars For Soldiers Your HELP is needed. We now have a list of over 250 soldiers wanting cigars. It's a great thing you can do to give them a touch of home and let them know you're thinking about them. Note that soldiers in Iraq & Afghanistan can contact us to be put on the list to receive cigars from our donations.
Some newer stuff in:
Mike,
The Cigars were very nice. Here is a picture as promised and a new
contact.
Kleo - He is Cc'd on this message:
...
Thank you,
Donald
12/28/2007 We got a couple of emails and a few pics back.
Hey Lisa! (from soldiersangels.org)
What a merry XMAS we had! And all b/c of you and your concerted efforts with
Mike Smith's 'C' Spot!
Attached are two pic's of the festivities on Christmas Day!
The black Yaktrax would be awesome! and they will literally save our butts!
I hope you had a wonderful Christmas and are looking forward to a great New
Year.
Lisa and Mr. Smith...thanks again...you truly made our day!
-SGT G (Michael Gilbert) - 2 pics follow - Note Cigarista bumper sticker on
gun barrel.
Date: Mon, 24 Dec 2007 16:42:29
+0300
here's a couple on a cold night at the range here in Iraq...
thanks for the support..
Matthew McCready
12/20/2007 In December so far, we've made six shipments of cigars to troops in Iraq and Afghanistan, due in large part to Cigarista customers making donations. Three of those shipments were by one special group of people who sent the following letter with their sticks and used new comic books for the packing material. Hey guys, These cigars and comic books are being sent to you by the family of William C. Garren. He died a year ago today. He was a 23 year Navy man; retired as a AKSC. We all thought he would like the idea of gifts to our nation's fighting men being sent in his name. Our thoughts and best wishes are with all of you, hoping you come back home soon carrying your shields. Sincerely, Doris L. Garren, Kathy and RJ Gilgaren, Bree Gilgaren, Jeanne and Andy Etier, Polly and Mike Orr A large number of those comics were purchased from and more donated by Rob at:
Pop Comics & Games A SPECIAL thanks to the guys at Stogie Review for a kind note about our program. Click here to read it. 11/13/2007 - Shipped another package to Afghanistan today. Next, Iraq for a while. 10/5/2007 - Shipped three packages to Afghanistan last week for 55 troops and got the following email today:
Hello Mike,
Wanted to let you know that we received the cigars and are
distributing them out to everyone.
Will take some photos sometime this week when we get time to
light them up and send them out to you.
We are all looking forward to enjoying the smokes. Even more
so however, it's comforting to know that America supports us and the cause we
are fighting for here. Thanks so much for all your support!
Regards from Sunny Bagram, Afghanistan! Roy (Hunter)
8/3/2007 - Received the following email and picture today:
Sir,
Iraq. We were fortunate to be the recipients of some of your
products
through the cigars for soldiers program. I wanted to say
thanks again
for that. Attached please find a picture of a few of us
enjoying your
gift.
7/24/2007 - We have a large and growing list of soldiers wanting cigars. This is a big turnaround from early on when we had more cigars then we knew who to send them to. Your donations are so important and so appreciated. Please help us send more to the troops. Thanks. 7/24/2007 - Received a flag that had been flown over the Headquarters of the Multi-National Corps-Iraq during Operation Iraqi Freedom along with the certificate that follows. This blew me away. Thanks, guys. Wow.
7/16/2007 - Three boxes went to Ron Stevenson and Dan Hilarski for their groups in Iraq. 7/16/2007 - A box plus went out to Jim Raley in Iraq. 7/8/2007 - More correspondence from LTC Turner and lots of pictures. See below. 6/15/2007 - Two boxes go out to SSG Timothy Keel and friends in Iraq today. Keep those donations coming in. Thanks yet again. If you know someone who smokes cigars and is in Iraq or Afghanistan, drop us a line or call and we'll attempt to get some cigars to them. 6/8/2007 - We recently mentioned this program in our cigar column in the Tampa Bay Sun newspaper and received a generous check from the Steiner Family in Tampa. Thanks so much to them. 4/19/2007 - We sent a couple of boxes out to CPL Marcus Penn. See below for email and pictures. 4/18/2007 - We made a new contact in Iraq and sent cigars. See below for the email from LTC Patrick Turner. We are getting another couple of boxes ready for a contact from cigarlive.com. You won't believe how much our thinking of these guys matters to them. Thanks so much to our customers and friends who contributed to this. ---------------------------------------- 12/18/2006 - We just sent a large box of cigars out, heading for Iraq. Thanks to all of you who contributed, especially Camacho, Perdomo and Dave Bathy who contributed bundles and boxes of cigars. All the cash contributions were used to buy cigars at a discount to go to our guys. We're not done. We've started in on the next box. With any luck, we'll have some pictures back from Iraq and when we do, we'll post them here for all to see. We made some great contacts with another group called Soldiers' Angels. They send lots of things to Iraq for the soldiers. They found contacts for us and helped greatly with the first shipment, actually having it sent to them and forwarding it, with customs forms (I didn't know they needed that) to Iraq. Please check out their web site at: www.soldiersangels.org. A special thanks to Lisa N. at Soldiers' Angels, an angel herself. Here's the deal: Buy anything in the store, cigars or related, to be sent to soldiers in Iraq. You get 10% off the purchase. We pay for the shipping to the soldiers and ship them. You can pick the soldiers or we will, your choice. Make a difference.
You may also make a cash contribution towards buying cigars. Any amount will be appreciated. To DONATE via PayPal, click here: Well, it was here until PayPal made us take it away. Turns out you can't even donate for a gift to soldiers through PayPal if the gift is cigars. Bummer. You'll have to call or mail - see below. Sigh.
We have a female customer (Melissa M.) who comes in the store about once a month and buys a bunch of cigars to send her soldiers, just because they want them. She's never met them. She just knows it makes them happy. We gave her a discount the very first time she told us what she was doing as we thought it was a cool thing. We kept giving her the discount. We started putting in an extra item or two with her stuff. We started thinking. What if we could take this idea and do it on a much broader scale and get more to the people fighting for our country? We liked the idea a bunch. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Latest emails from Iraq: -------------------------------------------------------------------------- From:
TO my friends and family:
Yes I know it's been over 60 days since my last email to most of you all
but duty called. A number of you sent us in the cell here some items we
are grateful to receive and share so it is truly heartwarming the level
of support we get from our great American citizens. Examples: DVDs and
books and magazines and some candies and so forth.
If this email finds you and you are not interested in all this, pls send
me an email and I will delete you.
Received a great book from sister Maryrose called "Team of Rivals" about
Lincoln during the War. It was sooooo good as I have a new respect for
Lincoln-as if we all did not need one. Working on my diet and
controlling other intake as always. My master sergeant went on a 4 day
pass to Qatar which turned into a 9 day pass as his plane broke down. I
was able to play in a scramble golf tournament where you hit off a green
pad onto a "green" (a blanket" about 130 yards away. Problem was if you
hit the dirt in between it was one tough hole but I prevailed. Good
citizens have sent me (fortunately) hundreds of golf balls I hit into
Victory Lake near Al Faw Palace here in Baghdad. Even Toby Keith the C&W
entertainer showed up for a hour long "concert" and I got a pretty good
seat. I understand he is not in favor of the War but I don't care what
his motivations were but I sure know most of his songs.
On 25 May it got up to 117 degrees and it was the hottest so far in the
year.
On the 27th of May I was directed to go to Afghanistan and conduct
assessments of various logistical processes going on there for 33 days
or so. To get there, you have to fly to Kuwait first which is always a
bummer, wait, then fly into Bagram, Afghanistan. Had two planes have
mechanical problems in 110 degree heat at Baghdad Intl and spent 10
hours sitting there so by the time I got to KUW, was pretty well worn
out but set a personal record for water consumption. With only a day
wait, flew the 3.75 hours from KUW to Bagram which is the home of the
82d Airborne Division. When I saw all the people in PT shorts, etc
hanging around the PX I was about ready to dub them the Chairborne
Division. The C17 plane was almost full and got there just before
midnight. Was able to meet the next day the Command Sergeant Major of
the 82nd ABN to get an idea of what they were doing there the next day.
A lot of the so called culture in AFG is different than Iraq. Bagram is
at 4700 feet, on a relative plateau and is surrounded by mountains. A10
Thunderbolt planes and Prowlers seem to be continually screaming over
the base and it's crowded in my opinion as they over 13,000 people
there. I lived as you can see in the initial pics in what is called a "B
Hut" which is all wood except for a corrugated roof but it felt like a
fire trap so I made sure the fire detector worked. The weather was down
to 70 degrees almost every night initially and did not get into the 90s
during the day until I left on 1 July. A massive difference from Iraq,
at least in the northern section unlike down south in Kandahar I later
found out.
Was asked to join a "Pilferage Working Group" at Bagram, AFG since
sooooo much is stolen enroute by Afghanis and Pakistanis. It is
remarkable how much thieving goes on, from fuel siphoning, to door
removal and seal removal, you name it. A regular cottage industry. We
have lots of products coming in from the ports in Pakistan (Karachi) and
their inventiveness at stealing is only seemingly exceeded by their love
for Allah, I guess.
I attempted several times to get to Kandahar from Bagram but the planes
always seemed to be full so instead I flew on a helo to Jallalabad as a
side trip. This is a about a 45 minutes helo ride and it is very warm.
The ride I must say was quite spectacular as you start out in the
desert, go up and down mountains about 300 feet off the deck, go over
fertile valleys and water and return to the desert. If you were on a
vacation you would pay serious money for this helicopter ride, believe
me. Jallalabad was 111 degrees at 1130 hours so it was mighty warm. This
is the home of the 173rd ABN Bde and these guys are fighters & killers
which we need more of. The son of the unit's Command Sergeant Major had
been killed in action the week before so the morale was kinda sorta
down. Like in Bagram, all the Soldiers live in wooden B huts but they
all have box air conditioners and the food was good. Able to even attend
religious services that evening. The next day, flew back to Bagram on a
short takeoff 2 engine fixed wing that could get to 25,000 feet which
was fine by me as the temp went to 117 degrees and waiting in that heat
is soooo oppressive. And I am not getting any younger.
A week later we went on a mission to deliver some PX goods via a CH47
double rotor helo to a unit out in the middle of absolutely nowhere as
far as I could tell. They are helping build a road to somewhat I gather
as they are engineers. Their spirits were good and it was nice to talk
to these young men and there were several young women there also. I bet
this base did not exceed 110 people at the most.
Drove in a motor convoy to Kabul from Bagram during the 30 some days I
was there. Inserted our white Toyota Land cruiser amongst 5 HUMVEES with
gunners on top so I guess we stood out against my better judgment. This
is a about a 40 minute ride as fast as you can drive and you see
everything from women from Burkas over their face up and down mountains
into the crowded city of Kabul. Since I am the only guy that is armed
with a weapon in the vehicle I am what is called the Shooter. Its almost
like some cartoon, weaving in and out of traffic, honking like crazy and
again, going as fast as you can without rolling over. Rule number 1 is
NEVER STOP. Rule number 2 is read rule 1 10 times and I can assure you
I did not ignore the rule. As we got into Kabul, and I have a pic or two
driving down to Bagram, there is a Afghan guard there at the gate named
"Rambo". Rambo is known for diving into a car at that gate when a
suicide car bomber was attempting to initiate a bomb and stopped him by
punching him out. So he is a legend. Now he stands guard at the gate
with an American baseball bat. The same day a convoy just west of us had
a suicide bomber and killed two and the next day a bus got lit up and
killed some 25. So I decided to helo the next day out of Kabul back to
Bagram as its faster and safer-I think.
Needed to get to Kandahar but always could not get transport so I
decided with my Major to fly to there thru Kyrgyzstan (Manas) and was
able to do it successfully, being only 5 people on a huge C17 plane
eventually to Kandahar. "K stan" is a strong supporter of the USA in
spite of the fact that everyone there is Muslim and a lot of our
employees come from there. In Kandahar it was 111 degrees at 0800 and
ultimately it got to 126 degrees which is probably as warm as I care to
have it. Was invited to a "Fallen Comrade" service at the base wherein 3
Canadian Soldiers were KIA and their caskets were escorted onto a C130
plane on the ride home and I was able to get one pic of it all. I read
yesterday where 5 Canadians were killed via an IED and of course, the
Left immediately wanted to pull out. I have also been to these in other
locales and it is such a waste for young people to die by the hands of
such zealots. I met the Base Commander there and NATO is soon "taking
over" Kandahar so there was a lot of business to discuss as to the
equipment and so forth. In our attempt to get back thru Kyrgyzstan,
suddenly with all the combat and weather issues going on, I was forced
to stay at Manas for 5 full days. Could not go off the base because I
was a "transient" and had to sleep in a tent which lowered my morale for
sure but these tents nowadays.
Finally flew to KUW from Bagram on 1 July and tried to fly to Baghdad on
2 July. I felt the trip was successful in that no military guys had ever
engaged Command on issues that were important to my "client". I know a
lot about equipment (rolling stock) and was able to organize it in short
order after conducting a lot of technical inspections, meeting the
Command and so forth. In short I tried to be a doer and not a consumer
and looking back upon it we had some success but it will always require
follow-up. Well, in attempting to get from KUW to Baghdad, I had
literally four planes go down on maintenance (or so they told us) in one
day. Had to get up at 0430 and not get to bed until 0200 the following
day and all I did was get shuffled from one place to another with little
result as it turned out. Whoever said life was fair? On the 3rd of July
however able to get to Baghdad finally and am almost caught up from my
mission.
Scheduled to go on a pass to Qatar on 10 Jul for 4 days and that will be
my first time off since I started this tour in January. Am looking
forward to playing some golf as they allegedly have two courses there
and just chilling out and reading a lot of the books and magazines
people send us here.
Admin note: if you all want to send me a joke, that's ok but I would
rather hear from you. The best email to contact me is
turnerpatr@aafes.com ; yes, I do send from a CENTCOM email server but
only because it can send the pics about 5000% faster than the server I
normally use. Still on track to return home in December and will go on
leave on or about 24 Aug back to the Fort Worth, TX area for 15 days. On
track to return to Fort Sill in 2008; the local Command is supportive
but the question remains as to whether Army headquarters will support.
Thanks again to all those support us here in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Mom, I love you. Jeanne sent me some scanned pics and you may recognize
a pic from March 1945 (last one)? I guess I am a result of that
ceremony...
LTC Patrick Turner
AAFES Military Operations Senior LNO
Camp Liberty, Iraq
"God will Judge our Enemies....my job is to Introduce them to Him"
CLICK HERE FOR MORE PICTURES FROM LTC TURNER from Iraq and Afghanistan. (LARGE FILE) -------------------------------------------------------------------------- From:
SSG Timothy Keel (MNC-I RCD ADMIN NCO)
Here are a couple pictures of individuals smoking the cigars. I cant
thank you enough for them when we slow down in a couple weeks I'll send
you some more. I'm the one with the fish, the other is my SGM and my
COL(the boss). Thank you so much.
SSG Timothy Keel
MNC-I RCD ADMIN NCO
" SCORPION 1 "
SSG Keel working - a little behind?
Tim's COL and SGM
Tim Iraqi fishing --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: Penn Cpl Marcus A (TQ 8th ESB S1 CRS) I've attached a picture of me smoking one of the Fuente cigars you sent
and holding the bumper sticker. I'll try to get more pictures of all the
folks with your bumper sticker in the next few days.
I really like the Fuente cigars. They were pretty smooth and I don't
have a bad after taste. The burn was pretty even considering the time
they spent in transit and the horribly dry and hot weather we have out
here. Thank you so much once again!
Marcus
Cpl Penn in Iraq -------------------------------------------------------------
Mike,
Here are some pictures for you. CECA is a Seabee from the camp next to
ours and Henry is one of our terps. The Documentary X pictures are from
when an independent film maker was here getting footage for a
documentary on Chaplains she is part of. Another email of pictures will
come in a moment.
Marcus
Holy Smokes & Sacred Grounds
CECA and Henry ------------------------------------------------------------- From: Turner Patrick A LTC AAFES Logistics
Operations Officer
Mike, yes we did receive them along with the nice letter you were kind
enough to send. You are most generous to us here. Although I used to
partake, there was no shortage of enthusiasts here believe me. I have
about half left but I am very strict as to who and how many we offer
your fine product to.
You probably have to fill out the usual customs forms anytime you send
anything here. They are pretty strict here.
Any of your fine products are shared amongst the men equally. We thank you, your family and your business for supporting us here in
Iraq.
With your permission I send out an email every couple of months to dear
friends with pics and I would be honored if I could add you blindly. Am
traveling to Al Anbar province for a week plus starting later today or
tomorrow so it should be interesting.
Respectfully, The officers and men of the United States Army LTC Patrick Turner
AAFES Military Operations Senior LNO
Camp Liberty, Iraq
"God will Judge our Enemies....my job is to Introduce them to Him" ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- We just got our first email from one of Melissa's guys:
I just wanted to say thank you for starting Cigars for Soldiers.
I found out from someone that goes into your shop to buy cigars. She
passed it to me. I know that it may not be a big deal to some but there
are a lot of Service Members that truly enjoy cigars. It is a bonding
experience and it also brings a little piece of home.
Semper Fi,
Colin Hardman
SSgt USMC
Al Asad, Iraq
If you want to put your name, phone #, email address, whatever on your purchases so they can contact you, that's fine with us. If you want it to be anonymous, that's okay, too. You can come in the store, call us at 727-393-6700 to use credit cards, mail checks to: 18131 Gulf Blvd Ste AA, Redington Shores, FL 33708, or email us at: cigarsforsoldiers@cigarista.com. |
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