Camp Al Sayliyah is the main R&R base for troops throughout the Middle east; including Iraq, Kuwait, Afghanistan, and places I speak of only in whispers. The people who come here for their 4 day R&R visit are an amazing mix of Army, Navy, Marines and Air Force. They have four brief days to relax, try to remember what being a civilian is like, reacquaint themselves with beer, and (occasionally ) see the sights in Qatar.

And he had asked for us to send stuff. Specifically, he had asked for books. New or used. Textbooks and paperbacks and recent magazines. Books.

I started going through the shelves, pulling out books I could easily part with, gathering up the back issues of magazines I'd abandoned reading when their newer kin had arrived. I boxed everything up and shipped it off.

And I realized it wasn't enough. It wasn't enough for me to just send a few cartons of reading material. I had to do something more. I had to invite others to do the same thing.

Which is about when a snappy little slogan popped into my head: