I want to really understand this. What is a care package? In games, its like a air strike or something. In movies it is a item from home. Can you clear this up for me?
Originally, a care package is when your family or friends mail you a letter or parcel with gifts, food, clothes, etc. For soldiers that haven't seen their loved ones in a long time, it's a great gift. In my experience, sharing a care package with other soldiers is basically a small celebration. In games, calling airstrikes or other attacks a "care package" is an ironic reference to real care packages. Instead of a loving gift, you get bombed. The only game I've encountered that has this is Worms...
I have always taken it to mean a gift from home from loved ones or a group of people who put them together to send to troops who have not had a taste of home in a long while. They can be packed with foods, games, toiletries, books or magazines. Anything to help remind the soldier of home and what he is protecting. Pictures are always a nice touch as well as sweets. Sweets can be shared with local children. Its a nice way to help your soldier make new friends and show that they are not the enemy. I did not know about the in game meaning of Care Package till now. It makes me shake my head sometimes how something so caring can be turned into something so destructive.
My understanding is that it has to do with packages from home for students, soldiers, etc. It can be food, books, photos, etc. Mainly it is a way for the recipient to have the taste and feel of home in their hands. Care packages are also distributed by the Red Cross to prisoners.
Are there places we can send general care packages? Like if we are sending it to someone other than family? Just the division in general?
During WWII "care packages" were originally 'comfort packages' which could be sent by the POW's home country or a third nation through the Red Cross to POWs. They were also called, thusly, RED CROSS packages. The guards were allowed to inspecct each package for 'contraband' but, even so, some snuck through. The packages contained mostly non-perishable food items, such as COFFEE, tea, evaporated milk, sugar, tinned fruit, dried fruit, candy, tinned meats, preserves, jams, jellies, et cetera. The British used this to smuggle items to POWs. So did the Americans.
That's really interesting, I had no idea care packages were sent to POW's, I thought it was just to soldiers stationed abroad. What sort of items were smuggled to POW's during WWII?
During WWII the active duty GIs were NOT, as a rule, sent "Kare Packages", unless it were from a relative. They were not part of the official relief shipments because they had freedom of movement and were under the care of the US and UK military. POWs were free to move nor were they cared for by Allied Armies. Items smuggled in to the GIs held by the Germans and Italians included: maps, money, crystal radio set, NEWS, requests for information, cameras and film, and at least one case a pistol & ammo. The Brits had MI-9 while the Americans had an organization called MIS-X (Military Intelligence Service - eXcape) which secretly aided POWs.
