Donate to soldiers in the middle east

[fishing-phil]

Hello, my name is Phil Bonnel and I am currently deployed to the Middle East. I am going to be giving a fly tying class to about 6 other soldiers but I anticipate more becoming interested once we get started. If you have an old vise or tools that still function or any odds and ends materials that you would like to donate please contact me at philbonnel@gmail.com. I have my vise and one of my old ones and I have some materials that I am allowing them to use. I am not charging anything for the class or my materials. If you email me, I will provide you an APO address. There is no international charges to mail anything because the military gets the package before it leaves the states. It generally costs around $12 to mail a box.

Thanks for reading and God Bless.
Phil Bonnel

[Allan]

Hi Phil,

How about posting your military designated address, including the APO. I'm sure several or more, myself included, would be willing to send you some stuff.

Allan

[fishing-phil]

Thank you, Allan for bringing up a good point. Thank you very much for your intrest to helping us out.

[Allan]

You'll have to pardon my skepticism. It's especially questionable when a request comes from someone who just became a site member. Over the years there's been a few scams here about fly tying or equipment needs and I fell for one of them. So, if you want any support, you'll have to provide a lot more information that gives us a better feeling that this is not just another attempt at getting something for nothing. Oh, and by the way, there are some of us here who have served or who have friends and family serving over there. My son is there now. Finally, this does sound like an excellent idea and when you provide more info that makes me feel comfortable, I'll get a package out to you. Others here may too. Thank you for helping your fellow soldiers and thank you for your service.

Allan

[Betty Hiner]

Phil,
I think more than one of us ... OK, a whole bunch of us ... have been snookered at one time or another with our enthusiasm for our sports (fishing and tying).Please give us more information. Know you're from Missouri ... where? You ever fish the State Parks? (may know some of the same people) Where are you stationed? (again, may know some of the same people ... lots of family and friends stationed overseas right now). How much longer will you be there? What materials do you want/need? What will you be fishing for? We always stand ready to help out fellow fishermen/women, but hate when phishermen/women try to take advantage of our sincerity.
Betty/KC area

[anglerdave]

Phil,
I think more than one of us ... OK, a whole bunch of us ... have been snookered at one time or another with our enthusiasm for our sports (fishing and tying).Please give us more information. Know you're from Missouri ... where? You ever fish the State Parks? (may know some of the same people) Where are you stationed? (again, may know some of the same people ... lots of family and friends stationed overseas right now). How much longer will you be there? What materials do you want/need? What will you be fishing for? We always stand ready to help out fellow fishermen/women, but hate when phishermen/women try to take advantage of our sincerity.
Betty/KC area

Betty those are excellent questions. The only one he won't/can't answer is where he is stationed. Just saying from experience.

Dave

[Allan]

Dave,

Some can and some can't. It depends. When we sent mail to my son in Iraq, and he was at a FOB, the address included the name of the FOB. Right now he's in an unknown place and we only have an APO address.
But we don't want any information that, in any way, is objectionable.

Allan

[Steve Molcsan]

Let us know Phil....

and be safe...

[Jack Hise]

Thank you Betty. I had the same feelings as we may have been scamed before! Collected a lot of stuff for a "Solider in Iraq" and never heard from him again!! Not even so much as a "Thank You"!!

[fishing-phil]

First of all, thank you all very much for your interest in helping me get this started.

A little about me... I'm from Missouri. I went to college in Branson and wish I had known about fly fishing at the time (Lake Taneycomo... Awesome). I have lived in the Jefferson City area and now live in northern MO. I love to fish, hunt, camp, and pretty much anything outdoors. I've been fly fishing for about 4 years and really started seriously tying about 3 years ago while I was in Afghanistan. I have a great girlfriend that I taught to fly fish last summer which was a terrible idea. I was stuck bass fishing all summer because she ALWAYS had my fly rod.

The only time you can fish for trout in northern MO, is in the winter when the conservation department stocks some small lakes. I love getting down to Lake Taneycomo, Roaring River, and Bennet Springs. When I can't do that, most days I prefer to fly fish for bluegill or small bass over bass fishing. I deer, rabbit, and squirrel hunt and save the hair and furs for tying. Here's a tip, a great place to get a lot of random stuff is to talk to hunters, you never know what they might be throwing away that you can use. A lot of it isn't very good quality, but it beats buying it from the store. For me it's one more step... I caught a fish on the fly i made from the deer I harvested last fall. Sorry, I got off track. I have wanted to catch a smallmouth bass on a flyrod but haven't had the chance. When I get home I plan on a nice long fishing trip and getting to do somethings I haven't taken the time to do yet.

As I stated before, I am a in the MO National Guard. I am a military police soldier deployed to the middle east. I would rather not post my APO on the internet because I have no way of controlling who sees it. At least if someone emails me and asks for it there is a record of who has it. Please understand.

Again, thank you all very much for your interest in helping me get this started.
Phil Bonnel

P.S. If you send something, please write a small note and include your name and address so a "thank you" can be sent. If there is anything else you would like to know, please ask. I will answer it if I can. Also, if anyone is interested in doing some fishing when I get home, I'm always eager to learn what I can from people who have been doing it longer than I have.