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Salute! Kindles in the military

2K views 28 replies 22 participants last post by  QuantumIguana 
#1 ·
Our son is a Marine, finishing up his training in Arkansas.  We sent him a Kindle for his upcoming birthday.  He left books behind in Pensacola as it cost too much to ship them home when he couldn't take them with him.  We went with the 3G, as getting WiFi is not always possible for him.

Kindles, are great gifts for the military in the family.  And from now on, we think we can gift him a book instantly, instead of buying it and then having it shipped.  Thank you Kindle (and I suppose Nook, et al)!

Has anyone else sent a Kindle to a military family member, or is serving in the military and has a Kindle?  How as that worked out for you?  Does the 3G work overseas?

Thanks!
 
#2 ·
I got my first ereader about 9 years ago from my parents when we moved over to Misawa AFB Japan. Dad runs off my mom's pandigitial novel time to time for small TDYs (she got it for Christmas) Ereaders r handy cuz with every move I have given up books. Not to mention if u r overseas the bookstores on base are small or you have to order online. Back then I never knew amazon existed.

Totally off topic... Daddy retired today after 23 yrs in.
 
#7 ·
#8 ·
My son is an AF Firefighter, stationed in Germany. We bought him a K2 when he first went over there. Of course, being my son, he HAD to get a K3 when they first came out. He keeps his old K2 as back-up, just in case anything should happen to his precious K3. Considering the kinds of conditions he takes his Kindle into, that's probably not a bad idea!

Congrats to your dad on his retirement!
 
#9 ·
I donated my K2 to military personnel deployed overseas through eBooks for the Troops. I love getting emails showing how happy the service men and women are to receive Kindles.

:)
 
#11 ·
balaspa said:
That is AWESOME to know. And a great idea. I love it. I am already trying to think of ways to give away my books to military personnel with Kindles!
intinst said:
Link to the thread here at KB:802 Authors Gift over a Million Coupons to our Troops - Operation eBook Drop by our member, Edward C. Patterson
I pass this information on to every single service member I know or meet. Operation Ebook Drop is a wonderful way for authors to support the military.
 
#12 ·
The first Kindle I bought was a K2 for my oldest son (Army) when he was in Iraq. KB readers gave me lots of suggestions for how to protect it. You can type in "Operation Kindle to Iraq" in the search this site box to see how I sent it or hopefully this link works:

http://www.kboards.com/index.php?topic=10669.0

As far as getting books to him, I would purchase them as downloads to my computer and then I'd put them on a CD and mail to him.

Now my younger son (Marine) is in Afghanistan. He has a K3 his wife bought him. She is also military (Army) and has a Kindle. She had a K2 when she was in Iraq. It was damaged during her deployment so now she has a K3.

With the kids being enthusiastic Kindle users, my husband and I ended up getting Kindles this winter. ;D
 
#14 ·
My son left last week for Afghanistan and took his wife's K1 with him.  We were going to get him a K3 to take but decided to let him take her older one and we will get her a K3 for her early birthday gift.  He only turns into a voracious reader during deployments and has already read 2 books since he left.  I would appreciate any of you that would put him on your prayer list for the next year!  Thanks!

Kathy in NC
 
#15 ·
Loving having my Kindle here in Afghanistan with me this time.  3G of course doesn't work here but that isn't a big deal at all.  It is too easy to download books to the computer and transfer through your cord.  Even with the horribly slow internet service here, I have no issues at all.

When I was last here in 2008, I hadn't yet bought my first Kindle.  As I never get rid of a book, I ended up shipping 7 huge boxes of books home when I left.  ($$$$)  This time I had to neither pack books to bring over nor worry about ordering books and having them shipped, etc.  Plus when I leave here in 11 months, there will be no extra boxes to ship home.  I have already convinced two of my Soldiers to purchase one as well.  Working on the others.  :)

I love being able to take my Kindle down to the dining facility with me and read as I am enjoying my breakfast.  Unfortunately between that and a few minutes of reading before I fall asleep each night, that's all the reading I get to do, but it is better than nothing.

Love my Kindle! One of the few pleasures I have while I am here in hell!

Take care,

Julia
 
#18 ·
DYB said:
I donated my K2 to someone in the military through Kindle boards.

I've actually decided to start buying and donating 1 Kindle a month to someone in the military. I'm looking at http://ebooksfortroops.org/donate-a-kindle/ and they only talk about used Kindles. I assume a new one is allowed! :D
They do now accept new K3's. :)
 
#19 ·
I just filled out the form to donate my K2i

Laurie

Thank you for your donation to the Kindle for Troops (K4T) program! Your Kindle will be much appreciated by our soldiers who are deployed overseas.

In the upcoming days, a representative from E-Books for Troops (EB4T) will be contacting you to coordinate the shipment of your Kindle.

Thanks again and please do not hesitate to contact us with any questions,

Ken Clark and Len Edgerly
Co-Founders

info@ebooksfortroops.org
 
#21 ·
Merlyn said:
I'd love to be able to donate Kindle books I've written to troops deployed in war zones. Anyone know how? I'm new to this forum, so if something is general knowledge here, I may not have been aware.
From EbooksForTroops.org:

We do not currently have an authors program, but we anticipate adding an authors section to our website in the upcoming months in an effort to connect our soldiers with authors who are willing to provide donated content to our troops. If you are an author who would like to be notified when we launch this section of our website, please contact us and provide us with your name, contact information. and any other relevant information.
 
#22 ·
#24 ·
So today after work, I take my boxed up Kindle and 2 cases to the post office to ship.  The post office guy behind the counter sees the "E-Books for Troops" on the address label.  He says "What's that?".  I explain it to him.  He then says it's silly since you can get used free paperbacks.  :-\

I didn't even have the energy to respond.  I had to get out of there.
 
#26 ·
laurie_lu said:
So today after work, I take my boxed up Kindle and 2 cases to the post office to ship. The post office guy behind the counter sees the "E-Books for Troops" on the address label. He says "What's that?". I explain it to him. He then says it's silly since you can get used free paperbacks. :-\
It sounds like they won't send your cases...

Once we receive your Kindle we will do a final review of its condition, which includes a full factory restore to ensure there is no personally identifiable data on your Kindle, and package it for shipment along with a Kindle case and light donated by M-Edge Accessories in our next delivery to a sponsored unit.

Please note: We understand businesses and individuals may for good reasons want to include other items with their K4T donation that would benefit our military members, but we do not accept or pass-along any third-party items to our sponsored units that fall outside the scope of our K4T program.
 
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