Campaign to outfit U.S. service personnel on two war fronts with MP3s
Through a campaign called Songs for Soldiers, Americans can support the troops in a musical way.
The campaign, created by the Connecticut-based Flatflash Group, aims to hand-deliver credit card-sized, sand-proof and shock-proof MP3 players to all 184,000 U.S. service personnel in Iraq and Afghanistan.
You can order a player (or lots of them) for soldiers by going to
this site. Clicking on "donate now" at the bottom of the page will take you to the site of the USO of Metropolitan New York, which is handling the orders. The MP3 is priced at $29; the purchase price is tax-deductible.
According to the press release, "the USO guarantees that each gift will be handed to all active duty troops in Iraq or Afghanistan."
Although the players will come loaded with original music composed and performed by military personnel (active and vet), soldiers can, of course, upload their own choices at will. Naturally, I'd like to think that at least a few of the recipients will opt for some hot classical music tracks, but this campaign is obviously worthy regardless.
Comments
Hi Tim,
That's an excellent point! The USO and Songs for Soldiers are definitely open to all genres of music. The tracks that are currently being donated are by a record label who's music is all performed by either active US soldiers and/or veterans. We are open to more donations, which the USO would have to approve.
If you knew of any great classical music that can be donated to the cause, we're all for it!
Best,
David
Songs for Soldiers
www.songsforsoldiers.us
Posted by: David Choi | January 13, 2010 9:21 AM