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Post by raymilam on Apr 7, 2011 14:07:30 GMT -4
First off I gotta start with I love this site and all the stories I have read so far. I am pretty new on here so I am sure there is a lot more to come.
My name is Staff Sergeant Raymond Milam. I am active duty US Army. I am in a training unit stationed in Georgia. Being in a training unit me and my fellow soldiers get moved around a lot. Whether that be to other states, other countries, or deploy. I have within my unit 11 guys that love to fish. Considering our mission and how much we travel they haven't really been able to get enough tackle to go out and catch to many fish, if any at all. So for the past couple months I have been buying these guys some tackle, which worked out great until my wife found out how expensive it really is. So then I started contacting different companies to see if. They would consider donating tackle to these guys. I have had three or four companies donate a little gear. A few lures, soft plastics and what not. Which the guys loved. I don't think I can give enough thanks. In the long run though these guys still don't have much. So I am trying to find out if there is anyone here that knows of a way that I can get these guys some stuff. If there is anyone out there that could assist me in helping these soldiers out please email me. Or if you'd like below is my mailing address. I am the only person dealing with getting these guys some stuff so if you have stuff to send I can split it up and distribute it to them or for the guys that are currently deployed I can store it for them or drop it off with their families. I am asking for any assistance or guidance to get these guys out on the water and allow them to enjoy some much needed relaxation.
My home address:
Raymond Milam
1251 West Avenue
APT F-1
North Augusta, SC 29841
Phone number: 808-342-5405
Email: raymond.milam@us.army.mil
I thank you all in advance and I know the guys will love and enjoy any help they can get.
V/R
SSG Milam
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Post by bacon on Apr 7, 2011 20:13:10 GMT -4
am i the only one that is  about this. dont get me wrong, i vehemently support our troops, and try to do what i can. but what a great scam, and im not saying this is, but if it is, there are hundreds of board like this all over the internet, and in a couple of hours you could paste this post all over them , even if you only get a handful of people to send a couple of lures, you could fill a tackle box no charge. i sure hope this is on the level, and that these soldiers get a ton of lures sent their way and have a blast with them. hell, my initial response after starting to read this was to go dig up a dozen lures and send them off, but as i kept reading i started to kinda reel back a bit(pun intended). i have friends in the military, and some of them were serious fisherman, most brought/bought lures when stationed, found time to go fishing,ect. either had parents ship them there old tackle boxes, or asked for stuff in a care package along with the newspapers, magazines, TP, DVD's, ect that they already were getting from home. i offered my best friend to send him some telescopic poles and a loaded tackle box and what ever else he wanted when he was stationed at Bahrain, but he said no, since most fishing there is done by net. but now that his wife and son came home to escape the mess going on over there, maybe he will want it now to help pass the time. but this is my main problem with this request. are there no families here, no personal property available?? seems a little fishy(again with the damn puns) Like i said, i really hope this is legit and that it works out for these kids that are serving our nation, and not a pitiful scam praying on patriotism for the gain of one. bacon |
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Post by bacon on Apr 7, 2011 20:16:03 GMT -4
just thought of something else that would serve as a real simple litmus test here, ted, can you check the security logs here, and see how long he was 'actually' here. opens up saying he loves the stories he has read here, was he here long enough to read something, or just paste on a post and leave??
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Post by hot0n0tot on Apr 7, 2011 22:00:28 GMT -4
Yeah bacon i agree with you. I would not mind sending a few myself but.......maybe just maybe.......This would be a very easy scam to get away with. You could even google his name maybe and see what comes up. IDK
Keenan
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Post by batonas on Apr 8, 2011 6:18:30 GMT -4
It is a first time when i am see post like this. If it`s scam it`s a very poor way to abuse solders or children to earn some money. Thats very sad.
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Post by omigosh on Apr 8, 2011 8:54:14 GMT -4
The thing that sends up the red flag for me is that this guy is here and not deployed. I've sent boxes of fishing magazines to our guys deployed. But to hear of a request for tackle right here is a little strange. I'm close to several military bases and I've never heard of any efforts to get things for the soldiers that are Stateside. It is always for the deployed. If you shop close to the bases there are many merchants that give military discounts. I'm with bacon on this one. Sounds a bit fishy.
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Post by raymilam on Apr 8, 2011 9:04:10 GMT -4
I wrote the post. As I mentioned. I am new here. I have been in the army 8 years. Deployed three times, once afghanistan twice in Iraq.
This is not a cheap scam. If I wanted to scam people I wouldn't hide behind an organization that I love and use my vomeades as a cover. If your a patriot and believe this may be a scam I posted my personal cell number call me. Donate don't donate but if you have doubts block your number and call me.
Thanks
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Post by bulldog21 on Apr 8, 2011 9:44:48 GMT -4
Welcome to Rapalanation!  I went ahead and shortened your response a little. We like to keep the boards clean and friendly. You can see how it COULD come across as a scam. A red flag popped up for some of us regulars since it was only your first post. I am not saying it is a scam what so ever. It's great that you are doing that! My cousin recently got back from his third deployment (not a big fisherman though) and I know they always are looking for things to take their minds off the stress of their jobs. Hope you stick around. Feel free to post and enjoy the website! -Ryan |
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Post by raymilam on Apr 8, 2011 10:28:12 GMT -4
Someone earlier posted that if these people are here they should get their own stuff. Yea granted we do come through every once in a while A: we don't stay long and B: if these guys weren't deployed and didn't have to travel as much as they do I wouldn't go through the trouble of trying to help them. I actually had been buying stuff for em and that got quiet expensive. I'm just looking for options. It burns me that I get on here be completely honest and people wanna talk trash without knowing. Help or don't help its up to you. I'm going to keep trying to help these guys. Say whatever you want. Whatever makes you sleep better. Keep your opinion to yourself unless you know me or know fully what I am doing. Don't hide behind whatever you think. I will byinur to try and help my guys with or without the help of the prudish people in the world who don't know me from Adam.
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Post by raymilam on Apr 8, 2011 10:35:49 GMT -4
People also say that its fishy because its my first post. Yea, maybe it looks fishy. But maybe just maybe, if you took the time to ask before pointing fingers you would find different. If it were me reading that for the first time I COULD see how it would raise an eyebrow. But maybe I would be professional and adult enough to ask.
Ryan: You shortened it? Dang. I tried to be professional and clean. Just got a bit burned what others have said. I thought it was pretty clean hahaha.
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Post by happyshad on Apr 8, 2011 12:39:28 GMT -4
Dear Sergeant Raymond Milam,
Let me start by saying thank you to you and the other servicemen and servicewomen for serving our country - we would not be enjoying our freedoms (fishing, hunting, chillin' and grillin', walking around in our underwear at home, etc.) if it weren't for our military. I also want to say that I personally know a few of the fine people that posted above - and their intentions were all in the defense of Rapalanation and it's members and guests.
Truth is - we are all passionate about our country, our friends and our pastimes - with that being said - let's figure out a way to move forward positively. (which it looks like we all are) My suggestion would be - if you could provide us with a group photo with names of the troops - you know - stir up a little pride within the "Nation" and let us connect with you - we can get the ball rolling and find some of the fishing items and literature that will help some of our troops.
Maybe a quick fix would be for you to personally register on RapalaNations Facebook Fan Page - as well as some of the other servicemen/women involved and this could possibly turn into a really cool deal. I cannot speak for anyone other than me - but this is a pretty special forum that if engaged in a project - it get's tackled pretty handily!
I will be the first one to volunteer a few lures, hats, etc.
Warmest Regards,
Tom - aka HappyShad
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Post by raymilam on Apr 8, 2011 14:55:01 GMT -4
Getting a pic will be too easy. I have already got a good friend of mine taking pics as my idea turns to reality, so I will get with him and see what I can come up with. I know I cant come up with a pic of the entire group I am trying to help due to the fact of some of them being deployed at the moment. However, I will get what I can.
As far as the facebook thing. I am totally 100% against social network sites. Not my cup of tea. To much stuff gets said and done on there coming from a military perspective that I swore off the hole shibang. I will work on getting pics next week.
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Post by bacon on Apr 8, 2011 19:37:07 GMT -4
Someone earlier posted that if these people are here they should get their own stuff. Yea granted we do come through every once in a while A: we don't stay long and B: if these guys weren't deployed and didn't have to travel as much as they do I wouldn't go through the trouble of trying to help them. I actually had been buying stuff for em and that got quiet expensive. I'm just looking for options. It burns me that I get on here be completely honest and people wanna talk trash without knowing. Help or don't help its up to you. I'm going to keep trying to help these guys. Say whatever you want. Whatever makes you sleep better. Keep your opinion to yourself unless you know me or know fully what I am doing. Don't hide behind whatever you think. I will byinur to try and help my guys with or without the help of the prudish people in the world who don't know me from Adam. you raise some intresting points here, your very right, no one here knows you from adam, but that is exactly why i can not keep my opinions to my self because we do not know you and we dont have any idea of what you are doing. saying something and doing something are no where near the same thing. this is something im sure you know from your service. as a SSG, im sure you are used to having to separate the BS from the facts. thats simply all im doing. i will reiterate this again, since maybe it wasnt completely clear in my initial post, i do not automatically consider this a scam, only the potential for it to be so. please understand that of all the info you gave, none of it really confirms one way or another that you are who you are, or your intentions. a SC address with a HI phone exchange is not uncommon for a soldier im sure, but it is still a cautious point. please do not consider this as hiding behind what i am thinking. i could have called you and talked to you, but again, that doesn't really cover my apprehension. i guess this makes me a prudish person some how. i hope you can understand how your initial post was taken with a bit of skepticism, and how your further posts have dont little to cement home real facts to help other members fell better about supporting your cause, but rather only raise more questions and leave a feeling of animosity. My heart goes out to all of our service men and women both home and deployed. bacon |
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Post by Fishooked on Apr 8, 2011 22:36:06 GMT -4
It burns me that I get on here be completely honest and people wanna talk trash without knowing. Help or don't help its up to you. I'm going to keep trying to help these guys. Say whatever you want. Whatever makes you sleep better. Keep your opinion to yourself unless you know me or know fully what I am doing. Don't hide behind whatever you think. I will byinur to try and help my guys with or without the help of the prudish people in the world who don't know me from Adam. No offense or anything, but since this is my place, I would have appreciated it if you would have asked me first. And since this is my place, I won't keep my opinion to myself. I've seen a lot of scammers and reprehensible people come through here in the past so you'll have to excuse us if we don't believe you, since you have been a member here a whopping 5 minutes. We're all generally pretty friendly, and sometimes people see that as an opportunity to take advantage of people. It's happened to others before, and it's happened to me as well. Sadly that's just the way it is - would you trust someone you just met and don't even know? You really haven't done much of anything here to deserve the free plug though...and personally I will I'll admit this wouldn't exactly rate high on my list of what sort of things would help our servicemen. I give our servicemen across the globe all the credit in the world for all of the important work that they do, but I would be more inclined to donate to those servicemen not on US soil. Your initial post made me leery enough, but your subsequent replies have really just turned me off to the whole idea. We already do some charity work for C.A.S.T. for Kids, and frankly we're not big enough to do much beyond that. |
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Post by jaketomberlin on Apr 8, 2011 22:41:43 GMT -4
I recently read in an article of BassMaster magazine that there was an organization that you could send your fishing tackle you don't need and this organization would distribute it throughout the troops.
I'm sure you can find more information on this organization.... I do not remember the name of it... but they said they have had great success with people sending in rods, reels, tackleboxes, etc.
This is not the first time I have heard of this. It is a great idea and I would be absolutely tickled to death to send United States Soldiers some of my fishing gear.
Sir, are you part of this organization that I heard about in Bassmaster magazine? If so... can you link us to some more information?
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Post by Fishooked on Apr 8, 2011 23:07:28 GMT -4
I recently read in an article of BassMaster magazine that there was an organization that you could send your fishing tackle you don't need and this organization would distribute it throughout the troops. I'm sure you can find more information on this organization.... I do not remember the name of it... but they said they have had great success with people sending in rods, reels, tackleboxes, etc. This is not the first time I have heard of this. It is a great idea and I would be absolutely tickled to death to send United States Soldiers some of my fishing gear. Sir, are you part of this organization that I heard about in Bassmaster magazine? If so... can you link us to some more information? Not sure if is related to Heroes On The Water or not - heroesonthewater.org/homebut I do know that I have befriended many US Military fishing groups on Facebook before, and there are a lot of them. I will have to look through my friends list and see if I can find them all... |
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Post by jaketomberlin on Apr 9, 2011 0:32:05 GMT -4
Ted, I'm not sure if that was exactly it or not, that could be what I was thinking of.
I just remember reading an article about how the soldiers had no way of acquiring tackle and instantly I wanted to send everything I had that I would not need.
And I'm not saying that this is a scam.... I can't call it.... and I'm not the one to judge. But It makes PERFECT sense that someone actually would try to play the "Ohh it's going to Iraq and I'm the ONLY ONE DOING THIS so don't even try to check for an official organization who ACTUALLY does this"
I can see a bunch of people sending in tackle thinking they have done a good thing and all the equipment just goes into somebody's garage and never reaches the first soldier.
On second thought, I am going to judge this and say I believe it's a scam.
I know there are other organizations who do this and when you said "I'm the only one trying to do this" that kinda gives it away. But everything else sounded very convincing.
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Post by bacon on Apr 9, 2011 9:00:30 GMT -4
i cant say that i honestly believe this is a scam, i just simply dont have enough info to decide, and thats the reason i brought it up, the best scams give you all kinda of info, without actually giving you very much info, if you know what i mean. just because there isnt enough info isnt proof of a scam, but it can be. but just because there are other groups dong this same thing, there are a lot of military personel all over and even several group trying to secure fishing gear to distribute it can get spread so thin that it wont help even half. a Sgt trying to secure things for just his men makes perfect sense. there are just alot of other questions here, but maybe this was all for the best, it at least brought to the forefront an interest in helping our service men and women. organizations like the ones mentioned or wounded warriors, or countless other give any of us a great place to help in what ever way you can or choose to. i am sure there must be some way to find the address of deployed troops and there needs/wants. im sure a care package from a complete stranger will go a long way into brightening their day. bacon
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Post by jaketomberlin on Apr 9, 2011 11:34:21 GMT -4
It's Just my opinion.... I apologize if I am wrong, but after reading his statement about being the only one doing this, my gut was screaming "be careful". But yes... if nothing else this thread brings attention to the cause.
And like I said earlier, it would be nice to have a link or more information about where we can donate/support this cause. As I am sure there are many people (like me) that would be honored to donate to our troops.
Mr. Milam, perhaps you could "join forces" with one of the other organizations that are doing this. I apologize if you really didn't know about the other organizations, I know there is more information about this in one of the recent bassmaster magazines.... I'm sorry but I can't remember which issue it was.
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Post by raymilam on Apr 10, 2011 9:10:03 GMT -4
Jaketomberlin, to break down the statement that you believe makes this a scam. "I am the only one doing this." Maybe I should of cleared that up to. In saying I am the only one doing this I meant I am the only person trying to organize something like this for my unit. Not in the entire world. Obviously there are several organizations that do things for the troops. Never said there wasnt. I am the only one doing this was my attempt to explain that within my specific unit here in Georgia I am the only person, as of right now, trying to get these guys some gear.
I have spoken with some of these organizations. Nine out of ten donate to wounded soldiers exclusively. Others hold tournaments and days on the water for troops, however, they dont cater to the location. So therefore to get something like that here I would have to submit a request. Which would be great if all my guys could attend. Impossible, considering I have some in Iraq, and others scattered throughout the US. Some organizations also offer extreme discounts for soldiers, however what I found with this is that again the soldier has to join and pay for membership. On top of that these organizations will only accept a certain number of guys per locaiton. So again not all of my guys could be a part of something like that. If time was on our side and everyone could be home for a period of a few months then maybe I could arrange something like that. However, that is not the case. I havent seen all these guys together in a long time.
I am to the point now where I am dropping this request. Labeled as fake, scammer, whatever isnt in the cards. I will continue the fight and do whatever it is that I need to so that my soldiers are able to enjoy what time they have.
I still enjoy this site and the concept that you guys have.
On a different note. Until yesterday, we were all wondering how the government shut down would effect us. HAHA!! We are able to die for our country and not get paid for it. That was fantastic. Though now we have one week for Congress to decide what they are going to do. going from barely making enough to survive to makeing nothing is not gonna be fun if something doesnt work out. Anywho, I'll start another post for that.
Pictures will come.
Out,
SSG Milam
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