.Silly strings have serious use in Iraq
OTHER US mums may be sending Christmas cards, family photos and letters to their sons posted in Iraq, but Mrs Marcelle Shriver is stocking up on something a little less conventional.
She has 1,000 cans of gooey neon-coloured party string in her New Jersey garage - and they're heading all the way to Iraq where her 28-year-old son is stationed.
You see, the plastic string that children squirt at parties has a serious function.
US troops in Iraq use the stuff to detect trip wires around bombs. Which is why Mrs Shriver has organised a drive to send cans of Silly String (also known as party string or crazy string) to troops in Iraq.
The 57-year-old office manager learnt of its innovative use from her son, Todd.
He had explained how his unit learnt from the Marines to use Silly String to detect booby traps.
Before entering a building, troops squirt the plastic goo, which can shoot strands about 3m to 3.6m, across the room. If it falls to the ground, they know there are no trip wires. If it hangs in the air, then they have a problem. The wires are otherwise nearly invisible.
After sending some cans to her son, Mrs Shriver enlisted the help of two priests and posted notices in her church and its newsletter.
From there, the effort took off, with parishioners dropping cans into donation baskets.
However, sending the string to Iraq is a problem as it comes in an aerosol can and is considered a hazardous material. The US postal service will not ship it by air.
But a private pilot who heard about Mrs Shriver's effort has agreed to fly the cans to Kuwait. They will then be taken to Iraq from there.
'If I turn on the TV and see a soldier with a can of this on his vest, that would make this all worth it,' said Mrs Shriver. - AP.
The Electric New Paper
She has 1,000 cans of gooey neon-coloured party string in her New Jersey garage - and they're heading all the way to Iraq where her 28-year-old son is stationed.
You see, the plastic string that children squirt at parties has a serious function.
US troops in Iraq use the stuff to detect trip wires around bombs. Which is why Mrs Shriver has organised a drive to send cans of Silly String (also known as party string or crazy string) to troops in Iraq.
The 57-year-old office manager learnt of its innovative use from her son, Todd.
He had explained how his unit learnt from the Marines to use Silly String to detect booby traps.
Before entering a building, troops squirt the plastic goo, which can shoot strands about 3m to 3.6m, across the room. If it falls to the ground, they know there are no trip wires. If it hangs in the air, then they have a problem. The wires are otherwise nearly invisible.
After sending some cans to her son, Mrs Shriver enlisted the help of two priests and posted notices in her church and its newsletter.
From there, the effort took off, with parishioners dropping cans into donation baskets.
However, sending the string to Iraq is a problem as it comes in an aerosol can and is considered a hazardous material. The US postal service will not ship it by air.
But a private pilot who heard about Mrs Shriver's effort has agreed to fly the cans to Kuwait. They will then be taken to Iraq from there.
'If I turn on the TV and see a soldier with a can of this on his vest, that would make this all worth it,' said Mrs Shriver. - AP.
The Electric New Paper
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