Dear Operation Shoebox New Jersey, Please accept my thanks on behalf of my daughter, SN Amanda Nechay, who is stationed on the USS Cole. She was the happy recipient of nine Operation Shoeboxes recently. Her ship will be going to sea again in January and Amanda has already shared the boxes with her shipmates. When Amanda first saw the boxes, she thought someone had used her debit card to purchase nine pairs of shoes. Even in the U.S. Navy, one worries about identity theft, I guess! Amanda graduated from Belvidere High School in Belvidere, Warren County, New Jersey. In September, 2006, she joined the Navy. After completing boot camp in Great Lakes, Ill., she remained in Illinois to complete her training as a gunner's mate. She then was transferred to "C" School in Virginia where she trained as a vertical missle launcher. Recently, the USS Cole traveled across the "pond" to England and Scotland. Amanda was happy to report that she had "not one minute of seasickness." She traveled from Virginia Wednesday evening in order to be home on Thanksgiving Day. She shared all the wonderful letters she received with her Operation Shoeboxes with her family. She left again on Friday afternoon in order to report for duty Saturday morning, so her visit was brief. She will not be home on Christmas day this year, so the messages she received in her shoeboxes will be especially meaningful to her. When donating items for various causes, I often wonder if the recipient enjoyed receiving them. As Amanda's mom, let me express the happiness she and her whole family felt at this expression of good will. What made it especially poignant is that the good people of New Jersey donated these items and they were received by a "Jersey girl." Again, thank you very, very much. Very truly yours, Marianne Nechay