marg provided the correct usage of military terms that I'd like to share before personal notes are written for OCD packages. I have been using "soldier" as a generic term, but should actually have been using "Marine", as this particular group of men and women receiving our packages were trained as such.
Thank you, marg, for the clarification. Every person I told about this thought the same way as I did: that soldier was the general/generic term for anyone in military service.
Per marg's comments:
"These are not Soldiers we are sending goodies to, they are Marines. I thought that they were all called Soldiers till DJ (who is a Soldier) corrected my obvious social blunder. Marines are Marines (a branch of the Navy), Navy people are Sailors, and people male or female in the Air-Force are called Airmen."
Thank you, marg, for the clarification. Every person I told about this thought the same way as I did: that soldier was the general/generic term for anyone in military service.
Per marg's comments:
"These are not Soldiers we are sending goodies to, they are Marines. I thought that they were all called Soldiers till DJ (who is a Soldier) corrected my obvious social blunder. Marines are Marines (a branch of the Navy), Navy people are Sailors, and people male or female in the Air-Force are called Airmen."