During the first Gulf War, several of my friends from college were in the reserves and were activated to fight the Iraqis. CNN reported that once the soldiers were deployed and the 4 day war was over, they were faced with massive downtime and were restricted to their base due to the travel limitations set by the Saudi government.
I am a voracious reader and at the beginning of the Gulf War, I had a closet full of paperback books. Books that I had already read and were not being used. So instead of selling them at the used book store, I packed them up in small care packages and sent them out to all the soldiers, sailors, marines and airmen I had addresses for.
Within a few weeks, I ran out of books before I ran out of addresses. Friends and family members began donating their paperback books and in the end, over 1000 books were sent to the Gulf. Unless it was the day for them to fly back home, mail-call days were one of the most anticipated events of deployment.
After the war, I received many thank-you notes from soldiers who got one of my books.
After September 11, 2001 I knew I wanted to do the same thing, but I couldn’t do it all myself. I put together BFS quickly, thinking it would be an interesting but temporary project. I had assumed the troops would be back home in just a few months. To paraphrase Luke Skywalker, “everything I assumed was wrong.”
Regardless of why the military is deployed, the men and women of our armed services are there for us. They deserve our support and if we can make their deployment easier, then all the better.
WHY DID BFS CLOSE? A Final Letter To The Soldiers & Volunteers
BFS closed on 9-11-2023 for good.
With a high cost of operating expenses and a low number of requests, the charity was no longer viable to operate. Also, the board of directors did a survey and the military today is very different from 22 years ago when we started. Getting English language books into the hands of a soldier in a war zone is very simple these days with the proliferation of smartphones, tablets and Kindles. Plus the access to satellite Wi-Fi is now a given for FOB deployments.
You, the volunteers, have been amazing. It was a great and amazing journey that we all took together. We rose to the occasion when it mattered most, FOR DECADES.
Those of you that participated have stories to tell that will astound others, they will be amazing and, many times, deeply sad. Those of you that know, know. You are keenly aware of how difficult and profound this volunteer journey has been at times.
I will never begin to thank our volunteers enough for efforts. Our soldiers needed help, and you answered the call; with Stephen King, Tom Clancy, maybe a gallon of sunblock and homemade cookies.
But our journey has come to an end. I would encourage all of you to volunteer for local vet charities. Visit a VFW Hall, help them move a couch, listen to them when they are their most desperate, celebrate their milestones as we all move beyond the wars that brought us all together.
Lastly, you can always make the more cookies!
It has been, and forever will be my honor to have taken this journey with each and every one of you.
Storm Bear Williams
Founder
Books For Soldiers
Storm Bear World 
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