How many of you can describe some support you received from friends and family back home during your military service?

It was the simple care packages I got from my wife while I was deployed. Pictures, treats, letters...all contained within.

On submarines, there is only one holiday: "halfway night." Its when your patrol is halfway over. So the wives and girlfriends (parents, if you were single...) would send a box/gift to be opened during halfway night celebrations. Additionally, you were provided with eight "family gram" telegram messages to give to your family/loved ones/person of choice and they could send one a week to you. Each telegram was 40 words and was delivered for free by the US Navy.

The Navy would also assign your wife/girlfriend/mom and dad to a local ombudsman who would make sure all of their questions were answered, provide info and they would also ask pointed questions like "have you heard from your sailor lately?" So that was kind of a gentle prod to write letters. The submarine squadron also had a free phone set up onboard for phone calls prior to getting underway. So every night, the crew could get calls from their families.

This was back in 1985 - 1989 timeframe. Not sure what they do now...