Retailer criticized for anti-war e-mail

Wed Jan 31, 8:55 AM ET

CHICAGO (Reuters) - A U.S. retailer has been deluged with angry messages since an employee sent an e-mail to an American soldier in
Iraq saying "if you were sensible, you and your troops would pull out of Iraq."

Bargain Suppliers of West Allis, Wisconsin, took down its Discount Mats Web site after voice messages and e-mails poured in following the January 16 message to Army Sgt. Jason Hess by the unnamed, and now former, employee.

Hess, serving at an Army base in Taji, had sent the company an e-mail asking if it could ship its foam-rubber floor matting to an Army Post Office in Iraq.

The response sent later that day said: "We do not ship to APO addresses, and even if we did, we would NEVER ship to Iraq. If you were sensible, you and your troops would pull out of Iraq."

The Veterans of Foreign Wars said it applauded the company for firing the worker.

"It was totally out of line for any employee to interject personal feelings into what was a normal business transaction," VFW Commander-in-Chief Gary Kurpius said in a statement. "Supporting our troops is not an acknowledgment that you support the politics of the war."

Bargain Suppliers' vice president, Sajid Nasir, apologized in an interview with the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel and said some of the messages had left him fearful.

This is a GREAT example of what people sticking together and working together can do.This is a true story that comes from MS bulletins,which I of course,passed along as well. ^_^ This goes to show you just DONT mess with our troops! You dont have to support the war,or the government,just the guys n gals doing their jobs.Big difference in supporting the troops and supporting the war peeps. =D

This is a wisconson based company

Below is an email exchange between a friend of mine's husband and a company that sells different types of mats. He is stationed in Iraq and was inquiring as to whether or not the company ships overseas. He wanted to get the troops better gear to sleep on.This is the companies response. I am floored. I am floored as a military wife and as an American. Please repost this so that this company will hear us loud and clear that we do not stand for this. Whatever your view is on this war - these troops are just following orders. Most are passionate about what they are doing. You can disagree with the war without disrespecting our troops.

COMPANY CONTACT INFO:
>
> e-mail us at: contact @ discount-mats. com
>
> Reach us by phone, please call us between 9 a.m. - 5 p.m. central
> time: 414-736-8394
>
> Mailing address:
>
> Bargain Suppliers
> 3259 S.106th Street > West Allis, WI 53227
>
> ======
>
> WEBSITE INFO:
>
> Registrant:
> Faisal Khetani
> PO Box 270693
> Milwaukee, Wisconsin 53227 > United States
>
> Registered through: Teknon Domains
> Domain Name: DISCOUNT-MATS. COM
> Created on: 23-Mar-05
> Expires on: 23-Mar-08
> Last Updated on: 03-Mar-06
>
> Administrative Contact:
> Khetani, Faisal sportsfitness@ ...
> 3259 S.106th Street > West Allis, Wisconsin 53227 > United States
> (414) 543-9634
>
> Technical Contact:
> Khetani, Faisal sportsfitness@ ...
> 3259 S.106th Street > West Allis, Wisconsin 53227 > United States
> (414) 543-9634




On Tue Jan 16 3:25 , contact@... sent:

To Whom it may concern:

Do you ship to APO addresses? I'm in the 1st Cavalry Division
stationed in Iraq and we are trying to order some mats but we are
looking for who ships to APO first.

SGT Hess


From: contact@... [mailto:contact@ ...]
Sent: Tuesday, January 16, 2007 9:44 PM

Subject: Re: Feedback: from discount-mats. com

SGT Hess,

We do not ship to APO addresses, and even if we did, we would NEVER
ship to Iraq. If you were sensible, you and your troops would pull out of Iraq.

> Bargain Suppliers
> Discount-Mats.com





And the end result is here...

From: VortexControl
Date: Jan 23, 2007 6:24 AM


I just want to say thank you to all of you that read this bulletin and passed it on. Today the guy who responded to Sgt, Hess via email was fired and Sgt. Hess emailed that two other companies have stepped up to the plate. You can make a difference never think for one second that one person can never make a difference. Today a difference was made for the best and you were apart of it. Thank you.
Story
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,245718,00.html

video

http://www.foxnews.com/video2/player06.html?012207/012207_gibson_mats&Big_Story&Request%20Denied&acc&US&-1&News&194&&&new



Here is the Fox story,copied from the above link..

Web Site Kicks Sand in Faces of GIs in Iraq Asking for Mats to Ease Hardship of Sleeping on Ground

Tuesday, January 23, 2007

An American GI assigned to one of the harshest posts in Iraq had a simple request last week for a Wisconsin mattress company: send some floor mats to help ease the hardship of sleeping on the cold, bug-infested ground.

What he got, instead, was a swift kick from the company's Web site, which not only refused the request but added insult to injury with the admonition, "If you were sensible, you and your troops would pull out of Iraq."

Army Sgt. Jason Hess, stationed in Taji, Iraq, with the 1st Cavalry Division, said he emailed his request to Discount-mats.com because he and his fellow soldiers sleep on the cold ground, which contains sand mites, sand flies and other disease carriers.

In his email, dated Jan. 16, 2007, he asked the Web-based company, registered to Faisal Khetani, an American Muslim of Pakistani descent:

"Do you ship to APO (military) addresses? I'm in the 1st Cavalry Division stationed in Iraq and we are trying to order some mats but we are looking for ships to APO first."

On the same day, Hess received this reply:

"SGT Hess,

We do not ship to APO addresses, and even if we did, we would NEVER ship to Iraq. If you were sensible, you and your troops would pull out of Iraq.

Bargain Suppliers
Discount-Mats.com"

Khetani on Monday told FOX News that the person responsible for the email reply had been fired. The Web site, meanwhile, has been temporarily taken down.

Hess emailed that he has since found two mat suppliers willing to ship to an APO address in Iraq.

So starts a new year,and the 4th of us being in Iraq.I am really,really depressed about it.War was/is never a good thing to begin with,and eventually,I knew it would hit closer to home.Meaning that someone who I am very very very fond of has received orders to go back.It will be his 2nd time there.He just told me...Wed night.(I won't say too much,cos I will do anything to protect him and his privacy.)I needed an outlet I reckon you could say. Cos I have all these tears and frustrations and I just dont know what to do with them.It goes without saying that I will always be there for him and behind him,no matter what.And damn anyone like Sheehan who DARES put him and his job down!
Yeah,I am getting ahead of things,since it is later in the year that this will happen.And believe me,I am doing a LOT of praying that A) The war will end. And B) His orders will be changed.Its a tall order I know,but hey,I can wish and ask right.I've spent over a year "chasing" him,as I like to say,so he's gotten to be perty important to me.And yes,I am totally grateful I have gotten the honor/privilege of having my "sexay lil devil" in my life.Other things are changing as well...as in I dont know how much I will get to see him,normally its a daily chat, tease,flirt..what have ya.But now..he is about to move...further away.And that bothers me too.
I guess once I cry myself out,I will look deep inside myself and find the strength to carry on,and not let my "sugar britches" down.He's not a mushy fellow,I dont think he can handle women cry,and he just dont wanna admit it..LoL.
I am very very fortunate to have a mess of friends to turn to when I have a bad day.So for that,I am also grateful.
I just have to say it again....War..END!! We want our troops home,and NOT to ever go back to the mid east!!
~Sending lotsa liebe to my very special Paratrooper~