Marines and tampons

[RickRS]

Not sure if this should be Military or Medical - Email I received:

"It's from the mother of a Marine in Iraq.

My son told me how wonderful the care packages we had sent them were and wanted me to tell everyone thank you. He said that one guy we'll call Marine X, got a girl care package and everyone was giving him a hard time.
My son said, "Marine X got some really nice smelling lotion and everyone really likes it, so every time he goes to sleep they steal it from him."
I told my son I was really sorry about the mistake, and if he wanted I would send Marine X another package. He told me not to worry about Marine X because every time I send something to him, Marine X thinks it's for him too. He said when my husband and I sent the last care package Marine X came over to his cot picked up the box, started fishing through it, and said, "What'd we get this time?"

My son said they had the most fun with Marine X's package.
He said he wasn't sure who we were sending the pack to, but the panties were size 20, and he said one of the guys got on top of the Humvee and jumped off with the panties over his head and yelled, "Look at me, I'm an Airborne Ranger!!!!"
One of the guys attached the panties to an antenna and it blew in the wind like a windsock. He said it entertained them for quite awhile. Then of course, they had the tampons.

When he brought this up my imagination just went running, but he continued.
My son said they had to go on a mission and Marine X wanted the ChapStick and lotion for the trip.
He grabbed a bunch of the items from his care package and got in the Humvee.
As luck would have it he grabbed the tampons too, and my son said everyone was teasing him about "not forgetting his feminine hygiene products".

He said things went well for a while, then the convoy was ambushed and a Marine was shot.
He said the wound was pretty clean, but it was deep. He said they were administering first aid but couldn't get the bleeding to slow down, and someone said, "Hey use Marine X's tampons".
My son said they put the tampon in the wound. At this point my son profoundly told me, "Mom did you know that tampons expand?" "

Well, yeah!".

They successfully slowed the bleeding until the guy got better medical attention.
When they went to check on him later the surgeon told them, "You guys saved his life". If you hadn't stopped that bleeding he would have bled to death.
My son said, "Mom, the tampons sent by the Marine Moms by mistake saved a Marine's life."
At this point I asked him,
"Well what did you do with the rest of the tampons?"
He said, "Oh, we divided them up and we all have them in our flak jackets, and I kept two for our first aid kit".

I am absolutely amazed by the ingenuity of our Marines, and can't believe that something that started out as a mistake then turned into a joke, ended up saving someone's life.
My sister said she doesn't believe in mistakes. She believes God had a plan all along.
She believes that female care package was sent to Marine X to save our Marine.

Either way, our efforts have boosted the morale of many Marines, provided much needed items for our troops, AND saved the life of a Marine!
God bless every one of you for your efforts and hard work, and God bless our Marines, Army, Navy, Air Force, and everyone."

[Cervus]

Pfft. Beavis discovered this years ago when Butthead punched him in the face and gave him a nosebleed. I don't remember where they got the tampon from, but it for the rest of the episode Beavis walked around with a tampon shoved up his nose.

[Spam & Cookies-mmm]

Not sure if this should be Military or Medical

Or possibly glurge.

[Fiver]

Originally Posted by Cervus

Pfft. Beavis discovered this years ago when Butthead punched him in the face and gave him a nosebleed. I don't remember where they got the tampon from, but it for the rest of the episode Beavis walked around with a tampon shoved up his nose.

My friend had a runny nose once on a bus ride, but she didn't have any tissue, so she stuck a tampon up her nose and kept it there for the duration of the bus ride. I have a picture, but I don't have her consent, so I shouldn't show it. It is on my facebook though...

[rhiandmoi]

Originally Posted by Cervus

Pfft. Beavis discovered this years ago when Butthead punched him in the face and gave him a nosebleed. I don't remember where they got the tampon from, but it for the rest of the episode Beavis walked around with a tampon shoved up his nose.

Didn't they go to the store and ask the clerk, "Where are those things that you stick in your thing when you have your thing? heh heh"

[FloridaGirl]

This reminds me of an urban legend.

My 5th grade teacher told us (we were all girls) that tampons were developed in WW2 by nurses who saw how well the absorbant cotton worked. Which, is obviously not true.

[Judecat]

Your teacher had it wrong, wrong war and wrong feminine hygene product, and wrong matereial that was used.

From the Kimberly-Clark website

• When were Kotex® feminine pads invented?
• In hospitals and first aid stations during World War I, Kimberly-Clark's cellulose wadding often replaced cotton which was in short supply. Through the ingenuity of army nurses, the wadding was adapted for menstrual purposes. In 1920 it was introduced as Kimberly-Clark's first consumer product. The Kotex trademark was derived from the words "cotton texture." We wanted a product name that was short, easy to say and easy to remember. How'd we do?

[FloridaGirl]

Well, at least she was on the right track. However, something told me that tampons were not really that new of an idea. It's not like women started menstrating 100 years ago or something. I did look it up one day when one of my friends wondered who came up with the idea, but I really never cared all that much. As long as they exist

[erwins]

Well, it isn't exactly ingenuity when they discover that something named for its purpose can be used for that purpose:

"tampon" from www.m-w.com: ": a wad of absorbent material (as of cotton) introduced into a body cavity or canal usually to absorb secretions (as from menstruation) or to arrest hemorrhaging"

Also, "tamponade" from wikipedia: "is a condition of blood flow stoppage either by insertion of a tampon (a wadded cotton plug) into a blood vessel or by a constriction of the vessel by an outside force.

Tamponade is a useful method of stopping a hemorrhage. This can be achieved by applying an absorbent dressing directly onto a wound, thereby absorbing excess blood and creating a blockage, or by applying direct pressure with a hand or a tourniquet."

[Judecat]

I really don't know when exactly tampon's were invented, at least they were around before I needed them, The link below said pads were introduced in the 1920's, but I think many people must have considered them an un neccessary expense -- I remember distinctly my mother and my aunts talking about how easy I had it because I didn't have to bleach rags. My mother was born in 1914, just to give a time line.

[Morrigan]

This "myth" is also perpetuated in the teen movie "She's the Man."

Only with a nosebleed. Kinda gross, if you ask me.

Morrigan

"Discovery" aside, I'd like to know why they wasted the care package(s) intended for someone else.

[Eddylizard]

Originally Posted by Morrigan

This "myth" is also perpetuated in the teen movie "She's the Man."

Only with a nosebleed. Kinda gross, if you ask me.

Morrigan

I've also heard of a tampon being advised to control a nosebleed. Though a junior tampon is recommended, given the diameter of the average nostril. It makes sense to me.

There was also a scene in a movie, I think it was Two Minute Warning though I might be wrong*, where the cop, having been shot, goes into the ladies room, and breaks into the machine to get a sanitary towel to stem his bleeding.

The myth I heard about Kotex and the invention of sanitary towels was that Kotex, having been awarded the contract to supply bandages to the US armed forces in WWI stockpiled an enormous amount of absorbent cellulose. When the war ended, they suddenly found themselves with a huge amount of the stuff. Much more than they could sell quickly during peacetime. Until some bright spark in the company thought up the idea of sanitary towels.

*ETA The movie might have been Black Sunday

[Troberg]

I find the subtitle of the Military forum oddly apropriate...

[Jay Tea]

I used to carry tampons and condoms in my survival gear - the tampons to catch a spark to start a fire (you pull bits of fluff from the tampon - nice and dry and light so you can always get your fire on) and the condoms to store water...mmm....spermicide

[Mnotr2]

I recently went through an Amry first aid course (Combat Lifesaver) and the medics suggested that we carry tampons in our aid bags (Tampax OB non-scented were recommended). They're very effective at temporarialy stopping bleeding from bullet and shrapnel wounds and have saved many lives.

[Ramblin' Dave]

I think they used this motif on ER once as well. Somebody used tampons as first-aid after a shooting in a drugstore, IIRC.

Originally Posted by RickRS

He said he wasn't sure who we were sending the pack to, but the panties were size 20, and he said one of the guys got on top of the Humvee and jumped off with the panties over his head and yelled, "Look at me, I'm an Airborne Ranger!!!!"

I don't know why I have a problem with this. I am sure that from other places in the world panty sizes may be different but in US sizes I don't think there is a 20. According to: This site size 20 doesn't exist but if it did it would be around a size 13XL.

Ok, not a part of the OP question but that makes me question the whole thing.

Originally Posted by Morrigan

This "myth" is also perpetuated in the teen movie "She's the Man."

Only with a nosebleed. Kinda gross, if you ask me.

Morrigan

I just have to add that when my mom was in sixth grade, she punched a boy in the nose and broke it. When my grandmother came to pick her up from school, I'm told the boy had two tampon strings sticking out of his nose...apparently they also worked to keep his nose temporarily straight, as well as stop the bleeding.

[Casey]

Tampons are also a classic part of many survivalist first aid kits. Light, absorbent, and clean. Work great, so I'm told.