I just came across this:

WOODBRIDGE, Va., April 9, 2006 -- The Landstuhl Hospital Care Project added $4,400 to its coffers April 7 to buy items needed by wounded, injured and sick servicemembers at Landstuhl Regional Medical Center, Germany, and hospitals in Iraq and Afghanistan, according to Karen Grimord, the project's coordinator.

The money was raised during the "Hook & C's Karaoke" 2nd annual benefit, held here this year at American Legion Post 364....

This marked the fourth benefit held by the Landstuhl Hospital Care Project since Grimord and her husband Brian founded it in November 2004. "We try to provide mostly clothing items, but we've also extended to hospitals in Iraq and Afghanistan that need supplies, including bed sheets," Grimord said. "The project started supporting three hospitals In Iraq in 2005 and one in Afghanistan this year."

... the hospital in Afghanistan asked for bed sheets and pillows to use on litters....

Wait a minute -- we have to run fund-raisers to buy bedsheets and pillows for our own military hospitals?

Apparently so, and we're not ashamed of it -- in fact, this story is on a Department of Defense Web site.

There's more at the Landstuhl project site:

We have a distributor that DONATED 250 towels to military hospitals in Iraq a few months back. They are giving us a break on the towels we need this time. If I have the Euro figured out right and shipping they should cost us about $5.25 a towel. If you are interested in purchasing any part of the 20-25 towels needed for the CSH [combat support hospital] in Iraq please send the check to Riverchase [Church of Christ in Birmingham, Alabama] and let me know by private email.

Towels -- our military hospitals don't have enough towels.

Also:

We have an on going collection of quilts for the ICU unit. The requested size at this time is 3' x 5'.

This is for Landstuhl itself -- which needless to say, is in Germany. It's not even in a war zone. And quilts are being suuplied through charitable donations? For the intensive care unit?

Is it just me, or is this appalling?