TRENTON, N.J. — After months of frustration, a mother of a soldier in Iraq has found someone to ship about 80,000 cans of Silly String to the troops, who use the foamy substance to detect trip wires on bombs.
The thousands of cans of Silly String are boxed and addressed to individual servicemen and servicewomen in Iraq. But since the string comes in an aerosol can, it is considered a hazardous material, and only certain companies can ship it.
Thom Campbell, one of the founders of Capacity LLC, a New Jersey-based shipping company experienced in hazardous materials, heard about Marcelle Shriver’s problem and decided to help out.
The boxes were picked up Monday in Deptford Township, where Shriver has been storing them. They will be inspected by the company and then delivered to the United States Postal Service for transport with other letters and packages bound for Iraq.
Shriver’s Silly String campaign began after her son, Todd, a soldier in Ramadi slated to leave Iraq in November, asked his parents to send cans of the product.
Soldiers can shoot the substance, which travels about 10 to 12 feet, across a room before entering. If it hangs in the air, that indicates a possible trip wire.
Lt. Col. Christopher Garver, a military spokesman in Iraq, said the spray was used heavily in the early stages of the conflict but is not as widely needed today.
“If commanders on the ground are screaming that we need this stuff, we’ll get it to them,” Garver said.
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