Supporting
Our Troops
Our
Soldiers Our Children
List
of Our Fallen Heros
WASHINGTON, D.C. - The Dept. of Defense is responding to queries from
thousands of Americans who are again asking what they can do to show
their support for service members, especially those serving overseas
in this time of war. The following are websites for several organizations
sponsoring programs for members of the Armed Forces overseas. While
it would be inappropriate for DoD to endorse any specifically, service
members do value and appreciate such expressions of support:
Donate a calling card to help keep service members in touch with their
families at Operation Uplink at www.operationuplink.org
Send a greeting via e-mail through Operation Dear Abby at
www.anyservicemember.navy.mil/ or www.OperationDearAbby.net
Sign a virtual thank you card at the Defend America www.defendamerica.mil/
Web site at www.defendamerica.mil/nmam.html
Make a donation to one of the military relief societies aerhq.org/links.htm
Army Emergency Relief at www.aerhq.org
Navy/Marine Relief Society at www.nmcrs.org
Air Force Aid Society at www.afas.org
Coast Guard Mutual Assistance at www.cgmahq.org
Donate to "Operation USO Care Package" at www.usometrodc.org/care.html
Support the American Red Cross Armed Forces Emergency Services at www.redcross.org/services/afes/
Volunteer at a VA Hospital www.va.gov/vetsday/
to honor veterans who bore the lamp of freedom in past conflicts.
Support families whose loved ones are being treated at military and
VA hospitals through a donation to the Fisher House at www.fisherhouse.org
Reach out to military families in your community, especially those with
a loved one overseas.
DoD officials ask citizens not to flood the military mail system with
letters, cards, and gifts. Due to security concerns and transportation
constraints, the Defense Department can't accept items to be mailed
to " Any Servicemember /news/Nov2001/b11282001_bt603-01.html."
Some people have tried to avoid this prohibition by sending large numbers
of packages to an
individual service member's overseas address, which however well intentioned,
clogs the mail and causes unnecessary delays.
U.S. troops deployed to the Persian Gulf region and other overseas locations
can now receive personal messages from family members, friends, neighbors,
colleagues and supporters via the pages of "Stars and Stripes"
as well.
"Messages
of Support," a daily section that debuted March 17, gives family
and friends of deployed service members a chance to pass their greetings,
words of encouragement and announcements free of charge.
"In
the past few weeks, we've received a significant number of e-mail messages
from spouses, parents, friends and others trying to get in contact with
their loved ones serving in the Persian Gulf region. Running messages
from folks on the home front seemed like a natural extension of our
mission," said "Stars and Stripes" publisher Thomas Kelsch.
"Messages of Support" can be e-mailed to "Stars and Stripes"
24 hours a day at messages@estripes.com, are limited to 50 words or
less and will be printed on a first-come, first-run basis. "Stars
and Stripes" reserves the right to screen and edit all messages
and to omit any determined inappropriate.
"Stars and Stripes" is the editorially independent, Defense
Department-authorized daily newspaper distributed overseas for the U.S.
military community. It provides commercially available U.S. and world
news and objective, staff-produced stories relevant to the military
community in a balanced, fair and accurate manner. Stripes is currently
increasing its Middle East circulation with the goal of providing one
paper for every three persons stationed there.