NEWS RELEASE from the United States Department of Defense
No. 623-02
(703)697-5131(media)
IMMEDIATE RELEASE December 12, 2002
(703)428-0711(public/industry)
SUPPORT OUR TROOPS
With the holidays approaching, thousands of Americans are again
asking what they can do to show their support for servicemembers,
especially those serving overseas in this time of war. Below are Web
sites for several organizations that are sponsoring programs for
members of the Armed Forces overseas. While it would be inappropriate
for the Department to endorse any specifically, servicemembers do
value and appreciate such expressions of support:
Donate a calling card to help keep servicemembers in touch with their
families at Operation Uplink at http://www.operationuplink.org/
Send a greeting via e-mail through Operation Dear Abby at
http://anyservicemember.navy.mil/ or http://www.OperationDearAbby.net
Sign a virtual thank you card at the Defend America Web site at
http://www.defendamerica.mil/nmam.html
Make a donation to one of the military relief societies:
Army Emergency Relief at http://www.aerhq.org/
Navy/Marine Relief Society at http://www.nmcrs.org/
Air Force Aid Society at http://www.afas.org/
Coast Guard Mutual Assistance at http://www.cgmahq.org/
Donate to"Operation USO Care Package" at
http://www.usometrodc.org/care.html
Support the American Red Cross Armed Forces Emergency Services at
http://www.redcross.org/services/afes/
Volunteer at a VA Hospital: http://www.va.gov/vetsday/ to honor
veterans who bore the lamp of freedom in past conflicts.
Reach out to military families in your community, especially those
with a loved one overseas.
Please do not flood the military mail system with letters, cards, and
gifts. Due to security concerns and transportation constraints, the
Department cannot accept items to be mailed to "Any Servicemember:
http://www.defenselink.mil/news/Nov2001/b11282001_bt603-01.html ."
Some people have tried to avoid this prohibition by sending large
numbers of packages to an individual servicemember's address, which
however well intentioned, clogs the mail and causes unneccessary
delays.
The support and generosity of the American people has touched the
lives of many servicemembers, over 300,000 of whom are deployed
overseas.
Web version:
http://www.defenselink.mil/news/Dec2002/b12122002_bt632-02.html