December 24, 2002 11:17

For the Record: Holiday Support for The Troops

Editor's Note: With over 300,000 U.S. military servicemen and women serving overseas during this holiday season, the Department of Defense has announced that it is encouraging Americans to show support for the troops by an array of organizations that have created online websites for this purpose. Wartime restrictions remain in effect prohibiting the delivery of bulk items such as gifts, foodstuffs and other materials.

The following Internet websites provide means for Americans to show their support for servicemen and women serving overseas this holiday season:

Expressing Your Support

Send a greeting via e-mail through Operation Dear Abby (an alternative website can be found here).

Sign a virtual thank you card at the DoD Defend America website.

Donate a calling card to help keep servicemembers in touch with their own families at the Veterans of Foreign Wars' Operation Uplink.

Send financial donations to support the "Operation USO Care Package" program for overseas servicemen and women.

Volunteer at a VA Hospital near you.

Relief Society Donations

Make a donation to one of the military relief societies or related civilian organizations:

Army Emergency Relief;
Navy/Marine Relief Society;
Air Force Aid Society;
Coast Guard Mutual Assistance;
American Red Cross Armed Forces Emergency Services.

The Defense Department also recommends:

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 gifts or other items to be mailed to "Any Servicemember" as in past years.

Some people have tried to avoid the current prohibition by sending large numbers of packages to specific individual servicemembers' addresses. DoD officials say that while this effort is well-intentioned, it still clogs the mail and causes unnecessary delays.