Email a Soldier who is not receiving mail.
Moms View Message Board: The Fox Hole (War-Related Discussion): Sending In Reinforcements (Showing Support & Comfort, Lifting Spirits):
Email a Soldier who is not receiving mail.
I don't intend this to be a discussion on the war.
Whether or not you agree with the war that is going on,
please show the soldiers who are serving our country that we care about them...
If you sign up at this site, within minutes, you can receive
the mailing address of a soldier who is not currently receiving
any mail from home:
http://www.operationmilitarysupport.com
I know someone who adopted a soldier and is sending letters and care packages...
Wow, thank you for sharing that with us. I have been sitting here watching the news feeling very helpless and wanting to do something for these men and women who are doing so much for us and now I feel like I can.
Thank You!
Sorry, was not paying attention when I posted this this morning - didn't read the crucial *E* before mail.
So, in addition to email:
My X-Sil told me yesterday that you can SNAIL mail to them by simply addressing the mail to "U. S. Marine", for example (not intended to overlook the other branches, this was just as example), at the proper address, and it will go to an anonymous soldier.
She also told me that when mailing to our military overseas, you have to fill out a customs form and one thing you have to check is *if the package is undeliverable, do you want it returned to you or abandoned*. Obviously you will probably have to pay all those fees or whatever for it to be returned, but if you select *abandoned*, there is the likelihood it will find it's way into the hands of an anonymous member of our military, so you do end up brightening up *someone's* life a bit.
Very Cool! I am going to go to that site now and sign up. How awful it would be not to receive any news from home, not to mention moral support and prayers. Thanks Feona 
I signed up for it
Just signed up now! Thank you so much, Feona, for posting this. I want to be able to do SOMETHING to help. I love the idea!
here is another way to email the soldiers
http://anyservicemember.navy.mil/
I signed up for this and had my sister and mother do the same. We all got the address of a marine stationed at FPO AP 96426-9702. We each got a different name. Out of curiosity, I tried to find out where this base is located and have been told numerous times that this military zip code does not exist. I emailed the website and asked them to verify this for me and they sent me an automated response that directs me back to the website but doesn't answer my question. Can anyone help us with this to find out if we will be sending letters and care packages to a real person and place?? Thanks
I thought this was cool too but then after telling my sister about it she sent me this so now I don't know if we should be doing it or not.
I saw this on http://www.defenselink.mil/news/Mar2003/b03222003_bt139-03.html and thought I would forward it FYI...
TROOP SUPPORT MAIL POLICY STRESSED
To bolster force protection, the general public is urged not to send unsolicited mail, care packages or donations to service members forward deployed unless you are a family member, loved one or personal friend.
On Oct. 30, 2002, the Department of Defense (DoD) suspended the "Operation Dear Abby" and "Any Servicemember" mail programs due to force protection concerns. Although these programs provide an excellent means of support to friends and loved ones stationed overseas, they also provide an avenue to introduce hazardous substances or materials into the mail system from unknown sources. Unsolicited mail, packages and donations from organizations and individuals also compete for limited airlift space used to transport supplies, war-fighting materiel and mail from family and loved ones.
Recently, DoD has become aware of organizations and individuals who continue to support some form of the "Any Servicemember" program by using the names and addresses of individual servicemembers and unit addresses. These programs are usually supported by well-intentioned, thoughtful and patriotic groups who are simply unaware of the new risks facing deployed military forces. Some individuals and groups publicize the names and addresses of service members, ships or units on Web sites, with good intentions. The result, however, is a potential danger to the troops they wish to support.
DoD cannot support creative and well-intentioned efforts that defeat force protection measures, but can instead recommend alternatives to mail and donation programs. To show support to troops overseas, the following are recommended:
* Log on to the following Web sites to show support, to include greeting cards, virtual Thank You cards and calling card donations to help troops stay in contact with loved ones:
http://www.defendamerica.mil/support_troops.html
http://www.usocares.org/home.htm
http://www.army.mil/operations/iraq/faq.html
* Visit Department of Veterans Affairs hospitals and nursing homes. Volunteer your services to honor veterans who served in past conflicts.
Mail from family members and loved ones has always been encouraged and the military mail system will continue to work hard to get that mail to service members overseas.
I signed up! Hopefully it was an OK thing to do. I was a little uncomfortable listing my address on the website, but I did it anyway. I'm wondering why I had to give them my address anyway. Why couldn't they just use my e-mail address to send me the name of a soldier? Hmm...now I'm a tad bit worried. Oh well. What's done is done, and I did receive a soldiers name and address. We have a letter ready to go out tomorrow. I will post if I ever hear anything back!
I think it had to do with the soldiers safety not ours, I signed up too before I read this but now I'm not sure if I should send anything I mean we don't want to make their jobs harder.
I asked my friend who has a Marine Husband in Baghdad right now and she said send letters they really need it. She also said that it's normal for all the addresses to be the same.
She also said if you decide to send a care package it can't be bigger than a shoe box and they need the following:
Baby wipes and Hard Candy that can hold up in the heat.
Ahhh! Now I'm so confused. I don't know what to do. I have a soldiers name and a letter ready to go. Now after reading all of this I'm stuck. I also saw on CNN that they are asking all unsolicited mail to anonymous soldiers to stop. But since we have names is that different? It isn't anonymous. But like someone said, we want to protect the troops safety as well. Just can't decide what to do.
Im backing out of it.........Kinda on the scared side, I dunno. I deleted my email that I got with the Soilders name.
After reading all the above, I figured my best bet was to back out
Now the web site says....
Patience Please!!
Due to overwhelming response we currently have more people who want to write to the troops than we can process. Please check back, as soon as we have some new names of soldiers who would like to receive mail, we will update our website
Now the web site says....
Patience Please!!
Due to overwhelming response we currently have more people who want to write to the troops than we can process. Please check back, as soon as we have some new names of soldiers who would like to receive mail, we will update our website
I am sending the letter today.
My friend who's husband is in Baghdad made it ver clear to me that some of these soldiers need to get letters and love getting care packages. They don't have anyone sending them anything...think about how that must feel. Especially when they are hearing about all the people protesting the war.
Again, I asked her about the address and how they are all the same, she said that was normal. She said it takes 3 weeks for a soldier to get a letter and 4 for them to get a care package.
She along with other wifes do the best they can but need help from us. She said she can get me a list of Marines that need someone to send them a letter, if that would make you feel better than you can e-mail me and as soon as I get the list from her I will forward it to you.
wahooper5@cox.net
thanks feona for starting this thread. there are so many soldiers out there with no one to write to or to receive mail from. and that's sad. i also got the check back later due to overwhelming requests for soldier's names/addresses. thanks to all who have written or sent care packages to the soldiers.
Andi,
When you get the list, I'd love to help.
ashaw@wchsys.org
I received a name on Sunday, but now I'm not sure what to do ?! Should I send a letter first and ask her where she is stationed and/or what she might need, thereby verifying that a person will actually receive a package I send?
I know our local red cross is accepting donations of things like the travel baby wipes, tooth paste, candy bars, batteries(all sizes, so forth and so on... So I say call your local Red Cross station and find out what you can do to help if you are worried about doing the email thing. There are ways to help with out having to put yourself out there in the open.
Our school system is adopting troops and they are doing the shoe box gift packs the kids decorate the box and include a letter of thanks. My friends church is doing the same thing. They have asked people to donate and they are having a supper at which time they will prepare the care -packages. They plan to do this once a month until all our soldiers are back home. All to be dileverd to the red cross for distrabution. My sisters unit has drop off boxes at the gaurd shacks at the entrance to the base. Make phone calls find out what you can do and how you need to go about doing it. Helping makes you feel like you are controling things even a little bit. It also is good for our children.
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